Curtiss Paul DeYoung a noted racial justice academic, activist, and author. Presently he is the CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches. Its twenty-seven member communions come from Historic Black, Mainline Protestant, Pentecostal, Greek Orthodox, and Peace Churches in Minnesota. DeYoung previously served as the Executive Director of the historic faith-based racial justice organization Community Renewal Society in Chicago with its unique programmatic combination of church-based community organizing, policy advocacy, and investigative journalism.

Dr. DeYoung was the inaugural Professor of Reconciliation Studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. Rev. DeYoung served at congregations in Minneapolis, New York City, and Washington, DC. He is an ordained minister in the Church of God (Anderson, IN). He consults and speaks nationally and internationally with extensive relationships among activists and peacemakers across the United States and in South Africa and the Holy Land.

DeYoung earned a Doctor of Education from the University of St. Thomas (MN) and a Master of Divinity from Howard University School of Theology (Washington, DC).

He is an author and editor of thirteen books on racial justice, reconciliation, social justice activism, and cultural competency. With South African anti-apartheid activist Allan Boesak, he co-authored Radical Reconciliation: Beyond Political Pietism and Christian Quietism (Orbis). He was on the editorial team for The Peoples' Bible (Fortress). His book Coming Together in the 21st Century: The Bible's Message in an Age of Diversity (Judson) is a defining text in the cultural hermeneutics of the Bible.