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As people around the world reflect on the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., RFBF’s Kent Johnson reminds us that hate is easy, but love takes courage. We will be exploring the courageous way at our upcoming virtual conference, Feb. 9th-11th. In the meantime, join the discussion on LinkedIn or Facebook of Kent’s provocative blog, Greater Sensitivity and Thicker Skin. If you haven’t yet registered for the conference, the early bird discount (EB2020) ends Jan. 21!

For those in corporations and organizations looking for information and content to inspire you on MKL Day, Intel’s employees gather annually to read of MLK’s speeches by coordinated by Intel Corporation’s employee resource groups (ERGs)! The short introduction in the video below by Intel’s Craig Carter, who leads the company’s Christian ERG, provides fascinating context and background on what is arguably one of MLK’s greatest speeches.

by Kent Johnson, J.D., Senior Corporate Advisor, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

Part of the blog series, Authenticity & Connection

We’re increasingly bombarded from all sides with shouts of alarm. Urgent calls to action rally people who agree, and ascribe evil intent to those who don’t. If we’re not offended at the evil intent driving the “other side,” then – it’s presumed – we must be ignorant or stupid … or, worse, we don’t really care.

If we talk about a need for “thicker skin,” are we promoting an insult culture and giving a “pass” to those who say hateful, inaccurate things about us? If we talk about a need for “greater sensitivity,” are we agreeing with others who’ve labelled us mean-spirited bigots?

The loudest voices shout that, if we talk about “greater sensitivity and thicker skin,” we’re naively playing into the hands of the evil conspirators; that we’re adding credence to their groundless cause. Are they right?

The answer is no. But it’s not quite that simple.

At the upcoming Faith@Work ERG Conference (Feb. 9th-11th) we’ll step boldly into this morass. The speakers are people on the “left” and on the “right,” representing a hugely diverse range of faiths, beliefs and ideologies. It’s a hopeful conference where we’ll try to highlight common ground.

Leaning against the tide of these divisive times, the diverse organizers of this conference are appealing to a higher “calling.” It’s a calling to humble self-reflection, in light of some core relational values that people of faith everywhere – and agnostics and atheists – say they embrace. Principles like those I’ve listed before:

These kinds of principles, though widely voiced, are very hard to live by. Their implications drive self-critique and sober reflection on how people on the “other side” are feeling – and why. They require that we listen deeply to people with whom we have major differences; and that we stop jumping to conclusions about their motives.

In the worst case, perhaps a dialogue on these kinds of principles will shed light on how fundamentally deep the divide has become. We’re more hopeful than that.

To be sure, the workplace focus of this conference is just a start. But we’ve seen that diverse workplaces can be fruitful grounds for deeper connection and harmony, if they’re approached wisely. We start by walking with people in our everyday circles, one to one, navigating the fairness and operational issues relevant to our work tasks. In doing so, we connect on a deeper level, to build trust and respect across ideological boundaries. We won’t necessarily solve the national policy issues in this way, but over time, the entire world is enriched by the relationships we forge at work as we build greater sensitivity and thicker skin.

To those who say seeking common ground is fruitless, I ask: What’s the alternative? Are we to pretend the fissures in our society aren’t growing? Shall we dig our bunkers deeper, and engage on a meaningful level only with those whose specific policy goals align with ours? Is that a recipe for peace and reconciliation?

There’s a better way. I hope many of you will weigh in on this, and join us for the virtual conference.

Comment on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Invitation: If you’re ready to advance civility and connection in the workplace, join us each week for Authenticity & Connection, a concise and thought-provoking reflection by Kent Johnson and guests; and help shape this important dialogue by weighing in via LinkedIn or Facebook.

Frank Torres, Director of Public Policy in Microsoft’s Office of Responsible AI

2021 Faith@Work ERG Conference to feature Panels and a Workshop on Connecting Faith Values and Corporate Ethics around AI

Members of Faith ERGs are among corporate employees most likely to desire strong business ethics and good outcomes for society in their work.  AI and Faith, a Seattle-based nonprofit, has organized a special Ethics Track in Day 3 of the 2^nd National Faith@Work ERG Conference on February 11 from 11-2 EST to discuss how people of faith can engage their employer’s business ethics safely and effectively, using as an example ethical issues about artificial intelligence.

The rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) across American businesses is inspiring a  growing discussion of ethical practices to manage AI’s risks and benefits. Corporations and universities across the world are creating offices and institutes specifically to address this.

Many of these AI-driven ethical issues grow out of questions which the world’s faiths have grappled with for millennia, such as fairness and equality, freedom of choice, the source of human rights and liberties, and the purpose of work.  But most corporate ethics offices and academic programs have no direct connection to faith perspectives on AI ethics, even as they struggle for influence themselves. Employees who are people of faith in companies deploying AI products have a lot to add to this ethics debate if they can do so safely and effectively.

The Ethics Track will help employees of companies using AI-powered technologies explore how to integrate their faith values with ethical issues in their work in three 30-minute panels, a Q&A Response Session, and a one-hour workshop.   The panels and Q&A will discuss what’s faith got to do with AI, how to constructively engage your company’s ethics process, and how to work cross faith on these issues.  The workshop will show how to move from a faith belief to a practical ethical position on real-world problems.  Faculty include such key thinkers as:

• – Frank C. Torres, a senior Microsoft ethics and policy leader;
• – Brian Green, Director of Tech Ethics at Silicon Valley’s oldest ethics institution;
• – Rear Admiral (ret) Margaret Kibben, Chaplain of the US House of Representatives;
• – Yaqub Chaudhary, a UK physicist and leading Islamic scholar and writer on AI ethics;
• – Patricia Shaw, a leading Christian UK attorney in AI ethics policy efforts; and
• – Michael Quinn, computer scientist and author of Ethics for the Information Age.

AI and Faith has over 60 sophisticated AI professionals, ethicists, theologians and philosophers in five countries working cross faith to produce highly relevant faith perspectives on AI ethics.

Register at 2nd National Faith@Work ERG Conference (vconferenceonline.com) (hurry! early bird rate expires Jan 21).

Contact:  Board Chair David Brenner, dmbrenner@aiandfaith.org for more information.

AI and Faith Website: AIandfaith.org – ERG conference article in January Newsletter

As the US continues to recover from a pandemic and violence in the Capitol itself, there are thousands of workplace chaplains ministering to people amidst the troubles. Join us to hear from three frontline leaders at the 2nd annual National Faith@Work ERG Conference, Feb. 9-11, 2021 (virtual):

– Rear Adm. Margaret Grun Kibben, chaplain to the U.S. House of Representatives
– Fr. Greg McBrayer, chief flight controller and chaplain at American Airlines
– Chaplain Karen Diefendorf, director of chaplain services at Tyson Foods (all pictured above)

On Jan. 6, as a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol and brought an abrupt halt to the work of lawmakers, Chaplain Kibben was a calm in the midst of deadly chaos.

Kibben previously served as the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ chief chaplain before being selected by a bi-partisan committee to become the first female chaplain to serve the House. During the siege, she did what she does best: offer comfort to those in crisis.

“There were people of varying abilities, health conditions and emotional states,” she said to RNS. “My concern was to keep an eye on who was frightened, who was struggling, so that I could come alongside them — and there were a few under duress.”

Meanwhile, across the country, Fr. Greg McBrayer, chief flight controller and chaplain for American Airlines, comforted airline staff and passengers as the pandemic continued to claim lives.

“From an Airline Chaplain’s perspective, this has been like 9 months of 911 on steroids,” said Fr. Greg.

“As an essential spiritual first responder, it has most compared with end-of-life grief ministry day in and day out. Airline colleagues and co-workers are grieving the loss of jobs, loss of loved ones, co-workers, and certainly the loss of human connection and civility,” he said.

At the same time, food production facilities across America can’t pause. On the front lines in companies like Tyson Foods, chaplains are on the production floor to meet the needs of staff who have worked through the pandemic to keep the rest of us fed.

“One of the things that strikes me first off, is that our Tyson chaplains have faced the same fears and risks that all of our essential workforce has faced,” said Karen Diefendorf, director of chaplain services at Tyson Foods.

“They have demonstrated courage and lived their faith while walking with our Team Members to encourage them, address concerns, be a liaison with plant leaders and helped all of them to be respectful to each other,” she said. “Ministry of Presence has never mattered more.”

Join us Feb. 9-11 to meet these extraordinarily heroic leaders, brining authenticity and connections through the compassionate care of workplace chaplaincy.

by Kent Johnson, J.D., Senior Corporate Advisor, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

Part of the blog series, Authenticity & Connection

Flashes of violence – on the streets and in the US Capitol – fan the flames of distrust everywhere. Increasingly, people presume that everyone on “the other side” has the worst intentions. The fear is that “they” want to destroy what “we” hold dear.

Make no mistake: This distrust and suspicion seeps into our workplaces. We ignore it at our peril.

Times like these drive many to silence. The problem is, silence is fertile ground for conspiracy theories, worry and hatred. It’s far better to promote a culture of authenticity and transparency about core issues and beliefs.

Don’t misunderstand: I’m not suggesting the answer is to launch debates in the workplace on particular hot political topics. That’s rarely productive since it focuses on issues rather than on relationships. Instead, I submit that the work to strengthen trust and connection is best focused on the field of basic principles.

As I noted last week, “religion” has been defined as “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.” Now we’ll take that further. Those of us who’ve been promoting Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) have seen, time and again, that when workers sincerely open up about the basic core principles that motivate and inspire them, there’s remarkable collegiality. More, there’s broad agreement on the basic values that play out in the workplace every day, including values like:

• – Respect for all people, whoever they are;
• – The right of all human beings to be treated with dignity and fairness, as we ourselves would like to be treated;
• – The right of people to live and speak according to their beliefs, insofar as that right doesn’t actually impinge on the rights of others;
• – A desire for facts (and not prejudice) to drive decisions; and
• – A desire for friendship, and even reconciliation, across cultures.

In diverse environments that promote FoRB for all, we’ve seen hearts turned toward reconciliation and connection. Workers often come to see that the proverbial “they” are not really bent on harming “us”. There certainly remain large areas of significant disagreement about the implications of certain facts, what constitutes “fact,” and specific policies best suited to accomplish fairness and justice; but those involved often come to see that, if “we” believed what “they” believe about a given situation, we’d be standing alongside them in solidarity. The door to deeper trust, reconciliation and meaningful friendship is opened when coworkers connect about their foundational principles.

What’s the alternative? If we presume that the differences in our basic personal principles are so fundamentally opposed that they cannot be reconciled, then, perhaps the best we can do is create a culture that compels employees to hide their core principles, or pretend they don’t exist. Is it feasible to do that? Does that strategy square with the goals of our diversity and inclusion programs? Is that “right?”

The good news is that, in the workplace, in our experience, the most divisive differences don’t flow from different fundamental principles of fairness. The biggest differences flow from different assumptions and perceptions. To be sure, hatred does surface sometimes. But it’s often grounded in misunderstanding. In any case, it’s better to see hatred out in the open, than to enable it to be concealed and be surprised when it rears its ugly head.

There’s hope for civility. Workplaces can be crucibles for peace, trust and warm friendship across cultures and across ideological walls. Among other vignettes, just consider the friendship between Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia.

We’ll pursue this in future posts. In the meantime, we’d love to have your comments, thoughts and disagreement about these important things. Join the dialogue! Challenge us!

Comment on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Invitation: If you’re ready to advance civility and connection in the workplace, join us each week for Authenticity & Connection, a concise and thought-provoking reflection by Kent Johnson and guests; and help shape this important dialogue by weighing in via LinkedIn or Facebook.

Tomas Flier, Google’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Lead, will deliver a keynote presentation at the 2nd annual National Faith@Work ERG Conference, Feb. 9-11, 2021 hosted by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) and the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

In Flier’s keynote, he will tell the story of how building a culture of belonging for all at Google includes religious inclusion.

“We are excited to hear from Mr. Flier how religious inclusion benefits not only Google’s global workforce but also all of us who rely on the many innovative products and services provided by Google every day,” said Brian Grim, RFBF President.

“Connection to one another and to our wider communities is an essential part of our wellbeing, and technology can help bridge physical distance and bring us together,” in How your faith community can come together online, by Kirk Perry, President, Global Client and Agency Solutions, Executive Sponsor of Google Inter Belief Network.

At Google there are currently 16 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) with more than 250 chapters globally – providing community, personal and professional development opportunities for Googlers from underrepresented communities. Google’s Inter Belief Network (IBN) aims to create a culture of inclusion, tolerance, and mutual understanding at Google for a diversity of beliefs, where Googlers of all beliefs feel welcome, included, and supported.

IBN also works to ensure that the voices of belief-based communities are represented in Google’s products. IBN consists of multiple member chapters representing specific communities of interest, including but not limited to: Buddhists, Christians, Jewglers, Muslims.

The conference – to be held virtually – brings together representatives of Fortune 500 companies who are members of faith-and-belief employee resource groups (ERGs). It also is a national convening point for workplace chaplains and corporate leaders interested in ethical leadership in the tech age of AI.

The 2021 conference theme is Authenticity & Connection, which is kicked off today by a discussion-starting blog by Kent Johnson, RFBF Senior Corporate Advisor. Join the discussion online today via our LinkedIn or Facebook page.

See full EIN PressWire.

Picture these scenarios:

• 1. Without explanation, management abruptly abandons a project you’ve devoted months to pursuing.

• 2. Credit for a successful project is lavished on someone who – it seems – did little.

• 3. A customer is treated in a way that seems improper or unfair to you.

There may be legitimate explanations for each of these kinds of situations. But we need to consider, without the benefit of knowing all the facts all the time, whether we can trust that our coworkers’ motivations are justifiable; that their actions are driven by the facts, consistent with core ethics and fairness, and that they are undertaken with respectful regard for those affected – and not driven by self-interest or prejudice.

This is a serious problem. Skepticism about coworkers’ motives saps energy and squashes collaboration and initiative. We want to disengage. Quit. Or accuse.

What is the Root of the Distrust Problem?

A big part of the problem is that we have an “Authenticity Gap.” Often it seems our coworkers are playing roles. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our key workmates had no guile; no pretension; no ulterior motives … if we knew enough about them to be able to give them the benefit of doubt when we don’t see the whole picture. Trust is hard to earn, easy to lose and hard to give, unless workers up and down the reporting chain are being authentic with one another.

How Do We Close the Authenticity Gap?

There’s no quick fix for the Authenticity Gap. A culture of trust and authenticity doesn’t just happen; it’s never complete. But I do have a proven principle to share: To bridge this gap, it’s essential to consistently encourage Freedom of expression of Religion and Belief (FoRB).

Why Religion?

Webster includes a definition that’s particularly helpful for our purposes: Religion is “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.” I’d submit that everyone – atheist, agnostic or devout – has that. By definition, this “religion” matters to our people. If we want coworkers to be authentic, and if we really want to learn what makes them tick, FoRB ought to matter to us. We should seek to create a work culture that welcomes expression of their deeply-held “cause, principle or system of beliefs.”

What do you think? Have you experienced the Authenticity Gap? If so, what are your thoughts on how to address it?

Kent Johnson

Invitation: If you’re ready to advance civility and connection in the workplace, join us each week for Authenticity & Connection, a concise and thought-provoking reflection by Kent Johnson and guests; and help shape this important dialogue by weighing in via LinkedIn or Facebook.

Corporate America is including religion in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives through faith-oriented Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

By Greg Clark

For many years, Corporate America’s DEI initiatives have mostly focused on race, gender or sexual orientation, but that is changing because for many their core identity (who they really are) is rooted in their faith.

Understanding the business imperative of allowing people to bring their “whole selves” to work, including their faith, has led America’s best companies to expand their DEI initiatives to include faith-oriented ERGs and other faith-friendly initiatives. Such companies include American Airlines, American Express, Texas Instruments, Intel, Target, Tyson Foods, Google, Apple, Salesforce, Accenture, PayPal and Walmart.

The rationale for fostering these faith-oriented ERGs is summarized by an Intel executive: it positively impacts the three “Rs” of business: recruiting, retention and revenue – the ability to attract and retain diverse talent, get that talent fully engaged, which leads to enhanced innovation & productivity.

As companies globalize, having employees who understand how faith and belief are manifest in private and public life helps avoid costly missteps and helps better tailor products and services to customer needs, which is core to being competitive in a global economy where religious populations are outgrowing nonreligious populations 23-to-1, according to Pew Research.

To be competitive in today’s and tomorrow’s marketplaces, companies need tap into the full identity, strength and potential of their employees by including religion as a full-fledged part of their DEI commitments.

To learn more, join us for the 2nd National Faith@Work ERG Conference!

Join us Feb. 9-11, 2021, as we bring together representatives of Fortune 500 companies who are members of faith-and-belief employees resource groups (ERGs). The conference supports the growing movement of top companies that are making their workplaces religiously inclusive.

It also is a national convening point for workplace chaplain and those interested in ethics and technology/AI.

The Faith@Work ERG Conference hosted by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, will be live, but held virtually.

The 2021 Faith@Work program is being continually updated and builds on the 2020 Faith@Work conference at Catholic University’s Busch School of Business in Washington, DC, cosponsored by American Airlines and Tyson Foods, and the 2019 Faith@Work conference at the corporate HQ of Texas Instruments in Dallas, TX, all cosponsored with the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.

Save 25% using the Early Bird registration code: EB2020