Reverend Darrell Armstrong Shiloh Community Development Corporation, New Jersey

The Rev. Darrell L. Armstrong is in his 21st year as pastor of the Shiloh Baptist Church, the oldest Black Baptist church in Trenton, New Jersey.

Armstrong is intimately acquainted with JEDI — issues of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. A Los Angeles native, he and his family were part of the first wave of busing in the 1970s to integrate the Los Angeles Unified School District.

He and his three younger brothers also spent most of their childhoods in foster/kinship care through the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services.

Armstrong’s policy training at Stanford University (where he earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy), his theological training at Princeton Theological Seminary (master’s in divinity) and his clinical training at The College of New Jersey (post-master’s Ed.S. in marriage and family therapy) has made him a respected voice in the national and international child welfare and family well-being communities.

Now, he’s pursuing a doctorate in social work at the University of Southern California, where his dissertation work focuses on developing trauma-informed, resilient houses of worship and communities.

In 2016, he was appointed chief administrative officer to the United Nations for the Baptist World Alliance, the world’s largest umbrella organization of Christians of Baptist heritage (47 million globally).

He’s a board member of several organizations committed to JEDI for Black, Indigenous and other people of color:

• Princeton Theological Seminary
• Center for Theological Inquiry
• Stanford University’s Founding Grant Society
• American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
• Faith Leaders Against Abuse In The Home

Armstrong is a life member of the NAACP and Stanford Alumni Association, and a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., the only Black Greek-letter organization to have five heads of state as members.

Armstrong is also the father of two teenagers.