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Pre-conference Roundtable: Chaplaincy Case Studies Review

23 Apr, 2024

Pre-Conference Roundtable: Chaplaincy Case Studies Review

Join Wendy Cadge to give feedback on case studies being piloted by Brandeis University’s Chaplaincy Innovation Lab to help non-chaplains understand what chaplains do at a pre-conference roundtable at Dare to Overcome, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 9:30-11:00 am. Location: Busch School of Business, Washington DC. To apply to participate, email Brian Grim (must be registered for Dare to Overcome).


The Chaplaincy Innovation Lab has developed a series of case studies designed to teach non-chaplains (i.e. healthcare workers, first responders, executives, police officers, etc.) what chaplains do and how spiritual care providers can support their work. Each case study features a situation in which a chaplain supports the work of a colleague who is not a chaplain in their institution. Join us for a 90 minute conversation about these case studies and to see if they might be helpful in your setting. Draft case studies will be provided in advance and the feedback shared will be used to strengthen them before their final release in the fall 2024.

Resource Roundtable: Meet & Interact With Our Supporting Sponsors

21 Apr, 2024

Resource Roundtable: Meet & Interact With Our Supporting Sponsors

Our Supporting Sponsors look forward to networking and exploring synergies at Dare to Overcome, Wednesday, May 22, 2024, from 12:00-12:45 am and 1:45-2:30 pm. Location: Busch School of Business, Room 207.


A21 is one of the largest organizations in the world that is solely fighting human trafficking. The annual Champion Award goes to a company carrying this mission forward.

ChaplainCare provides professional, reliable and agenda-free interfaith support and confidential care for all through the ministry of presence.

Catholic Charities DC is largest independent social services agency in the D.C. region providing critical services to people in need.

Cities Project Global is a global organization whose  mission is to awaken, equip and unleash leaders for impact leading to the flourishing of their cities.

Interfaith America inspires, equips, and connects leaders and institutions to unlock the potential of America’s religious diversity, normalizing interfaith cooperation.

Interfaith Photovoice uses an arts-based approach to interfaith and intergroup dialogue. They are curating our Golden Rule in Action photo contest.

JustServe’s mission is to improve the quality of life in communities through service. The organization is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Marketplace Chaplains is the largest and longest continuing provider of workplace chaplains to corporate America today, with chaplains in more than 1,500 companies.

Masjid Muhammad, The Nation’s Mosque, is the place of worship for several thousand Muslims in the Washington, D.C. area, and a leader in interfaith engagement.

Pray.com – the world’s #1 app for faith and prayer – is a social impact company: we’re driven by a mission to grow faith and cultivate community.

Tanenbaum works with leading companies and organizations to ensure that employees of all religious beliefs and none have their religious or non-religious beliefs and practices respected in the workplace.

Templeton Religion Trust (TRT) is a global charitable trust chartered by Sir John Templeton in 1984 that seeks to enrich the conversation about religion.

True Summit, led by extreme explorer Kevin DeVries, helps individuals & organizations achieve peak performance through well-being.

USA for UNHCR is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., established by American citizens that envisions a world without refugees.

PayPal Roundtable: Navigating Extreme Transition

21 Apr, 2024

PayPal Roundtable: The role of an interfaith community in times of extreme transition

PayPal will lead this roundtable discussion at Dare to Overcome, Wednesday, May 22, 2024, from 9:00-9:45 am. Location: Busch School of Business, Room 204.


Description forthcoming.

Deloitte Roundtable: Launching a Faith-based BRG

21 Apr, 2024

Deloitte Roundtable: Sharing the journey of launching a Faith-based BRG with Q&A

Deloitte will lead this roundtable discussion at Dare to Overcome, Wednesday, May 22, 2024, from 9:00-9:45 am. Location: Busch School of Business, Room 207.


Description forthcoming.

Coca-Cola Consolidated Roundtable: Scripture & Prayer Programs in Practice

19 Apr, 2024

Coca-Cola Consolidated Roundtable: Scripture & Prayer Programs in Practice

Coca-Cola Consolidated will lead this roundtable discussion at Dare to Overcome, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 4:30-5:15pm. Location: Busch School of Business, Room 207.


Join Mark Whitacre and Julia Oltmanns from Coca-Cola Consolidated for an interactive discussion of success stories and learnings gained from the implementation of different leadership development initiatives, mentoring programs, prayer groups and other methods of employee engagement that include a faith component.

Mark and Julia will share examples that are based on Bible studies or scriptural references and will also discuss examples that are useful for employees from different faith backgrounds. Please come with examples of studies or groups from your own workplace so that this can be a collaborative time of information sharing.

Equinix Roundtable: Faith in Unity

18 Apr, 2024

Faith in Unity: Harnessing the Power of Cross-Company ERG Collaboration for Spiritual Inclusion

Equinix will lead this roundtable discussion at Dare to Overcome, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 3:30-4:15pm. Location: Busch School of Business, Room 204.


Description forthcoming.

The Golden Rule Way: Join Us!

17 Apr, 2024

The 2024 theme for Dare to Overcome, our 5th annual national conference for Fortune 500 faith-oriented ERGs, is The Golden Rule Across Faiths and Beliefs.

Every major faith or belief system has a version of the Golden Rule at its core – do to others as you would have them do to you. This is part of our ongoing vision: Daring to Overcome those things that prevent unity, justice, tranquility, security, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. 

Indeed, we believe that this vision is in the spirit of the US Constitution which was “ordained” and “established” “in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

Each of the sessions, awards and activities of the conference will reinforce these concepts and aspirations, which are not unique to those in the US, but common to all humankind.

Join us!

 

The Golden Rule at Work: Interfaith Photo Competition

17 Apr, 2024

The Golden Rule in Action

Leading up to this year’s Dare to Overcome Conference, we would like to see your pictures of The Golden Rule in action. This concept of loving one’s neighbor is central to religious and spiritual people around the world.

The Golden Rule also unites people from different faiths and beliefs in the workplace as they come together to overcome things that prevent unity, justice, tranquility, security, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Let’s celebrate these moments of collaboration across faiths and beliefs. And let’s inspire others to put the The Golden Rule into action at work.

What does The Golden Rule look like in action as people work together across faiths and beliefs to create cultures of flourishing in the workplace?

Submit your photos of The Golden Rule in action by midnight on May 17th.

A winner will be selected and announced during the Dare to Overcome conference (May 21-22, 2024).

Contest participants must be employees at companies with representatives attending the Dare to Overcome conference.

What Faith-Oriented DEI Contributes to “Belonging”

4 Apr, 2024

By Kent Johnson | See more at Authenticity & Connection

The now-widespread focus on “belonging” as integral to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is a signal that the time has now come for religion to be included as a full-fledged part of DEI.

Beginning around 2019, “Belonging” emerged as a hot topic in DEI circles. Many leaders began wrestling with the fact that some DEI programs can have a tendency to alienate employees to the point that they feel unwelcome; that they don’t “belong.” This warrants more thought.

Here’s a common Venn diagram from Krys Burnette that seeks to illustrate the interrelations between DEI and Belonging:

The lower center section highlights an important insight, that emphasizing equity and diversity WITHOUT a corresponding emphasis on “inclusion for all” causes disengagement and low retention. If the overall message is perceived as pushing cultural assimilation – a melting pot that disregards distinctives – many employees will feel excluded, diminished and alienated.

Often in the DEI world, “inclusion” is measured predominantly to ensure that people in recognized diversity categories are represented in management, salary scale and “seats at the table” in numbers that mirror the ratios their categories bear to the general population of the community, the country or the world. If a DEI program is seen as mainly dedicated to achieving that mathematical outcome, it can appear to pit employees against one another. It feels like a zero-sum game; “them” against “us.” The “ins” versus the “outs.” Without a concurrent focus on “belonging” for all, the benefits to be derived from proportional representation tend to get lost in the math.

DEI’s adoption of the goal of “belonging” begins to address this matter. Unlike “inclusion,” which often is treated as a fact corroborated by mathematical ratios applied to specific groups, belonging entails a highly subjective element. And it begs a key question: “Belonging to WHAT?”

In this context, I suggest that a concerted focus on RELIGIOUS diversity, done well, can mitigate a zero-sum-gamed ethos and strengthen the sense of belonging for everyone in the organization, without compromising traditional diversity goals.

Over 80% of the global population identifies as “religiously affiliated” and this number is projected to increase to over 85 percent by 2050. It’s clear that the overlap between religious diversity and traditional diversity categories is huge. Many people across the diversity spectrum are religiously affiliated. The reach of religious diversity is even greater if one applies the following common sweeping definition of religion: “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.” Especially with that definition in mind, a concerted focus on religious diversity avoids the exclusivity of many other diversity categories. It speaks to all of us.

Religious diversity doesn’t seek to advance one group in relation to any other. Its goal, instead, is to serve other celebrated goals of DEI: to free employees, first, to “be themselves,” second, to openly share their richly diverse business-related ideas, views and philosophies, and third, to advance a culture of “full engagement” of all. A purposeful focus on religious diversity promotes meaningful and warm connections across all diversity categories.  It welcomes people of all faiths, atheists and agnostics, for the specific purpose of promoting a culture of listening, mutual respect and cross-cultural friendship. And, importantly, belonging.

As can be seen in the following linked summary, companies across the spectrum of industries have eagerly embraced religious diversity, with powerfully positive results. Employee resource groups (ERGs) representing specific beliefs (and atheism) have sprung up, leaving the door open for additional beliefs. In some companies, faith-oriented groups fall under an umbrella diversity category referred to in various ways including “Interfaith,” “Inter Belief,” etc.

Many of these faith-oriented ERGs offer informational sessions to all interested coworkers, describing the relevance of their respective religious views and practices to their work. These sessions often feature multiple faiths, and include discussion of unifying themes, including values they hold in common. These ERGs also engage in joint projects to help communities with food banks, tutoring, elimination of human trafficking and many other positive outreach works. All these activities strengthen participants’ sense of belonging and connection, across sectarian lines. More information about faith-oriented ERGs is available here.

The result is a deep and wide sense of BELONGING – not just belonging to particular diversity groups (though that is important), but, profoundly, belonging to the entire enterprise – the whole of the company’s work.

HR professionals: This is worth pursuing.