Nettles was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn on October 8, 2009, as a Commissioner to Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. His role as a Commissioner is to promote and support community service in public and private programs to meet the needs of Illinois citizens; stimulate new volunteerism and community service initiatives and partnerships.
Frederick D. Nettles, Jr., on October 4, 2012, has recently been honored with appointment to the Illinois Mentoring Partnership’s Steering Committee. Illinois joins 28 other state and local partnerships within MENTOR’s network to help ensure quality mentoring is supported and expanded.
Nettles accepted the position of Illinois Department of Human Services’ (IDHS) Director of Partners for Hope Program (PFH) in January of 2001. The PFH program has evolved into developing capacity among our faith-based partners to support families in their communities who are trying to achieve self-sufficiency. Pastor Nettles is described as a “man on a mission” developing 1,500 partnerships with community and faith-based institutions that support families as they move from welfare to work.
Nettles is committed to helping families stay connected to community resources which offers them hope. This commitment has earned him recognition throughout the country. Nettles has been recognized nationally as an expert on faith-based related issues and provides ongoing consulting work to assist other state agencies and other states to help jump start their faith-based initiatives. In 2005, Nettles was selected as one of the panel speakers for The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government: The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy at their Annual Conference.
In addition to his Partner for Hope duties, Nettles has managed and directed the State of Illinois and Federal governmental resources to create public and private partnerships. This successful collaboration has produced $25 million dollars of economic development in Alexander County and Venice community.
Nettles is a highly regarded and respected Pastor throughout the State of Illinois. He is the Founding Pastor of Living Word Fellowship Ministries, a vibrant, spirit-filled multi-racial Church that ministers to both the heart of its members and the community as a whole. Nettles was born and raised in Harvey, Illinois. Nettles has been married to Wanda Nettles for thirty years and they have one daughter LaTrice Nettles. He is the Senior Pastor of Living Word Fellowship Church and CEO of Living Word Fellowship Ministries in Springfield. He completed a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville; a Bachelor of Science in Workforce Education, Training and Development from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; and an Associate of Applied Science in Business Administration from Southwestern Illinois College.
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