Monthly Archives: November 2020

How to Welcome Faith Oriented Diversity in a Workplace: A Better Way

In this episode of The Forum Podcast, Dr. Brian Grim, Kent Johnson, and Paul Lambert of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation offer best practices to build successful & diverse religiously-inclusive workplaces.

Summit: How Embracing Religious Diversity & Inclusion Strengthens Workplaces

The BBC summarized the key findings of a new study on diversity as follows:

Widespread working from home could lead to an increase in racism and prejudice, a new report warns (BBC).

– Workplace friendships are key to breaking down misconceptions, the England and Wales study for the Woolf Institute suggests.
– Institute founder Ed Kessler said as more people work from home they risk going “back into isolated silos”.
– He called on ministers to focus on offices and workplaces as a “vital” area for improving community relations.
– The study, conducted by polling company Survation for the Woolf Institute, which researches interfaith relations, surveyed 11,701 people.

The Study

What do we think of our neighbours? And what do they think of us? When it comes to race, religion and immigration, what divides us and what brings us together? Do we all share the same experiences of the diverse everyday world around us? Or is diversity something other people do? These are some of the questions that motivated the Woolf Institute to produce How We Get Along: The Diversity Study of England and Wales 2020.

We surveyed 11,701 people across England and Wales and asked questions concerning their attitudes towards ethnic, national and religious diversity and their experiences of it. To bring these issues closer to home, we invited respondents to share their attitudes towards a close relative marrying someone from a different background. We also explored our lived experiences of diversity both at work and among friendship groups.

The study is the largest known study of diversity undertaken in the UK. We have the data needed to drill down to the local level, to consider a wide array of demographic and socio-economic factors and to make recommendations for future policymaking in this area.

For all media enquiries, email Ben Rich.

Principal Investigator Dr Edward Kessler edk21@cam.ac.uk

Lead Researcher Dr Julian Hargreaves jh970@cam.ac.uk

The Report, Executive Summary and Appendix are free to download:

Bryan Robinson, Ph.D., writing in Forbes, offers some helpful advice for a Pandemic Thanksgiving:

“Studies show that when we express gratitude, it raises our happiness by 25%. It’s simple science; whatever we focus on expands. When we express gratitude to the people we work with (for who they are and what they do), not only does it lift us up, it lifts them up, too. Consider making a gratitude list of the many things you’re grateful for—the coworkers, your career and other people and things, even pets—that make your life rich and full. After you’ve made your list, contemplate your appreciation for each item, especially anything you’ve taken for granted that would leave your life empty if you didn’t have it. Then share your gratitude through a card, email, Zoom or text to colleagues in the workplace.”

Read his full article here.

Women Filmmakers from Iran and Afghanistan Produce Docudrama Training Series to Advance Religious Freedom Worldwide

A direct outcome of the Marrakesh Declaration, U.N. Plan of Action and Potomac Declaration, LIVE WHAT YOU BELIEVE, promotes Multi-Faith living in the Workplace and Society.

(Los Angeles and Washington DC) – Launched on November 19, 2020 during the International Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, LIVE WHAT YOU BELIEVE is an interactive film -based training series to equip professionals and influencers to support freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) around the globe. The certificate eCourse training is a direct outcome of worldwide declarations to counter religious-based violence and discrimination. Created in partnership with Empower Women Media and other advocacy organizations, the training explores how freedom of belief is good for peaceful, prosperous, and thriving societies.

Contacts:

• Shirin Taber, Empower Women Media (Los Angeles, CA)
• shirin@visualstory.org – 949-235-5148
• http://empowerwomen.media/
• Brian Grim, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (Washington, DC)
• media@religiousfreedomandbusiness.org – 814-574-8672
• https://religiousfreedomandbusiness.org/film-competition-2020

“We hope this docudrama training series stimulates rich conversations and fruitful advocacy efforts that shift culture to support greater religious freedom in every corner of the world,” shared Shirin Taber, executive producer and director or Empower Women Media. Iranian-American, Taber’s family fled Iran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Her Iranian, Muslim father and American, Christian mother knew it would be too dangerous to live as a religiously-mixed family inside Iran’s Islamic republic. Today, Shirin shares her father gave her the enduring gift of religious freedom.

“Many organizations already do a great job documenting and publicizing the tragic cases of religious discrimination and persecution around the world,” shares Mariya Dostzadah Goodbrake, originally from Afghanistan. “While our series acknowledges these human rights violations, our focus is to draw attention to what is not being talked about enough – the many positive benefits of the universal right of freedom of religion, belief and conscience.”

In preparation for creating the training docudrama series, the producers, Nancy Sawyer Schraeder and Shirin Taber, conducted over a dozen interviews with some of the top religious freedom experts in the world. They filmed ambassadors, lawyers, advocates, and scholars as they shared their research and experience. Then, they interwove throughout the interviews the dramatic story of a young woman and her immigrant family experiencing the benefits of religious freedom in their workplace and community. As Nada Higuera, constitutional lawyer with a Palestinian heritage explains, “Cultivating freedom of belief and conscience unleashes creativity and innovation which is needed more than ever in our increasingly global world.”

The four episode online training series, which can be completed in 60-90 minutes, explores freedom of belief and how it contributes to peaceful and stable societies, empowers women, and encourages business and innovation. Discussion questions and curriculum accompany the docudramas. The certificate eCourse seeks to educate, empower, and equip influencers to advance freedom of religion or belief in the marketplace and society.

Normally a $180 certificate eCourse, Empower Women Media is offering the online workshop for free until December 30, 2020.

Live What You Believe registration link: https://human-rights-and-religious-freedom-training.teachable.com/p/home

Free Scholarship Code: LWYB2020

Research confirms that people are more entrepreneurial and productive when they are allowed to freely express their beliefs (whether religious or secular) and bring their whole selves to work. As Jacqueline Isaac, an Egyptian and international lawyer, says: “We cannot ignore that in order to flourish, people have to be able to address their deepest questions of existence and meaning, both privately and in community with others.”

For more information about the LIVE WHAT YOU BELIEV eCourse, contact the Empower Women Media Director, Shirin Taber at shirin@visualstory.org or www.empowerwomen.media

Expert Interviews:

• – Dr. Brian Grim (Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)
• – Robert Seiple (Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom)
• – Lou Ann Sabatier (21 Wilberforce)
• – Greg Mitchell (International Religious Freedom Round Table)
• – Katherine Cash (The FoRB Learning Platform)
• – Dr. Azza Karam (Religions For Peace)
• – Dr. Paul Marshal (Baylor University)
• – Rabbi Michael Shevack (The Alliance for Enlighted Judaism)
• – Ed Brown (Stefanus Alliance International)
• – Hussein Aboubakr (Educator and Advocate)
• – Kristina Arriaga (US Commission on International Religious Freedom)
• – Jacqueline Isaac (International Lawyer and Women’s Rights Advocate)
• – Nada Higuera (Constitutional Lawyer)

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WASHINGTON DC | DALLAS, TX

What: Launch of Multi-Faith Calendar for 2021
When: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, 6:30pm Eastern US Time
Registration: click here to register
Contact Email for Event Planner: Almas Muscatwalla

See the 2021 Multi-Faith Calendar.

Today, businesses, civic and faith organizations, non-profits, schools, social groups and families exist in a multi-faith environment. Join us for the launch of a new tool put together by the multi-faith community in Dallas, Texas, that is designed to help promote interfaith understanding and religious inclusion in workplaces across the country in our increasingly pluralistic society.

The tool is the first iteration of a multi-faith calendar produced by the Thanks-Giving Foundation of Dallas, Texas. It is the result of the cooperation of many of the local faith groups associated with the foundation, with the aim of expanding the calendar in 2022 to include an even more diverse range of faiths and beliefs. 

To make suggestions for the 2022 calendar, email RFBF and we’ll pass them along.

Speakers

Dr. Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, will speak on the benefits of this new tool for the business community. Indeed, one of the important new developments in corporate America is a push to recognize and accommodate the religious needs of employees, with companies as diverse as Accenture, Google and Dollar Stores placing an emphasis on a workplace “religious accommodation mindset.”

The launch event will be kicked off by Dr. Eboo Patel. Eboo founded Interfaith Youth Core on the idea that religion should be a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division. He is inspired to build this bridge by his identity as an American Muslim navigating a religiously diverse social landscape.

Dr. Michael Hinojosa, Superintendent Dallas Independent School District (ISD), will talk about the importance of this calendar for school planning, and James. C. Scoggin, Jr., CEO, Methodist Health System will highlight the impact of this knowledge in the medical institutions.

The chief architects of the calendar are Rose Marie Stromberg and Almas Muscatwalla. They will introduce several of the speakers as will Chris Trowbridge, Chairman, The Thanks-Giving Foundation; Kyle Ogden, President and CEO, The Thanks-Giving Foundation; and Andy Stoker, a member of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square and the Faith Advisory Committee for The Dallas Morning News..

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Washington DC | Warsaw, Poland

What: Virtual IRF Roundtable
When: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, 2-4pm Eastern US Time
Optional Registration: click here to register (optional)
Webex link on the day: click here to download details
Contact Email for Event Planner: ben@irfsecretariat.net

At the conclusion of the formal meetings of the Third Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief hosted this year by the government of Poland, a Virtual IRF Roundtable will be launched to focus on how we can help to construct mechanisms for global and regional cooperation and coordination.

At the Roundtable, after opening remarks from Polish and U.S. government officials, we will deliver updates on the IRF Roundtable and the global network of religious freedom roundtables and partners, introduce IRF Secretariat as a global coordination mechanism, hear from civil society leaders on the need for global and regional cooperation and coordination, and learn about a planned survey to determine how we can most effectively foster cooperative engagement and global coordination across global networks of religious freedom roundtables, governments, and parliamentarians.

BACKGROUND

On November 16-17, 2020, the government of Poland will host the third Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Due to COVID-19, this year’s Ministerial will be entirely virtual.

After opening remarks by leaders of the Polish and U.S. governments, remarks will be delivered by the heads of all high-level government delegations.

During the second day (from 1.00 PM – 6.45 PM CET / 7:00 am – 12:45 pm EST), Poland will bring together members of civil society and religious organizations to discuss topics of freedom of religion or belief in relation to COVID-19, Sustainable Development Goals, and security. There will be three sessions:

• • — Session 1 (General Session): United in Dialogue during COVID-19
  • — Session 2 (Thematic Session): FoRB in support of Agenda 2030
  • — Session 3 (Thematic Session): FoRB and security – can they be harmonized?

The IRF Virtual Roundtable

DRAFT AGENDA

1. Welcome
   • – Greg Mitchell, IRF Roundtable & IRF Secretariat
2. Opening Remarks & Reports
   • – Polish Government official (invited)
   • – US Government official (invited)
3. IRF Roundtable & Global Network
   • Update
     • – Greg Mitchell, IRF Roundtable
   • Successful Case Studies:
     • – Sudan: William Devlin, REDEEM (invited)
     • – Kazakhstan: Wade Kusack, Love Your Neighbor Community (LYNC)
     • – SEAFORB Network: Thang Nguyen, Boat People SOS
   • Successful Outcomes
   • IRF Secretariat
     • Description
       • – Greg Mitchell, IRF Secretariat
     • Global Panel
       • – Jan Figel, Global FoRB Leadership Council
       • – David Anderson, IPPFoRB
       • – Moderator: Paul Murray, IRF Secretariat
     • Regional Panel
       • – Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP South Africa and AfriPahr (African Parliamentarians for Human Rights) (invited)
       • – Sir Charles Hoare, UK/Western Europe
       • – Raúl Marroquín, Latin America
       • – Moderator: Simran Singh Stuelpnagel, IRF Secretariat
     • Survey
       • – Brian Grim, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation
       5. Closing Remarks
          • • – Special Guest
            • – U.S. Senator James Lankford
            • – Greg Mitchell, IRF Roundtable & IRF Secretariat

DEI Strategy

In this episode of The Forum Podcast, Dr. Brian Grim, Kent Johnson, and Paul Lambert of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation offer best practices to build successful & diverse religiously inclusive workplaces.

Companies are increasingly intrigued or concerned about the growing emphasis on religious diversity at work. Increasingly, company leaders are realizing that, for many employees, it is their faith, more than any other single factor, that defines their core identity. When corporate culture constrains them from referring to their faith at work, they feel devalued, and forced “under cover.” They feel they can’t “be themselves.” They can become alienated from their work. Yet, many business leaders have no idea how to approach the topic of faith and belief in the workplace. They wonder: What are the best practices in this area? What are pitfalls to avoid? What can/should be done? We at the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation have been working for years with companies that are trailblazers in religious diversity. We can report that there is a better way. Join us to learn more!

Learning Outcomes

• — Learn best practices through an overview of successful and diverse religiously inclusive workplaces
• — Understand pitfalls to avoid by seeing cost of a religiously non-inclusive workplace
• — Grasp breadth of the faith at work movement be seeing how it has grown in the past 12 months

Faith Based Groups Within US Corporations

Join us for events focused on US, India, Canada and ASEAN from Bangkok, Winnipeg & Washington DC

India (US-India SME Council) – Nov. 6

Canada (ELO Forum) – Nov. 9

ASEAN (SEAFoRB) – Nov. 9/10

United States (RFBF) – Nov. 10