Working for workplace religious diversity, equity & inclusion

E-NEWS ACTION DONATE

BYU Marriott School of Business

  • /

Brigitte Madrian, Dean of the BYU Marriott School of Business and Marriott Distinguished Professor of Finance, shared how a faith-based business school can support workplace religious inclusion during her keynote presentation at the 2nd annual National Faith@Work ERG Conference, Feb. 9-11, 2021, held virtually and hosted by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) and the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

The conference was co-sponsored by American Airlines, Dell Technologies, PayPal, Texas Instruments, the Global Leadership Network and the Marriott School. Other keynote speakers included Google’s Global Lead on Diversity, Tomas Flier.

The conference brought together representatives of Fortune 500 companies who are members of faith-and-belief employee resource groups (ERGs). It was also a national convening point for workplace chaplains and corporate leaders interested in ethical leadership in the tech age of AI. The 2021 conference theme was Authenticity & Connection.

CEOs and senior vice presidents from many of these companies (and more) have participated in the Faith@Work conference as well as in Dare to Overcome, the RFBF’s signature global conference that shines a light on successes in promoting mutual respect and allyship among diverse communities, with a focus on workplace inclusion and accommodation of religious communities and abilities (disabilities) communities.

Marriott School Summer Intern & NAC Members

As a follow-up to the conference, the Marriott School provided an intern (Jade Romano) to RFBF to help organize and carry out the 2021 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards held during Dare to Overcome, at which a member of the Marriott School’s NAC (King Husein) received a gold medal for his work in advancing religious freedom, interfaith understanding and peace worldwide.

Other medalists included Intel’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, Tyson Foods Chairman John Tyson, and CEOs from around the world including from Israel, Iraq, India, Australia and the UK.

They received their awards either in person at the start of the Paralympic games in Tokyo, or virtually on Aug. 24. Previous Awards were presented in tandem with the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro (2016) and in Seoul (2018), where keynote addresses were given by former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, and Elder Robert C. Gay, a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a member of the NAC.

You can see King Husein’s award and powerful acceptance speech below. It also includes an announcement from American Airlines of ongoing partnership in RFBF’s annual global event, Dare to Overcome, and concludes with our 200-strong global virtual choir singing the Dare to Overcome Anthem!