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Monthly Archives: July 2024

Latin America Area Faith@Work Network Founding Meeting

31 Jul, 2024


• Aug. 22, 2024
• Virtual: 2:00-3:30pm (Brasilia Time); 11am-1:30pm (Mexico City tTime)

In tandem with the G20 Interfaith Forum in Brasilia, Brazil, we will launch the Latin America Area Faith@Work Network. This is part of a growing trend where top companies are including faith and belief as part of their diversity initiative, as shown in our 2024 report.

Representatives of businesses throughout Latin America are invited to join virtually or in person for the launch of this network on August 22. Presentations by member of interfaith Employee resource Groups (ERGs) from Salesforce, DELL Technologies, and SAP.

Zoom Link here

Paris Olympics are behind the curve on DEI

30 Jul, 2024

Including Religion as a Core Part of DEI is the Trend

Brian Grim

A performance during the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics triggered a backlash — including from France’s bishops — as many saw a sketch meant to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as being offensive and biased. Many took the sketch to be a parody of the Last Supper of Christ, which organizers denied being the intent.

Regardless of intent, it is important to have an awareness of how imagery can be misinterpreted. For example, while not all crescent moons are symbols of Islam, one must be aware of using them in ways that could unintentionally offend Muslims. Likewise, while not all meal depictions are of the Last Supper, being aware of possible misinterpretations is always best practice.

Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps apologized on Sunday for those offended by the scene. “Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly [the ceremony’s artistic director], we really did try to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps said. “… If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really, really sorry.”

Jolly said that religious subversion had never been his intention. “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that.”

However, rather than being avant-garde and inclusive, the Olympic organizers are actually behind the curve when it comes to DEI — what they purportedly were trying to promote. The latest data show a significant surge in Fortune 500 companies including religion as part of their DEI initiatives, which helps them avoid such offensive and COSTLY mistakes (one Olympic sponsor has already withdrawn in reaction to the sketch).

Indeed, the world’s biggest companies are embracing religiously inclusive workplaces at a faster pace than ever before, according to the 2024 Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index and Monitor, released by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) in May.

The REDI report finds that 429 (85.8%) Fortune 500 companies now mention or illustrate religion as part of their broader commitment to diversity, more than double the number in 2022 (202 companies, or 40.4%). According to the REDI Index, Accenture and American Airlines are the most faith-friendly Global Fortune 500 companies.

Perhaps the Olympic organizers have some things to learn from companies that are getting DEI right.

PROGRESS REPORT – Unity in Diversity: Nation-Wide Allyship Campaign

24 Jul, 2024

Uniting People of Diverse Beliefs

In workplaces across America, diversity initiatives are increasingly including religion and belief as a core focus. This is building a network of trust that unites people of diverse beliefs to understand, respect, and protect each others’ religious freedoms at work and all around the world.

Indeed, America’s biggest companies are embracing religiously inclusive workplaces at a faster pace than ever before, according to the 2024 Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index and Monitor, released in May by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF).

The REDI report finds that 429 (85.8%) Fortune 500 companies now mention or illustrate religion as part of their broader commitment to diversity, more than double the number in 2022 (202 companies, or 40.4%). The study also found a 68% increase in the number of Fortune 500 companies showcasing that they have faith-oriented employee business resource groups (EBRGs), rising from 37 companies in 2022 to 62 in 2024.

A growing number of industries are now opting into the REDI Index survey to benchmark their progress in creating faith-and-belief-friendly workplaces. For example, Citigroup is the first major bank, KPMG is the first Big Four accounting firm, Kaiser Permanente is the first Health System, Aramark is the first in the comprehensive services field, and Rolls-Royce is the first in the Aerospace manufacturing industry to opt in. Firsts in other sectors include Target (retail), CMS Energy, and Altria (consumer goods), while the tech sector continues to be well represented by numerous companies including ServiceNow and Bosch.

Atria Participates in the REDI Index

Announcing this in a recent LinkedIn post to their more than 54,000 followers, Altria wrote:

We’re honored to be ranked as the 18th “Top Faith Friendly Workplace” among Fortune 500 companies by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. Our ranking is based off our score on the Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index. The REDI Index is a first in class benchmarking system for measuring how well companies integrate religion, including non-theistic beliefs, into their communications, policies and programs. To learn more about the REDI index, visit here. Learn more about Altria’s Employee Resource Groups here. #AltriaProud #Dare2Overcome

Examples of how this religiously inclusive workplace movement is spreading are numerous. Here are several examples of how this is spreading within, between, and outside of companies:

Within Companies: All-Hands Interfaith Events

Dr. Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, is frequently invited to speak at corporate events launching or expanding their interfaith EBRGs, including at Ford Motor Company, Starbucks, Citi Bank, PwC, and Deloitte. Such events invite people from across the organization to learn and get involved with allyship-building activities organized by the faith or interfaith EBRGs.

Between Companies: Busting myths and misperceptions about other faiths

SAP Interfaith Alliance Team hosted an enlightening and thought-provoking virtual event with business people from SAP, Equinix, SSSC Trust and BNP Paribas Bank, who are members of faiths often misunderstood: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Scientology, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism. Watch to have your myths dispelled here: https://vimeo.com/841243469!

Outside of Companies: “Feed the Hungry Service Activity” sponsored by DELL, CVS Health, and Merck in collaboration with The Nation’s Mosque & Catholic Charities

The vision of the Dare to Overcome conference, which representatives of Altria participated in, is to overcome those things that prevent unity, justice, tranquility, security, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. At this year’s May 21-22 conference, DELL Technologies’ Interfaith employee resource group led a pilot of a social impact activity that provides an example of a possible faith-led initiative that companies can take back with them to replicate in their own communities.

More than 100 attendees participated in a “feed the hungry” community involvement event on May 22 to draw attention to the World Hunger Day (a separate annual event observed later in May) to raise awareness of the global hunger crisis by encouraging action towards ending global hunger. It began with a multi-faith prayer gathering for those suffering from food insecurity and hunger followed by a hands-on one-hour community event packaging food onsite for the homeless in collaboration with The Nation’s Mosque, Helping Hands (Latter-day Saints), and Catholic Charities in Washington DC. DELL Technologies, in consultation with the Busch School of Business, is taking the lead to organize the event. Funding from Merck and CVS Health also supported this initiative. Nearly 1,000 people in the Washington DC directly benefited from this initiative. We plan to expand it at next year’s Dare to Overcome Washington DC conference (May 21-22, 2025).


Atria Give Together Grant to RFBF

Thanks to an Altria Give Together grant, the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation has been able to increase our outreach and organizing capacity to convene ERG leaders between our annual conferences at different levels.

“Keeping leaders engaged throughout the year provides more opportunities to address region or religion specific concerns, grow the movement of companies that embrace faith at work, and collaborate in serving their communities. Through resource and knowledge sharing, they help each other make their workplaces more faith friendly, which improves their REDI Index score, and paves the way for a more successful conference.” – Gary Ritterstein, Stakeholder Engagement & Social Impact Strategy Consultant for RFBF

Examples of Discussions Convened 

  • – Covenantal Pluralism in action
  • – Golden Rule Across Faiths & Beliefs
  • – Benefits of religious inclusion
  • – The Business Impact of Faith-and-Belief Friendly Workplaces
  • – How Faith/Belief-Friendly Workplaces Help Overcome Polarization
  • – Peace Through Service
  • – How Religious Freedom Promotes Innovation
  • – Faith in Unity: Cross-company ERG collaboration
  • – Honoring Difference with Respect: Living your core values
  • – The Nuts and Bolts of Faith-Oriented ERGs
  • – How to Sustain & Expand Faith Networks in Companies
  • – Scripture & Prayer Programs in Workplaces
  • – Latest Data and Research on Faith and Work
  • – Innovations in Workplace Chaplaincy
  • – More than ERGs-Faith accommodations and alignment to company systems & processes
  • – How to Expand a Faith-Oriented ERG Nationally & Internationally
  • – MBA Case Competition Competition on Faith@Work – learn how your company (or students) can participate
  • – How Spiritual Resources Increase Resilience & Health
  • – “Your Story” of Interfaith at Work and Life
  • – At the intersection of Faith & Identity
  • – Measuring the impact of ERG contributions

Going Forward

Altria’s Give Together grant is specifically helping us keep these initiatives moving forward. We look forward to further collaboration!

Italian Mayor Congratulates TeaPak & Yogi Tea for REDI Index 2024!

22 Jul, 2024

 

From TeaPak/Yogi Facebook: Do you remember our REDI Index Award? 🏆 The international award that recognizes companies virtuous in valuing religious differences in a company. In the face of the victory, we have received an additional recognition: a special letter from Marco Panieri, Mayor, and Pierangelo Raffini, Councilor for Public Works, Imola, Italy 📃 Thank you for the kind words and trust in our reality! At TeaPak we are committed to promoting equality and diversity in the workplace, creating an inclusive environment where everyone can grow, a place where all voices are heard and valued, and we will work to spread the value of difference and inclusion in the Community as well.

 

Andrea Costa
CEO & Co-Founder
TeaPak

Becoming aware of the REDI Index Awards 2024, organized by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, we would like to congratulate you and your staff at the TeaPak Company for the recognition achieved for the third consecutive year.

The commitment, passion and professionalism that once again sees TeaPak among the protagonists the major global players and stakeholders are a source of pride for the productive reality of our City: company which, in addition to its continuous path of growth and success on the market, places in the foreground (all beyond the mere logic of profit) uniqueness, integration, ethics and mutual respect different cultures and religions of employees; fundamental concepts also for this Administration.

With the hope and certainty that the TeaPak company will continue the path undertaken for years,

How Spiritual Health Contributes to Mental Wellbeing: Workplace Applications

15 Jul, 2024

Patrick Regan OBE, president and co-founder of Kintsugi HOPE and founder of Brighter Days, and Dr Keith Foster, director of the Contemporary Chaplaincy programme at Waverley Abbey College, discuss how spiritual health contributes to mental wellbeing. The discussion was moderated by Dr Brian Grim, founding president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, with Jag Jethwa (SSE) and David Law (Thames Water). This is an installment of the monthly UK Faith@Work network virtual gathering.


Download Brian Grim’s PowerPoint introduction with statistics from McKinsey & Co. and video from Tyson Foods.

Summary of discussion by Melissa Grim:

Patrick Reagan discusses the charity Kintsugi HOPE he and his wife co-founded. Kintsugi is a Japanese term that means golden joinery, where gold is added to the glue used to mend broken dishware. So, an object becomes more beautiful through its cracks and breaks, in fact, becoming unique – one of a kind.

Through Kintsugi HOPE, churches and schools were trained to run wellbeing groups, a 12-Step Program loosely based on Alcoholics Anonymous, addressing an individual’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. These wellbeing groups look at some of the biggest issues of our time and have been adapted to fit different learning styles.

Covid hit during the charity’s first a pilot program however, the charity actually grew by 455%. Current outreach has impacted over 10,000 people through conceived groups run by over 400 churches with 1,500 faith leaders. Despite all these incredible successes, Patrick was praying for guidance on how to bring these benefits to the workplace.

Looking at his hundreds of books he realized he didn’t have something he could offer a non-Christian friend for reading as it pertained to their faith and the workplace. He challenged himself to write a book outside of the Christian bubble with more accessible language and style for readers of all faiths. With this in mind, and informed by times of great personal struggle, he published: Brighter Days, 12-steps to strengthen your wellbeing.

In the UK, mental health is the biggest reason for missed work. 17 million working days are missed a year with an estimated loss of £119 billion to the UK economy. Approximately 45.8 million adults struggle with their mental health, where 61% of these adults do not access any treatment (and only 10% of employees do so) – 9 out of 10 people in the UK with mental health conditions report that stigma and discrimination have negatively impacted their lives.

The book comes with a devised 4-step program which has been accredited by the (CPD) Continuous Professional Development, offering a CPD certificate upon completion. This has created amazing opportunities to bring the wellbeing program to the workplace, where Brighter Days, now a company, offers employees tools and techniques to utilize for better mental health alongside spiritual health.

Patrick is excited to hear from any interested persons and is excited that people are starting to see the workplace as a place to bring their faith!

Dr. Keith Foster worked in the corporate industry until about 40 years old, at Senior Level, and most senior people he worked with weren’t going to come to church anytime soon. Maybe church was for “poor people” or “people that were struggling in life” or whatever it might be. In fact, he did a doctoral thesis on “whatever happened to the rich young man.”

Dr. Foster states, “I ended up at Waverley [Abbey] because I believe we need people who are the presence of God in the workplace. And I think lot of people do this and they don’t realize they are that.” In fact, many people who take our 30-session Contemporary Chaplaincy course online, relay afterwards that the course provides a language and framework for work they were already involved in/drawn to.

Citing the paper “Has Theology Anything to Say to the Secular Academy, Or is it Really So Useless?” as an example of scientific suspicion of theology, Dr. Foster argues that “absolutely It has.” And there’s kind of suspicions on both sides, even in the theological camp – e.g. do we want to mix ourselves in those arenas? And, what’s really exciting is the research that Brian has drawn attention to, shows that absolutely spirituality belongs in this arena.

Dr. Foster argues that as we understand people, in an extra dimension, not just as physical or emotional beings, but actual spiritual beings, it gives us an understanding of what motivates them – what motivates their decisions. In increasingly multicultural society, having chaplains that understand this, and companies who employ them, makes business sense. For instance, the understanding of God or suffering varies between different religious faiths, and therefore employees’ reactions to loss or grief may vary.

A further 6-session Chaplaincy Volunteering course Dr. Foster developed looks at these issues as well. The course was developed in part to reward/recognize the vast number of volunteers and organizations who support chaplains in all that they do.

Workplace chaplaincy is on the move, it’s on the rise. Most people spend most of their time in the work place, and they need people who are willing, visible and available, to say “I am here to listen.” Chaplains are in the unique position to help employees before they struggles go from personal to requiring corporate response.

Question from Brian Grim: You’ve both alluded to how you both come from Christian backgrounds, but you’re seeing more how this applies to other faiths. Any last comments on what your journey has been bridging to people of other faiths and any principles you might want to share along those lines.

Patrick: There is so much common ground among faith groups, especially with regards to wellbeing and mental health. It is something that affects all of us, and yet there is still stigma attached to it.

Within the Christian faith in the UK an estimated 90% of Church leaders have never had any training in mental health. They are good at Latin, Greek and Hebrew, but not recognizing certain wellbeing issues.

The Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets has a very strong Muslim community – with community members suffering from depression and anxiety, yet stigma is often what prevents them from getting help.

The other common thread is the idea that if you struggle with your mental or spiritual or physical health that on some level you have failed God, or that you haven’t prayed enough, or that you have some sort of hidden sin.

So, where we’ve seen really effective work between faith groups is where we’ve come together and really tried to challenge the stigma associated with seeking mental health care and challenge the perception that asking for help is a sign of weakness, or denial of God’s existence in our lives.