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Rev. Dr. Sammie J. Dow is the Senior Pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia. At "The Grove," as it is affectionately known, Dr. Dow leads a growing and vibrant 2,000-member congregation in their vision of transforming lives. His ministry focuses on empowering people to reach their maximum potential in life, family and work. You can learn more about The Grove here.
Dr. Dow served as the Georgia Faith and African American Vote Director for Biden for President. He coordinated more than 800 congregations across the state to implement Souls to the Polls programming and other faith-based activity to increase African American voter turnout. Additionally, we was responsible for engaging more than 70 pastors to implement voter protection and vote-by-mail initiatives within their denominations and congregations. These efforts contributed to a democratic presidential nominee winning the state of Georgia for the first time in 28 years. He also served as African American Vote Director for the Democratic Party of Georgia’s Coordinated Campaign during the January 2021 U.S. Senate runoff election. His efforts supported increased Black voter turnout resulting in the historic election of Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. |
Additionally, Dr. Dow serves as Principal and CEO of The SJD Group, a comprehensive small business and nonprofit consulting firm focused on building capacity among national and local advocacy institutions, churches, public health organizations, and grassroots movements. They develop strategies that promote efficiency, provide strategic technical assistance in solving organizational challenges, and connect faith-based constituents with organizations that maximize their community presence and impact.
Dr. Dow was recently appointed as a Professor of Religious Studies at Beulah Heights University and as a doctoral cohort mentor at Payne Theological Seminary. In November 2020, his first book, Protect Your Peace: Tools for Managing Your Mind and Emotions, was released.
Dr. Dow was licensed and ordained for Gospel ministry by Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania under the leadership of Dr. William H. Curtis. He also served as a staff pastor at The Luke Church, in Humble, Texas, under the leadership of Dr. Timothy W. Sloan.
He has served as the National Director of the NAACP Youth and College Division – the nation’s largest organized group of youth activists with more than 20,000 members under the age of 25. During his tenure, the Division experienced a significant percent membership increase and engaged more than 8.5 million young people, across the country, on issues of police reform, racial profiling and gun violence.
To support his ministry’s outreach, he founded Sammie Dow Ministries, which shares inspiring, motivating and empowering messages through the vehicles of preaching, teaching, motivational speaking, seminars, strategic consulting and contemporary apparel. He is building a culture that blends faith with advocacy by creating practical solutions that encourage people to maximize their potential.
Dr. Dow is a subscribing silver life member of the NAACP, where he serves on the Executive Committee for the Georgia NAACP, and is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. He also serves as an at-large chaplain with the Cobb County Police Department.
A proud native of High Point, North Carolina, Dr. Dow earned a Bachelor of Science from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, a Master of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, and an Executive Certificate in Community Health Leadership from the Morehouse School of Medicine. He also earned a Master of Divinity from The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University and a Doctor of Ministry in Transformational Preaching from Payne Theological Seminary.
He is extremely fortunate to share life with his wife and best friend, Dr. Jacqueline Dow, a public health research scientist and CEO of J. Dow Fitness, LLC. You can learn more about Dr. Jacqueline here.
