Opening Prayer Rev. Professor Quardricos Bernard Driskel

Pastor of the Historic Beulah Baptist Church | Alexandria, VA

The Reverend Professor Driskell is a graduate of Morehouse College, Harvard University Divinity School, and The George Washington University Reverend Professor Quardricos Bernard Driskell is a pastor, policy expert, educator, and federal lobbyist

Reverend Professor Driskell, affectionately called “Reverend Professor” by his students, is also an Adjunct Professor of Legislative Affairs at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management He lectures on the politics of Congress, human sexuality, race, and religion

Reverend Professor Driskell’s credits include a significant role in the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 Signed into law by President Barack Obama, this critical regulation was designed to help fund the acceleration of research into preventing and curing serious illnesses, improving mental health service delivery, and bringing innovations and advances to significant patient legislation

Reverend Professor Driskell has recently been appointed Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs for the Autoimmune Association. He was thrice awarded “Top Lobbyist” by the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics (NILE) and recognized as The Hill’s Top Lobbyist of 2021 for his work on the passage of the Veterans’ Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act of 2020, which is another legislative credit of Professor Driskell, which would create a comprehensive prostate cancer care program in the Veteran Administration (VA) In addition, he has been bestowed numerous other citations in politics, public policy, and advocacy

Reverend Professor Driskell’s is widely published His essays have been published in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin and other noteworthy publications In addition, he is a political columnist for the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church’s newspaper The Christian Recorder, and an opinion contributor for the Washington DC top political news site, "The Hill"

His work and insights have been featured in several national and international news outlets, including the New York Times, Religion&Politics, Voice of America, NBC News, MSNBC, Religion News Service, the BBC, and Showtime’s Documentary, “The Fourth Estate”

Reverend Professor Driskell continues the tradition of service as the fourteenth pastor of the historic Beulah Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, where he served as assistant pastor under Rev Dr Columbus Watson Before leading the congregation of Beulah Baptist, he was the assistant pastor at the historic West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia In addition, he was assistant director of The Memorial Church School, Harvard University, under the tutelage of the late Reverend Professor Peter Gomes