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CAFO President

Jedd Medefind

Jedd Medefind loves journeying life with his wife, Rachel.  He relishes wrestling matches with his five children—Siena, Marin, Eden, Lincoln, and Phoebe.  Most of all, he desires to reflect the heart of Jesus Christ in all of life.

Jedd has seen (and experienced!) that lives are turned upside-down when Christians begin to reflect God’s heart through adoption, foster care and service to orphans worldwide.

More about Jedd

Desiring to spur this kind of transformation through the Church, Jedd serves as President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans.

Through CAFO, more than 300 respected organizations unite in shared initiatives, along with a wide network of churches.  CAFO’s membership works in tandem to inspire and equip families, churches and organizations for effective service to vulnerable children and families — from adoption and US foster care, to aid and empowerment programs worldwide.

Prior to his this role, Jedd served in the White House as a Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, leading the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.   In this post, he oversaw reform efforts across the government to make community- and faith-based groups central partners in all Federal efforts to aid the needy, from prisoner reentry to global AIDS.  As described by the Harvard Political Review, these reforms “fundamentally changed the government’s strategy for improving the lives of the downtrodden…”

Previously, Jedd held a range of posts in the California State Legislature.  He also helped establish the California Community Renewal Project, which strengthens nonprofits in some of the state’s most challenged communities.  He has worked, studied and served in more than thirty countries, with organizations ranging from Price-Waterhouse in Moscow to Christian Life Bangladesh.

Books written by Jedd include Upended and Four Souls.  He also writes articles and op-eds for publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post to Comment Magazine, and engages radio interviews with both faith-based and mainstream outlets, from NPR and Al Jazeera to Moody Radio.  Jedd's most recent book, Becoming Home, offers a brief-yet-rich exploration of how families and communities can embrace vulnerable children with wisdom and love through adoption, foster care, mentoring and more.

If you are interested in having Jedd Medefind speak at your event, please fill out the form below.

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This includes: hotel, rental car, per diem travel meals and other miscellaneous expenses.
While honoraria support the time and work required for travel and speaking, Jedd never wants finances to be a primary barrier. While Jedd's standard honoraria for events requiring overnight travel is $2,000 (made as a donation to the ongoing work of CAFO), we are glad to receive invitations from ministries unable to provide the full honorarium.

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