Harkins

In June of 2021, The Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins was named an appointee to the Biden Harris administration where he serves as Director of the Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The Partnership Center in the Office of the Secretary serves to ensure that the Faith-Based and Community Organizations, which form the bedrock of our society, have strong advocates within Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the White House, and Partnership Offices throughout the Federal Government.

Prior to his role at HUD, he was Director of Interfaith Outreach for The Democratic National Committee, where he also led faith outreach during the 2012 reelection campaign of President Barack Obama, and as Senior Vice President for Innovations in Public Programs at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

Dr. Harkins served for seventeen years as pastor of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Before beginning his pastorate at Nineteenth Street, he served as the Senior Minister of the New Hope Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, where he was also President of the Greater Dallas Community of Churches, and a founding board member of The Dallas Leadership Foundation.

Dr. Harkins’ ministerial career began at the Historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York as Assistant Minister. He has been a guest lecturer on the church and social action at a number of colleges and universities including, Rutgers, Cornell, Iona College, Howard University, and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

Dr. Harkins was a contributing author for The Audacity of Faith: Christian Leaders Reflect on the Election of Barack Obama (Judson Press). He is a graduate of Boston University, Union Theological Seminary in New York City and United Seminary of Dayton, Ohio. He and his wife Juli are the parents of two adult daughters.