Welcome to OECouncil.org
The Office of the Ecclesiastical Council (OEC) was established in 1993 and is a not-for-profit advocacy and executive management provider organization dedicated to transforming faith-based initiatives from concept to reality. OEC was established to provide assistance to church and community leaders, ministries, 501(c)(3) community organizations and other non-profit corporations with the mission to improve the quality of life, education and economics for the underserved population.
For more than 25 years, Bishop Henry M. Washington, Ph.D., AMDA, has worked to improve the quality of life in America’s urban and rural communities by identifying and securing the investment of public and private resources in minority and small business; ventures, with a specific focus on faith-based and community organizations. OEC works with the U.S. Small Business Administration to develop programs to promote women-owned businesses throughout the United States. OEC’s unique blending of coaching, training, resource development, funding procurement and advocacy, works to create transformational and sustainable growth.
A Little History
During the Reagan administration, the President spoke before the full Congress indicating that the federal government was not doing an acceptable job in representing the needs of the nation's poor. It was during this administration that the Faith-Based Initiative was conceived. While it did not get beyond the embryonic stage, the concept was put into place - yet little was done to move the program forward.
In 1989, President George Herbert Walker Bush met with several leading African American religious leaders - only to be disappointed that efforts to work through churches was meeting with little or no success. It was evident that minority communities were not receiving measurable benefits from various grants and housing opportunities.
Our current President has energized the Faith-Based Initiative by giving it substance, commitment and a sense of direction. The existing challenge is that our nation's poor continue to be underserved. To further complicate the situation, our churches and non-profits are baffled by the inner-workings of city, state, and federal governments relating to gaining access to grants. Further, they lack an understanding of the importance and responsibility of strategic alliances, collaborative partnerships and the administration of programs.
This site is sponsored by B2B Funding, LLC