Reverend Jennifer Kottler currently the Associate Pastor at Park Avenue Christian Church in Manhattan, NY. She is the former Director of Policy and Advocacy at Sojourners. Jennifer has also served as the Campaign Director for the Illinois Works for the Future campaign at the Chicago Jobs Council and as the former Executive Director of the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, a campaign that has worked since 2004 to raise the minimum wage to the level of a living wage.  Jennifer is also the former Deputy Director of Protestants for the Common Good in Chicago, where she worked at the city, state and federal level for strong public policies to achieve greater racial, social, gender and economic justice.  In this position, she fought for policies addressing issues of sexual orientation and gender equality, increasing the cash grant for families on TANF, child health insurance, regulation of the pay day loan industry, and affordable housing.  An experienced organizer and lobbyist, Jennifer received her M.Div. from the Divinity School of The University of Chicago and is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

A widely sought-after speaker and consultant in the area of faith-based legislative advocacy and activism, Jennifer serves as a trainer for Wellstone Action, Sojourners, and the Willow Creek Association.  She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, and currently serves as the Senior Advisor for Domestic Poverty for the Disciples Center for Public Witness in Washington, DC.  She has spoken at numerous conferences, in congregational settings, and at other events across the U.S. and throughout the world.  Most recently, Jennifer spoke about poverty on a faith caucus panel at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Jennifer served as teacher, vocational rehabilitation counselor and case manager for persons with disabilities in Fairfax County, Virginia for 10 years, having earned an M.A. in Special Education from the George Washington University in 1995. She has a B.A. from Bethany College (WV) with a major in psychology.  Her passion is working on issues that impact low-income families.