Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal preacher and Obama campaign adviser, has been named to head the new administration’s office of faith-based initiatives, The New York Times reports, citing unnamed religious leaders.

The revamped and renamed Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is expected to have a broader mandate under President Obama, overseeing distribution of grants to religious and community groups but also looking for other ways to involve such agencies in solving social problems.

Mr. DuBois, who holds a master’s degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University, left law school to go to work for then-Senator Obama. During the presidential transition he consulted with religious and charity groups on the contentious question of rescinding a Bush administration ruling that allows religious groups that receive federal funds to hire only people of their own faith.

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