Author Archives: RFBF

In a March 2019 Pew Research Center survey, 50 percent or more of U.S. adults say that Muslims (82%), Jews (64%) and Evangelical Christians (50%) face some or a lot of discrimination in our society. This is a significant increase since 2016 for Jews and Christians when fewer than half surveyed said Jews (44%) and Christians (42%) faced discrimination. Perceptions of high levels of discrimination against Muslims remained unchanged from 2016.

Brian Grim, President, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

— Prepared Comments for Religious Diversity & Inclusion event at Texas Instruments HQ, May 6, 2019

Many people haven’t thought much about the connection between religious freedom and business, but I’ve been thinking about it at least since 1982 when my wife and I worked in the ancient port city of Quanzhou, home to one of China’s oldest mosques built by Muslim business people who first introduced Islam to China more than a thousand years ago. In the 1980s we also worked in Xinjiang, China’s far west, where Nestorian traders first brought Christianity to China along the old Silk Road nearly 1400 years ago.

Then in 1991 working right across the border in what is now Kazakhstan, the USSR was dissolved – in my office building, incidentally – first request of new President was for my faith-based NGO to help them turn the former Communist Party training school into the region’s first western-style business school, KIMEP. At the start of a new country, he saw the connections between faith, freedom and the economy.

More recently I completed a study on the economic impact of religion set free by the freedom found in the United States.

So you could say there’s a lot of spiritual fuel being pumped unto the economy

My current work focuses on highlighting how religious diversity & inclusion – or workplace religious freedom – is an asset to the bottom line.

This work includes the privilege of working with some top experts, like Kent Johnson, who was Senior Council here at Texas Instruments for many years, as well as the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute in Washington DC.

In this task, religious literacy is important. But I’m not talking about knowledge of religious beliefs and practices. It’s knowledge about how religion impacts the workplace and the marketplace –our coworkers and partners as well as our customers and clients.

Data can help us with this. First, religion is not in decline.

When I led the international data project at the Pew Research Center from 2008-2014, we projected that our planet will have 2.3 billion more religiously affiliated people by 2050 compared with just 0.1 billion more religiously unaffiliated people.

That’s like religion “winning” 23-to-1.

This religious growth is changing the global marketplace. Today, three of the top five economies are Christian-majority.

But in 40 years, only one is projected to be. The other four top economies in 2050 will include countries where Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and the unaffiliated predominate.

Research shows that this religious growth can be good for the workplace and the bottom lines of businesses – as long as restrictions on freedom of religion or belief are kept low.

In such countries, innovative strength is more than twice as high as in countries where governments and societies don’t respect freedom of religion or belief. So, freedom to believe – or not believe – is good for business, as I’ll come back to in a moment.

But the data on respect for freedom of religion or belief in the U.S. and worldwide are very concerning.

Annual studies that I initiated while at the Pew Research Center find that restrictions on religion and belief are high or very high in 40% of countries.

But because some of these countries (like China) are very populous, some 5.9 billion people (nearly 80% of the world’s population) live in countries with a high or very high level of restrictions on religion.

Since 2009, the number of people living in countries with high religious restrictions and hostilities has increased from 4.8 to 5.9 billion people – that’s an increase of 1.1 billion more people living in countries where freedom of religion or belief is under duress, based on studies from the Pew Research Center.

The restrictions come from two main sources: the actions and policies of governments, and the social hostilities involving religion coming from people and groups in societies.

So, what are examples of social hostilities involving religion?

These include attacks on places of worship, such as the recent murders in a California synagogue and last fall’s massacre in at Pittsburg synagogue.

Social hostilities involving religion include the recent Easter Sunday bombings of churches in Sri Lanka that lefty hundreds dead and as many or more injured. They also include the recent Friday prayer massacres in two New Zealand mosques.

Such hostilities also include attacks motivated by religious hatred to people with no religious beliefs, such as Alexander Aan, an Indonesian who was beaten by a mop for declaring himself and Atheist, and then jailed by police for two years because in Indonesia blasphemy is a crime.

This case shows the frequent close connection between religiously biased laws and social hostilities involving religion.

Now let’s turn to examples government restrictions on freedom of religion or belief.

I’ll give some examples from China, because some of the same policy perspectives it has on religion are paralleled in some of its economic and security policies.

China has been on a several year campaign to not only remove crosses from churches and Christians from churches, but also church buildings from existence, such as the recent demolition of a church in Wenzhou, seen in these 24-hour before-and-after photos.

In China’s far west, up to one million mostly Uygur Muslims have been forced into re-education camps in the government’s attempt to stamp out the possibility of Islamic radicalization.

Two of my four kids were born in this region back in the 1980s, by the way.

Unfortunately, while China has one of the most developed programs of restricting religion and belief, it is far from alone.

The example of Hamza Kashgari, who was a Saudi blogger, shows how government policies in one place can cross borders. He tweeted some doubts about his faith, which is considered blasphemy. He fled to Australia to escape social cries for his beheading, only to be intercepted as he changed planes in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia, and extradited back to Saudi Arabia at the request of the Saudi government. After some jail time helped him overcome his doubts, he was released.

All this research has shown that restrictions on freedom of religion or belief coming from governments and groups in society reinforce each other and is a primary factor causing religions related violence.

All of that is generally bad for business. Specifically, research I did while working with the World Economic Forum shows that high restrictions on freedom of religion or belief damage or even destroy the pillars of global competitiveness.

For example, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, innovative strength is more than twice as high in countries where governments respect freedom of religion or belief.

One indicator of that is whether some of a country’s top entrepreneurs and successful business people stay in a country or leave it.

Bloomberg just published research showing which countries are losing or gaining millionaire through migration, with Australia gaining the most and China losing the most.

How does this compare with the level of government restrictions on religion and belief in a country?

As I mentioned, it’s not surprising that China, the country with the highest government restrictions on religion – as measured by the Pew Research Center – is also losing the highest number of millionaires seeking freer, more secure opportunities elsewhere. And Australia, a country with low government restrictions on religion, is benefiting the most from this migration of talent and resources. While the U.S. has relatively moderate government restrictions, it has high social hostilities, according to the past three annual reports by the Pew Research Center.

One place we see this is in the number of American workers who have experienced or witnessed religious discrimination in their workplace. A recent Tanenbaum survey finds that 36% of American workers, or about 50 million people, have experienced or witnessed some form of religious discrimination or non-accommodation in their workplace.

Despite this, religious diversity and inclusion is not on the minds of many companies.

Companies have rightly paid a lot of attention to other diversity and inclusion issues, such as sexual orientation.

Now, religion is the next big thing businesses need to pay attention to.

In 2018, for instance, there were significantly more workplace discrimination complaints made to the EEOC over religion as complaints over sexual orientation.

The same business case that applies to other characteristics applies to including religion as part of diversity and inclusion initiatives.

So, what are some of the religious diversity and inclusion initiatives of major U.S. and international corporations? I’ll give just a few examples.

As we’ve heard today, this year Texas Instruments’ Diversity Network celebrates 30 years of diversity leadership and trailblazing.

TI was one of the early pioneers of instilling diversity into its corporate culture, embracing the premise that a diverse employee base is likely to facilitate fresh and valuable ideas; and that employees perform at higher levels when they’re permitted to “bring their whole selves to work”.

Today the company has 15 grassroots, employee-led diversity resource groups (see image above) that help foster and support a diverse and inclusive work environment, including faith-oriented groups for Christian, Jewish and Muslim employees.

For the second year running, Bloomberg is hosting Tanenbaum’s Religious Diversity Leadership Summit, cosponsored by DTCC and the Walt Disney Company. The annual summit explores what’s next in addressing religious diversity & inclusion.

Accenture hosted a nation-wide webinar, “Religious Literacy 101 – What does it mean to have an accommodation mindset,” for Accenture employees on the case for being able to bring your whole self, faith and all, to work. Accenture has pioneered in both faith-specific and interfaith Employee Resource Groups.

Tyson Foods, along with many companies across the country, employs chaplains to minister to the needs of their multi-faith team members. Karen Diefendorf, a retire US Army Command Chaplain, leads their chaplain force. Here’s a short video of their work.

Worldwide, a number of companies adhere to a religious or belief-based ethos. For instance, Sanitarium, the most popular breakfast cereal company in Australia, is owned and operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. As a practical demonstration of the Church’s doctrinal dedication to health and well-being, Sanitarium is a South Pacific leader in producing healthy products and in organizing community programmes to encourage healthy lifestyles. One such Sanitarium programme is their popular nationwide TRYathlons, which inspire children to get moving in a friendly and supportive environment with an emphasis on enjoying the experience as part of an active lifestyle rather than competition. In fact, breakfast cereals in general have Adventist roots. The parent company of Sanitarium was Sanitas, the original company set up by then-Adventists John Harvey and W.K. Kellogg to manufacture toasted corn flakes as a healthier alternative to the greasy American breakfasts of the day. Yes, and now you know the religious roots of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes!

I’ll conclude with a call out to numerous companies that have signed the Corporate Pledge on Religious Diversity & Inclusion.

In the lunchtime session, we’ll specifically have an opportunity to explore and discuss resources aimed at helping companies fulfill the aspirations of the pledge, which you have a copy of on your chairs. This one minute video is a signing ceremony we held in Korea during the Paralympic Games when we give awards, in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact, for business leaders advancing interfaith understanding and peace.

Gold Grand Prize: A Different Way

A Different Way, a film by Ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook and Lauren Merkley, is the 2019 Women Empowerment Film Competition Grand Prize winner. Rev. Dr. Ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook shares her experience as the first female chaplain for the NYPD and how interfaith relationships were essential in fostering hope and rebuilding a city after the events of 9/11.

Amb. ‘Sujay’ served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom from April 2011 to October 2013. She has served as a policy advisor to President Bill Clinton and was the first female senior pastor in the 200-year history of the American Baptist Churches USA and a close friend of Coretta Scott King. Lauren Merkley is a documentary filmmaker and photographer passionate about capturing the beauty of people and stories in their own environment. She seeks to share the good in the world and believes in the power of film to touch audiences across the world.

Silver First Runner Up: Equality by Olfa Arfaoui and Randy Abbassi

A Tunisian female shares how women’s empowerment, with religious liberty at its core, is a pathway to peace and prosperity.

Olfa Arfaoui, a scholar at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, looks at the importance of women’s economic empowerment and what a new equal inheritance law in Tunisia could mean for gender equality.

ABOUT

In this age of global media that can spread messages of intolerance in an instant, it is urgent that we identify, equip and mobilize leaders to share empowering messages that advance interfaith understanding, religious freedom and peace. The Women Empowerment film competition challenges women to collaborate together to produce short films that promote freedom of religion and belief in the workplace. Women Empowerment films represent a collective effort between the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and Empower Women Media to contribute to a growing movement to equip women as media advocates.

In this second edition of the Women Empowerment film competition, the new award-winning films will be screened at the Damah Film Festival in Tokyo, May 10-11, 2019. The grand prize winners of the competition received $1,000 and their film as well as all the finalist films will be shared at film events in the coming year with religious freedom networks, NGOs, government and faith-based organizations around the world.

The three-minute films are artful and compelling explorations of how freedom of expression and religion in the workplace and our communities helps empower women, religious minorities, displaced and/or communities with disabilities. Whether inspired by real-life events or fictional, animated, or experimental, the films thoughtfully seek to affirm that inclusion, diversity and religious freedom are good for business.

The winning and finalist films include:

• – $1,000 GOLD GRAND PRIZE: A Different Way (by Ambassador Suzan Johnson and Lauren Merkely)
• – SILVER FIRST RUNNER UP: Equality (by Olfa Arfaoui and Randy Abbassi)
• – SECOND RUNNER UP: Honour-Able (Jennifer Bryson and Bess Blackburn)
• – THIRD RUNNER UP: Moving Mountains (Mariz Doss and Karen Schenk)
• – FINALIST: Bleu (by Maryam Farahzadi)
• – FINALIST: B Me (by Elizabeth Schenkel)

For more information about the Women Empowerment film competition guidelines, visit RFBF’s film competition page or contact the Empower Women Media Director, Shirin Taber at shirin@visualstory.org. See 2018 winners here.

Dallas · Tokyo · NYC

Dallas, May 6
Religious Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace

Join us for a discussion of successful policies and practices to maximize the benefits of religious diversity & inclusion in the workplace. You’ll hear from experts representing Texas Instruments, American Airlines, and Salesforce.com, among others.

Register (limited spaces)

May 6, 2019, Monday, 8:00am-1:00pm
Texas Instruments worldwide headquarters
12500 TI Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75243
Questions, please email: contact@religiousfreedomandbusiness.org

Tokyo, May 10
Damah Film Festival, Religious Freedom Film Prize

Join us to see this year’s grand prize winning film, A Different Way, by Amb. Suzan Johnson Cook & Lauren Merkley. Amb. ‘Sujay’ shares her experience as the first female chaplain for the NYPD and how interfaith relationships were essential in fostering hope and rebuilding a city after the events of 9/11.

Buy Tickets

May 10, 2019, Friday, 7:00pm-9:30pm
Kitazawa Town Hall, Shimokitazawa
2-8-18 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Questions, please contact: http://www.damahfilm.com/contact/

New York City, May 23
Religious Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace

Join us to discuss what’s next for religious freedom in the workplace. Research shows that it is in the self-interest of business to protect freedom of religion and belief, which is an essential ingredient in sustainable development. Indeed, protecting religious freedom also protects the very environment that business itself needs to flourish.

Register

May 23, 2019, Thursday, 11:30am-1:00pm
Yeshiva University, Yeshiva University Museum
15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
Questions, please email: strauscenter@yu.edu

May 23, 2019, Thursday, 11:30am-1:00pm
Yeshiva University, Yeshiva University Museum
15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
Questions, please email: strauscenter@yu.edu

REGISTER

Conference: The Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought of Yeshiva University, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of BYU, and the J. Reuben Law Society co-present: What’s Next for Religious Freedom May 22—May 23, 2019.

Luncheon Session: Research shows that it is in the self-interest of business to protect freedom of religion and belief, which is an essential ingredient in sustainable development. Indeed, protecting religious freedom also protects the very environment that business itself needs to flourish. Moreover, research also demonstrates that employees who can bring their “whole selves” to the workplace perform better in many bottom line key indicator areas. Bringing one’s whole self includes religious identity.

Many companies, however, are struggling to navigate religion and beliefs at work. In fact, 36 percent of American workers — approximately 50 million people — have experienced or witnessed religious discrimination in the workplace, with religious majorities, minorities and non-religious employees all reporting this experience. This has direct impact on employee and company performance. Additionally, while companies have rightly paid significant attention to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, workplace religious discrimination complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) outnumber sexual orientation complaints two-to-one. Addressing religion and belief in the workplace is the next big focus. Join us over lunch on Thursday, May 24, for an in-depth discussion of how to positively navigate religion and beliefs in the marketplace and in the workplace.

The session also will introduce resources to help organizations large and small design successful policies and procedures for honoring religion in the workplace.

Invitation: Join us for an in-depth discussion of religious diversity and an introduction to resources to help companies design successful policies and practices to maximize the benefits of religious diversity & inclusion in the workplace.

Panelists:

• – Brian Grim, President, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (session chair)
• – David L. Buckner, President and CEO, Bottom Line Training and Consulting, Inc. and Adjunct Professor, Columbia University
• – Dan Eckstein, Accenture, Director Media and Technology practice, Global Lead of the Jewish Employee Resource group and the NY Metro Interfaith Employee
• – Andrew Lauer, Vice President for Legal Affairs, Secretary and General Counsel, Yeshiva University

Workplace Perspectives:

• – Zabih Mamun, Manager, Accenture
• – Naomi Kraus, Editorial Manager/Senior Content Strategist, Google
• – Julie Schwartz, Marketing Operations, American Express

Register for this free event at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whats-next-for-religious-freedom-tickets-58032333271

Vatican City, Mar 8, 2019 

Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, was invited to the Vatican to contribute to the first international conference on religions and the sustainable development goals.

Pope Francis said Friday that global development goals need to be supported by ethical objectives stemming from personal conversion and recognition of one’s failures.

“The economic and political objectives must be supported by ethical objectives, which presuppose a change of attitude, the Bible would say a change of heart,” the pope said March 8 at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.

“Already St. John Paul II spoke about the need to ‘encourage and sustain an ecological conversion,’” he said, referencing a 2001 catechesis of one of his predecessors. “Religions have a key role to play here.”

The pope addressed Vatican officials, religious representatives, and members of international organizations participating in a March 7-9 conference on “Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Listening to the cry of the earth and the poor.”

International Conference on Religions and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The international community is currently working towards the first four-yearly review of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015 by 193 States at the United Nations. Recent reports from international organizations raise a serious alarm of concern regarding the present course of implementation of the SDGs.

For example, according to the latest FAO Report on the State of food security and nutrition in the world, the number of undernourished people in the world (SDG 2) is on the rise, while the recent IPCC Report on global warming of l .5°C warns that humanity has less than a decade to win the fight against climate change (SDG 13). Hence, there is an urgent need to reflect on how the human family can intensify joint efforts to help Nations to implement the SDGs. This requires the participation of all, religions included (more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group). Moreover, the 17 SDGs are not competing goals but rather intertwined. How to promote such interconnections is a subject where faith communities can provide unique contribution, particularly considering their holistic approach to human development.

The Holy See is willing to contribute, with the involvement of experts of major religions and international institutions, to the review of the first overall assessment of the implementation of the Agenda 2030. For this purpose, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, together with the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, convened an International Conference on ” Religions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, at the New Synod Hall, Vatican City, from the March 7 – 9, 2019.

The Conference was a dialogue about assessing the actual implementation of the SDGs by Nations ( see ). The interlocutors of this dialogue are experts from both international institutions and religions. It will also aim at sharing, in the light of faith, a deeper understanding of the SDGs (judge). Finally, the conference will discuss the specific and unique contributions that religions can make to promote and to implement the SDGs (act).

The Five Ps

A framing that reveals the interconnections among all 17 distinct goals and the 169 associated targets, is the one known as the five “Ps”: People. Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. This framing served as the structure of the Conference’s programme.

After a general overview, the first session covered People and Planet, the second Prosperity and Peace, whereas the third will reflect on Partnership. Each session contained several presentations on development topics (15 minutes) , followed by a response from a religious perspective (15 minutes). In the opening session and in the one on Partnership, more time was  allocated to hear religious voices. On the last day, best practices on the link between SDGs and religions were introduced. The final session presented a synthesis expressed in the form of a Call from Participants to their own communities and institutions to contribute on the implementation of the SDGs.

May 6, 2019, Monday, 8:00am-1:00pm | Texas Instruments worldwide headquarters | 12500 TI Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75243

REGISTER

Case for Action: Employees who bring their “whole selves” to the workplace perform better in bottom line key indicator areas. For many, religion and spirituality are core to their identity, and their faith strongly influences their work. Yet they feel they must hide this identity at work. As a result, they often feel devalued and stifled. Respecting religious differences and collaborating across faith communities can help build an inclusive culture where all employees can be themselves and deliver their best performance.

Breakthrough: Increasingly, workplace leaders are embracing religious diversity in a way that supports organizational objectives and strengthens cultures of trust, integrity, mutual respect and organizational effectiveness. They are seeing how openness to appropriate religious expression can elevate employee recruitment, commitment, engagement, retention, ethical practices and personal fulfillment.

Also, global studies show that the freedom to exercise one’s faith and beliefs is significantly associated with economic growth and the World Economic Forum’s pillars of global competitiveness.

Invitation: Join us Monday, May 6, 8:00am-1:00pm, at Texas Instruments (TI) worldwide headquarters (12500 TI Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75243) for an in-depth discussion of religious diversity and an introduction to resources to help companies design successful policies and practices to maximize the benefits of religious diversity & inclusion in the workplace.

Speakers:

• Ellen Barker (TI Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer)
• Suzan Johnson Cook (President & CEO of CHARISMA SPEAKERS, former U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom)
• Samantha Dwinell (TI Vice President, Talent Management and Workforce Intelligence)
• Brian Grim (President, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)
• TI employees from various faiths and backgrounds sharing significant experiences with workplace religious diversity.
• Mohammed Faris (Author, The Productive Muslim: Where Faith Meets Productivity)
• Sue Warnke (Senior Director of Engineering Content & President of Faithforce San Francisco at Salesforce)
• Kent Johnson (former TI senior counsel)
• Other Employee Experiences (American Airlines, etc.)

For questions regarding the event, please email: contact@religiousfreedomandbusiness.org.

Register for this free event at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/religious-diversity-inclusion-in-the-workplace-tickets-57312378868.

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  This is part of a series of profiles on faith and work initiatives from various faiths.

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has rolled out a global program helping their members as well as nonmember gain what they refer to as skills in self-reliance. The first video below is used in the United States to help their members understand the program and consider getting involved and/or suggesting the program to others.

The second video is an example of the small business curriculum as developed for use in Sub-Saharan Africa. A self-employment group member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discusses how the program taught him marketing and better customer relations. He also discusses the role of prayer and faith in his business.

Manuals, videos, and training may be downloaded from their website and are also available at their Church’s distribution centers.

Courses cover topics including personal finance, starting and growing a business, finding a better job, and how to chose the right education for better work.

The Church’s Rationale Behind the Courses

Photo: Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya – May 2018 : South Sudanese refugee practicing carpentry in Don Bosco vocational training centre in Kakuma refugee camp. Empowering refugees through practical skills. Don Bosco Kakuma belongs to the world wide society of Salesians of Don Bosco founded by St. John Bosco (1815-1888) in Italy which today operates in about 140 countries. The main activities of their works are geared towards the human and intellectual formation of young people. (Photo credit: Adriana Mahdalova)

by Brian J. Grim

Business, religion and refugees are connected in al least three important ways. First, religion is a motivator to help others, and by definition, refugees are in need of help. Second, because religion is an important aspect in the vast majority of refugees’ lives, businesses will be more successful if the workplace safeguards religious diversity, equity and inclusion. And third, refugees as well as immigrants from minority religious faiths often have the drive and ingenuity to create new, innovative and socially impactful businesses.

1. Religion is a Motivator to Help Others

Much of the work to resettle refugees in a new country requires more than money. It requires community support and loving neighbors.

For example, a 25-strong team from St Monica’s Parish, Flixton, Salford (near Manchester, U.K.), was the first Catholic parish to welcome a Syrian family to be resettled in the UK under the Government’s Community Sponsorship scheme. The scheme allows parishes and community groups to welcome, house and support refugee families looking to rebuild their lives in the UK.

Sean Ryan, employed by Caritas Salford to support the scheme’s uptake by parishes in the North-West and then nationally by Caritas Social Action Network, was awarded an MBE for his work. Commenting on this honour, Phil McCarthy said: “This richly deserved honour recognises the work that Sean has done to answer the call of Pope Francis to Catholic communities to welcome refugees.”

Resettlement in U.S. is Heavily Faith-based

Stephanie J. Nawyn, Associate Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University, notes that working directly with the U.S. government on refugee resettlement, there are nine national voluntary agencies, six or which are faith-based. One is Jewish, one Catholic, one evangelical Christian and three are mainline Protestant.

“These groups arrange for refugees to find housing, land jobs and enroll in English classes. They do so regardless of the newcomers’ own religions or their countries of origin. In my research,” Nawyn states, “I have found that staff at faith-based organizations commonly use religious rhetoric to justify their work and to describe their commitment to that work. At the same time, religiously based refugee organizations frame their efforts using interfaith language. They invoke the ethical imperative to provide asylum and refuge in ways that cross-cut multiple religious traditions as they collect and disburse money and household goods – and mobilize volunteers.”

Salem’s Sparrow Furniture gives refugees jobs, help adjusting to American life

After six years working in Jordan, Sparrow Furniture founder Luke Glaze returned Oregon and set up the company to operate under the 501c3 of Salem Alliance Church, Portland. Glaze and his wife had started a similar company in Jordan that employed people to make a business out of recycling.

“My heart was just burdened by the need of the people,” Glaze said.

Glaze combined his business know-how with his passion to help international refugees, and partnered with Salem Alliance Church to run a social impact business. Sparrow Furniture gives refugees jobs and helps them live an American life.

Watch the more on the Sparrow website.

2. A Faith-friendly Workplace is Good for the Bottom Line

Analysis by the Pew research Center shows that refugees are far more religiously affiliated than either Europe or the U.S.

For instance, as shown in the chart, in 2016 virtually all refugees entering the U.S. were religiously affiliated, compared with fewer than 80 percent of the general population.

That means that as workplaces seek to integrate refugees, they will be more religious, especially because the countries they’ve come from were more defined by religion. And many are refugees because they were either persecuted for their faith or were driven out by religion-related conflict. Therefore, having workplaces that are sensitive to religion is important.

This actually is something businesses are coming to realize. Studies show that the most successful businesses encourage an environment in which employees can bring their “full self” to work. Employees need to feel comfortable, willing, and able to talk about what is most important to them. Employers benefit when they recognize and respect an employee’s religious identity, including their beliefs and practices.

In today’s increasingly competitive global business environment, companies will need to draw upon the unique talent and diverse experience of every employee. Employees that feel free to bring their entire self and identify to work demonstrate higher levels of innovation, creativity, and positive working environments, directly affecting business success. On the other hand, organizations that have environments of exclusion, intentional or not, risk excluding the next great business solution, the next great product idea, or talent retention.

As companies globalize, they’ll need employees who can relate to the daily experience of increasingly diverse customers. For billions of potential customers, including in the world’s fastest-growing economies, religious belief and practice are a part of daily life. Having employees who understand the ways religion manifests in private and public life will help companies avoid costly missteps and develop products and services better tailored to customer needs, and an essential part of being competitive.

See RFBF’s website for resources helping companies embrace religious diversity.

3. Religious Minorities often drive innovation and socially impactful business

Many refugees are entrepreneurs, having been business owners in their country of origin or having entrepreneurial skills to start or expand a business activity in their host country, according to UNHCR. And since over 95 per cent of the world’s businesses are small, medium or micro-sized enterprises, there is a tremendous opportunity for refugees to innovate and help drive economic growth, income and employment opportunities worldwide.

Some refugees have started massively successful companies. Daniel Aaron was a refugee from Nazi Germany and an orphan who went on to become one of the founders of Comcast. Comcast is the second-largest broadcasting and cable television company in the world by revenue and the largest pay-TV company, the largest cable TV company and largest home Internet service provider in the United States, and the nation’s third-largest home telephone service provider.

Refugees Are a Great Investment

Philippe Legrain, writing in FP, provides a compelling case for the economic contributions of immigrants and refugees, ranging from providing willing labor to being some of the most innovative business leaders:

“Google co-founder Sergey Brin was a child refugee from the Soviet Union. WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin were refugees from Ukraine. The late Andy Grove, who helped start and was later CEO of Intel, fled from communist Hungary. So, too, did hedge-fund manager and philanthropist George Soros; Thomas Peterffy, the founder of Interactive Brokers Group; and Steven Udvar-Hazy, the founder of Air Lease Corp.”

“The biological father of the late Steve Jobs, the co-founder and legendary CEO of Apple, America’s most valuable company, was a Syrian who fled his country for political reasons.”

“eBay was founded by an Iranian-American, Pierre Omidyar. At Chobani, the company that makes America’s leading brand of Greek yogurt, three in 10 employees are refugees. Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya [a Turk, not a Greek] doesn’t just employ them to do good; it also turns out to be good for the bottom line.”

Ulukaya said that he left Turkey due to the Turkish state’s oppression of its Kurdish minority group, of which he is a member.

In celebration of its 25^th anniversary, Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), a nonprofit humanitarian and advocacy organization, has awarded a $25,000 “Silver Anniversary” grant to the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, an organization based in Annapolis, Md., that helps businesses foster interfaith understanding and peace.

The “Silver Anniversary Community Bridge-Building” program was announced as an initiative to bridge the differences that frequently divide communities – such as religion, race, or political opinion. The grant announcement generated 175 formal inquiries from organizations working in 36 states and the territory of Puerto Rico, demonstrating that people all across America are interested in finding common bonds and committing to a common mission for the sake of their communities.

“The tremendous response from grassroots, community-based and national organizations shows that people who on the surface have little in common can come together to make the world a better place – a place where there’s more unity, more sensitivity, and an endless amount of potential and promise,” said Anne Wilson, director of programs for IRUSA.

The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation will use the grant to educate Muslim and non-Muslim chief executive officers and business leaders about how religious freedom is good for business. The grant will also be used to engage the business community in joining forces with government and non-government organizations in promoting respect for religious freedom in society and in the work place.

At a February 13^th public launch of a suite of corporate tools to promote workplace religious diversity and inclusion, CEOs and business leaders will speak in support of the initiative and sign the corporate pledge on religious diversity and inclusion. The launch event is at the Knight TV Studio at the Newseum on Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. See link for details.

“It is an honor for the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation to receive the IRUSA 25th Anniversary Grant. It is our hope that the results of the grant project in which we will invite and equip businesses to advance religious freedom and inclusion will be as successful as is Islamic Relief USA,” said Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. “Indeed, businesses can learn from IRUSA’s model of inclusivity, employing people from multiple faiths who share the compassionate ideals that motivate everything IRUSA does. The mission to love and serve our neighbors overcomes differences and builds strong, inclusive neighborhoods.”

Islamic Relief USA, based in Alexandria, Va., is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization. Its mission is to provide relief and development in a dignified manner regardless of gender, race, or religion, and works to empower individuals in their communities and give them a voice in the world. Its programs benefit millions of people each year in more than 40 countries around the world, including in the United States. Islamic Relief USA meets all of the Standards for Charity Accountability of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a national charity monitoring group affiliated with the Better Business Bureau system. Islamic Relief USA is on the U.S. government’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) charity list, and it is also a signatory to the code of conduct of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

• Syed M. Hassan
• media@irusa.org or
• (703) 370-7246
• or
• Brian Grim
• brian@religiousfreedomandbusiness.org
• (814) 574-8672