Monthly Archives: May 2025

Join us on May 20th to hear what’s behind the amazing growth of Merck’s Interfaith Organization Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG) at our Dare to Overcome conference in Washington DC on May 20! They have double in size over the past year, spread to more countries, and the growth may just be getting started.

Join Elsa Lopez, Maqsood Ahmed, Kyle O’Donnell and Nicole Johns on 20th May at Dare to Overcome, the premier annual gathering for Fortune 500 company faith-oriented employee resource groups (ERGs), corporate chaplains, and other faith-and-belief workplace initiatives to share best practices and celebrate achievements.

We are thrilled that the 6th National Faith@Work ERG Conference — cohosted by RFBF and the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America — has a fantastic group of sponsors from corporations and civil society partners, including Diamond Sponsor Merck. Register now!

In an era of hybrid teams, shifting values, and high turnover, the modern workplace is at risk of becoming impersonal and transactional. But new research reveals that what people long for most isn’t just better pay or perks—it’s to be seen, supported, and developed. Using new research, this session explores how organizations can close the gap between performance and care by designing human-centered cultures that prioritize clarity, connection, and the whole person at work. The future of work depends on our ability to design environments that prioritize the whole person—not just the role they fill.

About The Research Project

In a moment when work is being questioned, reshaped, and reimagined, Barna set out to ask not just what’s happening in the workplace—but who we are becoming because of it. This research exists to illuminate the human, relational, and purpose-driven realities that often go unmeasured in traditional workplace studies. At its heart is a conviction: individual flourishing and organizational flourishing are not separate pursuits—they are deeply interconnected. The way people experience work shapes how they live, lead, and contribute—and the culture of organizations, in turn, is shaped by the humanity of the people within them. This study explores three forces at the center of that dynamic: Influence—the mutual shaping between people and workplace culture; Compassion—the emotional infrastructure that enables individuals and institutions to thrive together; and Change—the constant disruption that, when stewarded well, becomes a driver of growth and reinvention. This research calls leaders to build more human-centric workplaces—spaces where people don’t just get things done but are shaped for the better in the process.

Join Matt Randerson and Julia Oltmanns on 21st May at Dare to Overcome, the premier annual gathering for Fortune 500 company faith-oriented employee resource groups (ERGs), corporate chaplains, and other faith-and-belief workplace initiatives to share best practices and celebrate achievements.

We are thrilled that the 6th National Faith@Work ERG Conference — cohosted by RFBF and the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America — has a fantastic group of sponsors from corporations and civil society partners, including Platinum Sponsor Coca-Cola Consolidated. Register now!

Matt Randerson
Vice President, Barna Group

Matt Randerson serves as Vice President for Barna Group and works with parachurch organizations to identify their most important business opportunities using research. Matt sees research as a way to create confidence and clarity for organizations around their greatest opportunities in the Christian landscape. Prior to Barna, Matt worked for a Fortune 300 company designing compelling engagement offerings for church pastors around the country. Matt is native to Wisconsin and currently lives in Atlanta Georgia with his wife and son.

Julia Oltmanns
Sr. Manager Culture & Care, Coca-Cola Consolidated

Julia Oltmanns is a senior leader committed to helping organizations solve problems and leverage business resources for good. With a passion for living out her faith, she looks for meaningful ways to utilize her deep expertise in HR and employment law, legislative affairs and public policy, communications, employee engagement and culture, and ethics and compliance matters. She’s driven to use her extensive experience in legal and business environments to make a positive impact on individuals, organizations and communities.

Religious diversity is a reality in today’s workplace—influencing team interactions, client engagement, and community partnerships. Navigating religious differences can be challenging, especially when conversations become sensitive, or workplace situations require thoughtful responses. This 45-minute training offers practical, real-world strategies for employees and managers to confidently address workplace challenges related to religious diversity in ways that build trust, strengthen team collaboration, and align with organizational values. You’ll leave with a simple, effective framework for handling real-world scenarios with respect and inclusivity.

Join Jenan Mohajir and Megan Johnson on 21st May at Dare to Overcome, the premier annual gathering for Fortune 500 company faith-oriented employee resource groups (ERGs), corporate chaplains, and other faith-and-belief workplace initiatives to share best practices and celebrate achievements.

We are thrilled that the 6th National Faith@Work ERG Conference — cohosted by RFBF and the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America — has a fantastic group of sponsors from corporations and civil society partners, including Platinum Sponsor Interfaith America. Register now!

Jenan Mohajir
Vice President of External Affairs
In her role, Jenan Mohajir focuses on building strategic relationships and programs with new partners across IA’s emerging sectors. Inspired by faith and family to work for change at the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and religion, Jenan has served in leadership IA for 15 years where she as has trained hundreds of interfaith leaders from diverse backgrounds to foster a vision and practice of civically engaged interfaith leadership. Jenan completed undergraduate work at DePaul University and is pursuing her MA in religious studies at Chicago Theological Seminary. As a natural storyteller, she performs with 2nd Story, Chicago’s premier storytelling company. Jenan proudly lives on the south side of Chicago with her children and loves to collect vintage children’s books.

Megan Johnson
Senior Director of Corporate Strategy
Megan Hughes Johnson, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy, lead the team in expanding Interfaith America’s presence in the corporate sector and cultivating IA’s business leader network. At IA since 2006, Megan built the organization’s higher ed consulting model and led many of its premier leadership programs. Megan’s undergraduate work in culture and politics at Georgetown University and her graduate work in religion and conflict at the University of Chicago Divinity School sparked her passion for bridge-building. Prior to joining IA, she worked for Seeds of Peace where she developed leadership programs for young people from conflict zones around the world. Megan is motivated by her Christian faith to welcome the stranger and love her (religiously diverse) neighbor. She lives in Cincinnati where she enjoys exploring new playgrounds and pop-up markets with her family.

Dare to Overcome (DTO) is the premier annual gathering for Fortune 500 company faith-oriented employee resource groups (ERGs), corporate chaplains, and other faith-and-belief workplace initiatives to share best practices and celebrate achievements.

We are thrilled that this 6th National Faith@Work ERG Conference — cohosted by RFBF and the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America — has a fantastic group of sponsors from corporations and civil society partners.

Corporate sponsors include Accenture, American Airlines, Coca-Cola Consolidated, and DELL Technologies (Platinum Sponsors); AZZ, Equinix, and Merck (Diamond Sponsors), and Altria and Service Now (Gold Sponsors).

Civil society partners include Interfaith America and the Future of Life Institute (Platinum Sponsors), BYU Marriott School of Business and BYU Wheatley Institute (Diamond Sponsors), AT&T’s Faith@Work ERG and the El-Hibri Foundation (Gold Sponsors), and Clal and the Napa Legal Institute (Supporting sponsors).

We are also thrilled to have LYNC, the IRF Secretariat, and Templeton Religion Trust as co-conveners of the first annual IRF Builders Forum (evening of 21 May and daytime on 22 May), which is focused on ways people build religious freedom for all internationally through faith-friendly workplaces, education, positive engagement, and cross-cultural religious literacy, among others.

Special thanks to the following for their commitment to helping make DTO a success: Andrew Abela, Elizabeth Matro, Sumreen Ahmad, Ihita Kabir, Fr. Greg McBrayer, Millicent Rone, Soniya Hiremath, Julia Oltmanns, Mark Whitacre, Craig Carter, Matt Randerson, Glenda Cameron, Leonardo Gonzalez, Lukas Vina, Tim Schabel, Marsie Sweetland, Dale Conrad, Florian Niollet, Adam Hoffman, Komal Saini, Mariana Ciocca Alves Passos, Paul Lambert, Brigitte Madrian, Daniel Snow, Paul S. Edwards, Jeremy Brazil, Adam Phillips, Jenan Mohajir, Megan Johnson, Catherine Osborn, Farhan Latif, William Jones, Ben Christensen, Rebecca Leeman, Rabbi Elan Babchuck, W. Christopher Stewart, Chris Seiple, Greg Mitchell, Wade Kusack, Halina Kusack, Sharyn Runyon, Christina Clark, Rahul Landge, Priya Kale, Shalini Tonpe, Julia Beth Grim, Melissa Grim, Robert Rex, among many others.

We had a fantastic Annual Summit last week (see final lineup here). Videos will be forthcoming.

Among the many great presentations at last week’s 2nd Annual Faith@Work Summit, the presentation by Paulette Cohen MBE unveiled brand new data from Radius that demonstrates the business value of employee resource groups (ERGs).

Paulette will join us this Thursday, 8th May, at 1pm UK (8am ET) to highlight the most important findings and have a Q&A on how these data can be useful to your organisations.

• Register for the Monthly UK Network Zoom call 1pm (UK) / 8am (ET) this Thursday

Join us May 20th in Washington DC to find out

By Brian Grim, Ph.D.

Last week, the British trade minister Jonathan Reynolds addressed a breakfast of top business leaders on the importance of faith-friendly workplaces. He did this amidst consequential trade negotiations with India and also as trade negotiations with the US are pressing.

The breakfast, organised to coincide with the release of our 2025 UK Faith-Friendly Workplace Report, honoured the 20 most faith-and-belief friendly companies listed on the FTSE 100, which is the United Kingdom’s best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Why Faith-Friendly is Good Business

In the world of high finance and global trade deals, the UK trade minister took time to congratulate business leaders for having organisations where people can bring their best selves to work, which for many includes their faith. Why? Such organisations create higher performing teams, foster increased levels of retention, and attract top talent — all bottom-line competitive advantages.

Our UK Faith-Friendly Workplace Report revealed a doubling in the number of British companies benchmarking progress in this area and a more than doubling of FTSE 100 companies giving people of faith an official voice within their companies. They do this through C-suite-sponsored, employee-led, faith-oriented business resource groups (BRGs or ERGs). In fact, more than one-in-four FTSE 100 companies (26%) report have faith ERGs, up from 12% just a year ago.

Will U.S. Fortune 500 Lag Behind?

By contrast, in 2024 we found that only 12.4% of Fortune 500 companies had faith ERGs, which is a tangible indication of having a faith-friendly workplace.

On May 20th, we will be releasing the 2025 Fortune 500 Faith-Friendly Workplace Report at our 6th annual “Dare to Overcome” Fortune 500 Faith@Work ERG conference in Washington DC. At that point we will see whether faith-friendly workplaces among US employers is on the rise.

Given the fact that faith-oriented ERGs are situated within corporate inclusion and belonging offices, we will see if current affairs have fostered or dampened faith representation in US workplaces.

To get the results of the US Faith-Friendly Workplace Report, join us on May 20th in Washington DC! We have invited Secretary of State Marco Rubio to address the conference (TBC).

The number of companies giving attention to religion among those listed on the FTSE 100 has increased substantially. In 2025, nearly all (94) of the top 100 companies featured religion in some way on their people web pages, up from 79 in 2024, a 19% increase.

“This surge in workplaces that are faith-and-belief friendly matches a recent uptick in young people’s interest in religion in the U.K.,” said Dr Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. “Having a workplace that is welcoming to people for whom faith or belief is of central importance gives organisations a critical advantage in recruitment, retention and ultimately business success.”

An even more telling figure is the number of FTSE 100 companies giving a formal mechanism to support people of faith in their workplaces. For most, this is through company-sponsored, faith-oriented, employee resource groups (ERGs). In 2025, more than a quarter of FTSE 100 companies (26) now have such groups. This is more than double the number in 2024 (12), a 117% increase.

“These changes are particularly remarkable given the current global pushback against diversity programmes, under which most faith initiatives have traditionally been situated,” said Grim. “It appears religion is not getting lost amidst the disruption to the general field.”