Rogers, Melissa

Melissa Rogers is an American church-state lawyer and non-resident senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. She previously served as special assistant to President Obama and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Melissa Rogers is a visiting professor at Wake Forest University Divinity School and a nonresident senior fellow in Governance Studies. From 2013-2017, she served as special assistant to President Barack Obama and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Melissa previously served as chair of the inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Prior to that she was director of the Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University Divinity School. She has also served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Her area of expertise includes the First Amendment's religion clauses, religion in American public life, and the interplay of religion, policy, and politics. Rogers co-authored a case book on religion and law for Baylor University Press, Religious Freedom and the Supreme Court (2008). She holds a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.A. from Baylor University.

Melissa Rogers served as special assistant to President Barack Obama and as executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (2013-2017). She is now a visiting professor at Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity. Her book Faith in American Public Life was published in October 2019 (Baylor University Press, 2019).

Melissa Rogers is a non-resident senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. She previously served as special assistant to President Barack Obama and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. She is the author of Faith in American Public Life (2019).

<p> Melissa Rogers is a nationally known expert on religion in American public life. Her areas of expertise include the United States Constitution’s religious liberty guarantees and the interplay of religion, law, policy, and politics. Rogers currently serves as Visiting Professor at Wake Forest University School of Divinity and as a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. </p>

<p> Rogers previously served as Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (2013-2017), Chair of President Obama’s inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (2009-2010), Director of the Center for Religion and Public Affairs at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity (2003 – 2013), Executive Director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (2000 – 2003), and Associate Counsel/General Counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (1994 – 2000). </p>

<p> Rogers is author of Faith in American Public Life (2019) and co-author of Religious Freedom and the Supreme Court (2008). She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from both Wake Forest University and the John Leland Center for Theological Studies. Rogers holds a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.A. from Baylor University. In 2017, President Barack Obama appointed Rogers to serve as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Baylor University awarded her its Pro Texana Medal of Service and the First Freedom Center gave Rogers its Virginia First Freedom Award. National Journal has recognized Rogers as one of the church-state experts “politicians will call on when they get serious about addressing an important public policy issue.” </p>