Monthly Archives: August 2023

RFBF Senior Business Fellow joins Wheatley Institute at Religion Initiative Director

Today, BYU’s Wheatley Institute welcomed Dr. Paul Lambert as the inaugural director of the Wheatley Institute’s Religion Initiative.

Dr. Lambert is a national expert on religious pluralism in society. He has worked extensively with global businesses on accommodating religious belief in the workplace. He is a board member and senior business fellow at the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, overseeing their corporate training and consulting. Lambert holds a doctorate from Georgetown University, a masters degree from Tufts University and a bachelors from BYU.

Wheatley Institute’s Religion Initiative promotes the critical role of religion and religious pluralism for human dignity and human flourishing.

“We are honored to have Dr. Paul Lambert join our team. He reinforces the values of the Wheatley Institute and we are excited to see what Dr. Lambert does in this capacity. We know he will do nothing short of amazing work to fortify religion’s place in society,” said Paul Edwards, Director of the Wheatley Institute.

“Paul is the perfect person for this new role,” said Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) President, Dr. Brian Grim. “Paul’s already substantial contributions in the area of workplace religious inclusion will be taken to a whole new level as he leads the Wheatley Institute’s new religion initiative. I am thrilled for Paul and look forward to many more years of continued collaboration on corporate training and consulting with him from this impactful new platform!”

Read Paul Lambert’s Bio Here

CHICAGO: Brian Grim to Give Plenary at Parliament of the World’s Religions

During 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions, Dr. Brian Grim, President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, will deliver a plenary address during the “Plenary on Community Strategies” (Thursday, August 17th) on how employee faith-based and interfaith groups (ERGs) within the worlds largest corporations build strong, resilient communities.

Grim will share a variety of examples from the growing number of companies that are including religion and belief as part of their commitments to building diverse, equitable and inclusive (DEI) workplaces. By allowing people to bring their faith to work, they also bring their faith-inspired “love of neighbor,” which not only creates more resilient workplaces but also impacts the ways companies engage on pressing social issues. Examples range from combatting human trafficking to empowering marginalized groups within the communities the companies serve.

The Plenary on Community Strategies is a dynamic and engaging gathering that explores innovative approaches to building strong, resilient communities. Joining Grim are a range of expert speakers who will also share their experiences, insights, and proven best practices on how to create effective community-driven solutions to pressing social issues.

By bringing together diverse voices from around the world, this Plenary on Community Strategies promises to be an empowering opportunity to reflect on: How do we build meaningful partnerships between communities, governments, and other stakeholders? What are practical tools for designing and implementing community-based projects? How do we take concrete steps towards creating more equitable and sustainable societies?

The plenary begins with an overview of the importance of community-led initiatives in addressing complex challenges facing communities and nations including the loss of freedoms, the degradation of civil society, the backsliding of democratic institutions, and gross violations of human rights. Leading faith, political, and grassroots leaders share their successes and failures in implementing community strategies in diverse contexts.

Religions for Peace USA is sponsoring a panel discussion on workplace religious accommodation at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions. The panel, “Accommodation of Religious Identity in the US Workplace,” will take place Wednesday, Aug 16, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM in Hall E-Room 3.

This panel will explore the role of religion and religious identity in the workplace across the United States. It will cover a brief background of how faith has been accommodated at work in the United States (with examples), the current status, and the future outlook.

• Moderator:
• – Rev. Margaret Rose
• Panelists:
• – Sikh – Supreet Singh Manchanda
• – Muslim – Arshia Ali-Khan
• – Christian – Rev. Paul Kottke
• – Jewish – Georgette Bennett
• – Overview – Brian Grim

The Parliament of the World’s Religions is honored to announce the participation of Mustafa Abu Sway, Nivedita Bhide, and Brian J. Grim as luminaries of the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions, coming to Chicago, USA from August 14-18, 2023.

Luminaries Answering the Call to Conscience

The featured luminaries at the 2023 Parliament Convening are a diverse cohort of faith, spiritual, civic, and governmental leaders answering the call to conscience to defend freedom and human rights.

Mustafa Abu Sway

Mustafa Abu Sway is the first holder (2012-2020) of the Integral Chair for the Study of Imam Ghazali’s Work at the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and at Al-Quds University (HM King Abdullah II Endowment). He was Dean at the College of Islamic Studies, Al-Quds University (2014-2020).

Abu Sway has been a Professor of Philosophy and Islamic Studies at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Palestine, since 1996. He taught at the International Islamic University in Malaysia (1993-96) and was a visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University (2003-4), as well as a visiting professor at Bard College, New York (2008-2010).

Prof. Abu Sway is author of three books on Imam Al-Ghazali: “Islamic Epistemology: The Case of Al-Ghazali”, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur, 1995, and in Malay in 2004; “Fatawa Al-Ghazali” (Arabic) (Al-Ghazali’s Religious Rulings) (ISTAC, Kuala Lumpur, 1996); and “A Treasury of Al-Ghazali” (Kube Publishing, London, 2017).

He contributed to several interfaith publications on prophets Abraham (1999), Moses (2003), Jesus (2007), and Ishmael and Isaac (2019) by PASSIA, Jerusalem, Palestine.

Prof. Abu Sway is a member of Hashemite Fund for the Restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and the Islamic Waqf Council in Jerusalem.

Nivedita Bhide

Nivedita Raghunath Bhide is a Jeevan Vrati (Life Worker) from Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, India where since 1977 has the responsibility of All India Vice President. She trains the dedicated full-time workers and teachers of Vivekananda Kendra and serves as the coordinator of Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture, Guwahati. Nivedita is a regular faculty in Yoga and spiritual camps, having participated In the Seminar on Swami Vivekananda at ICCR in 2013 in Melbourne, Australia, and the International Meeting of Educational Experts at Darwin, Australia convened by UNESCO for the Asia-Pacific region in 1999. She has served as a trustee of the Vivekananda International Foundation since its inception and a member of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations since July 2020.

Nivedita has written over 15 Books, presented papers in national and international seminars, and given lectures in IITs and Universities, including Kansas University in the USA. She is the recipient of Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2017 for social service; a degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) from Desh Bhagat University, Punjab in 2017 in the field of ‘Service to Mankind’ in the faculty of social sciences for contribution in promoting universal brotherhood amongst mankind; a degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) from SNDT Women University, Mumbai in 2019;  and the Award of ‘Shiksha Bhushan’ from Akhil Bharatiya Shaikshik Mahasangh in November 2019.

Brian J. Grim

Brian J. Grim, Ph.D. (Penn State), is the founding president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and works with Fortune 500 companies to include religion and belief as part of their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. He is the leading expert on the positive socio-economic impact of freedom of religion and belief for all.

Previously, Brian was chair of the World Economic Forum’s council on the role of faith, a Davos speaker, a TEDx speaker at the Vatican, and director of global religion data research at the highly respected Pew Research Center in Washington DC. He is the author of scores of academic articles and several books. He also was an educator in the former Soviet Union, China, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe from 1982-2002. He lives at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where his wife coordinates study abroad for the Navy. They are co-authors of Grims’ New Fairy Tales of Love Overcoming Evil, and have four grown children and 16 grandkids!

Join Us in Defending Freedom and Human Rights!

Mustafa Abu Sway, Nivedita Bhide, and Brian J. Grim are joining thousands of global attendees committed to answering our call to conscience and taking a stand for freedom, democracy, and human rights. Register. Learn more here→

Chaplains at AZZ

Ken Lavelle, EVP of Operations from AZZ, North America’s largest metal galvanizing company, discussed with Julie A. Wilkes, Global Well-being Senior Manager for Accenture, how providing spiritual care saved the company. Questions discussed during the 4th annual 2023 Dare to Overcome Faith@Work Conference in Washington DC included:

Even among Christians, DEI leaders find themselves isolated and unsupported.

Michelle Loyd-Paige served as the executive associate to the president for diversity and inclusion (emeritus) at Calvin University. Read article.

As part of the World Economic Forum’s Faith in Action initiative, we are conducting a survey about Faith + Business initiatives. This is an opportunity to share about your faith@work and/or ERG initiative.

Selected initiatives will be featured in the rollout of the Faith in Action report to be released at Davos 2024.

The deadline to complete the survey is September 4, so please take 10-15 minutes to share about your initiative. This is a chance to let your light shine!

If you are involved in a Faith and Business project, please reach out to Religious Freedom & Business Foundation President Brian Grim to participate in the World Economic Forum survey where you can share information about the project. See PDF of survey questions.

Milind Makwana, who passed away in July 2023, was the leader of the Hindu faith community within PayPal’s broader Faith Employee Resource Group – . Milind was also the founder of Dharmatoys.com – a website catered towards offering faith-based toys, games & apparels. Milind authored two kids books, his first book is  “A Day in Life of a Hindu Kid” is highly rated and his second book was recently launched on Kickstarter.  Milind held a Bachelors Engineering degree in Electronics & Telecommunications and completed his Advanced Program management course from Stanford.

In a June 16, 2022, interview, Milind answered questions of David Brenner, AI and Faith’s Board Chair, about his work and what drove his leadership within PayPal Believe: Read the interview.

Join us in an enlightening conversation with Brian J. Grim, the leading expert on the vital connection between economic sustainability and freedom of religion or belief. As the founding president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and global chairman of Dare to Overcome, Brian’s passion for this topic is unparalleled. Listen (interview starts at 1:30 minute mark).

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