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Mara Vanderslice has given a lot of thought to the role of belief in public life—it's what she does for a living. As the founder of Common Good Strategies, a consulting firm based in Alexandria, VA, Vanderslice works with Democratic political candidates to help them reach out to religious voters. Here she discusses some of the particulars of her work—and its potential to impact the country.

Vanderslice addresses the relationship between belief and public life:

-For video of the full interview with Mara Vanderslice, click here.

-For video of the full interview with her partner, Eric Sapp, click here.

-And to read more about the work Common Good does, click here.

To see more of what Vanderslice has to say, click the thumbnails:

Vanderslice on 2008 Democratic presidential candidates speaking of faith

Reaching religious voters with "authenticity" and "respect"

Vanderslice converted after meeting people whose faith led them to serve

“Democrats had been tone deaf to issues of faith in the public square”

Vanderslice talks about starting Common Good Strategies

She says it's not about linking religion and the Democratic Party

How can we know politicians discussing religion are sincere?

She says the work took a lot of time – and went beyond the surface level.

“What we really found was a desire for politics based on conviction”

“Eric and I say we would love to put ourselves out of a job."

Video photography by Lynn Olszowy, video production by Lynae Anderson.