User:Council Nedd II

Bishop Council Nedd is a man of many talents, interests, and vocations. In addition to serving as the Bishop of the Chesapeake and the Northeast in the Episcopal Missionary Church, he leads several non-profit organizations, serves in the senior leadership of half a dozen international societies and also takes time to indulge in one of his favorite hobbies – politics.

Although he had always felt called to the ministry, Council actually started his professional life as a political campaign worker and Congressional staffer. An expert in state health care initiatives, he worked in health care advocacy and lobbied on both the state and federal levels. While working in politics, however, he continued to pursue his true vocation and was ordained a priest in 1999.

His interest in the needs of young people led him to leave politics and, for several years, he taught at-risk youths at a charter school in the District of Columbia. While leading his students to an impressive series of wins in debate competitions, he also began work on a non-profit group which would dedicate itself to addressing a range of issues affecting underserved communities. That effort led to the formation of the Alliance for Health, Education, and Development (AHEAD), an organization doing  health educational and capacity development work in the US and several African nations. Audiences find his personal and energetic speaking style both engaging and informative. Despite his expertise in health care and politics and his status as a senior member of the clergy, his speeches contain as many references to pop culture as public policy, and are always made more entertaining by the inclusion of real life stories drawn from his experiences.

Bishop Nedd has been knighted several times. His awards include the Grand Cross of St. Thomas the Apostle, the Grand Cross of the Royal Confraternity of Sao Teotonio and holds the rank of Grand Officer in the Order of the Eagle and Seamless Tunic of our Lord. He was bestowed the rank of Senior Chaplain and Knight Commander in the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem; is a Knight Commander and US Prior for the Royal Sovereign Military & Hospitaler Order of St. John of Jerusalem; is a Knight Commander in the Order of the Star of Honor of Ethiopia and was made a knight in the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, in which he serves as a Deputy Grand Chaplain for the US.