Jay Hein

Who is Jay Hein?

Jay F. Hein is a former Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and Deputy Assistant to U.S President George W. Bush. As director of the OFBCI, he was charged with the mission of expanding and strengthening the influence of faith based organizations in providing social welfare services. Hein resigned from the post in September 2008 to take a position with the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, and to return to his former job as president of the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, a non- profit Indianapolis, Indiana based think tank.

While at the OFBCI, Hein viewed one of its purposes as leveling the playing field for small religious groups that wanted to obtain government grants. He also supported the "hiring rights" of religious- based organizations to require membership in their own religion as a condition of employment, regardless of whether the organization received federal funds.

Prior to his appointment to the OFBCI, Hein, as president and founder of the Sagamore Institute, conducted research that concentrated on community-based reforms. Previous to his involvement with Sagamore, Hein was the director of the conservative Hudson Institute's Civil Society programs. While there, Hein conducted research and analysis to support Wisconsin's welfare reform program and he assisted former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, and the state of Wisconsin in devising welfare replacement alternatives such as welfare to work and post secondary training and education.