Dare to Overcome (DTO), the premier global initiative promoting peace and unity through intercultural understanding in workplaces and marketplaces, is set to host its flagship event at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. This year’s edition, the 2nd annual Dare to Overcome conference in India, continues its mission of fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces, while advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

Check out the programme!

Global Platform for Peace and Inclusion

DTO 2024 will gather global business leaders, thought innovators, and Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) from leading multinational corporations such as Salesforce, PayPal, Equinix, and American Airlines. The event will serve as a platform to share practices and celebrate advancements in creating inclusive workplaces and communities that champion intercultural harmony and allyship.

At the event, the prestigious “King Husein Global Business Intercultural Peace Awards” will honor corporate leaders advancing allyship in three key areas:

• — Core Business: This includes recognizing innovative practices in HR, training, supply chains, and product development, promoting interfaith understanding.
• — Social Investment & Philanthropy: This includes celebrating strategic contributions to social causes and community aid.
• — Advocacy & Public Policy: This includes highlighting efforts to foster social cohesion and dialogue across communities.

These awards spotlight leaders who exemplify the power of diversity, in order to foster peace and progress.

Last years awardees included Nadir Godrej, Sangita Jindal, and Zainab Patel. The new awardees will be announced shortly.

REDI Monitor

Furthermore, at Dare to Overcome 2024, the full India REDI (Religious Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Monitor Report, as provided by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, will be released and presented, with special recognition of the 10 top-scoring companies for their achievement,

Innovative Curriculum: Building Peace Among Future Generations

DTO 2024 will also mark the introduction of the Human Rights, Business Skills & Peace Secondary School Curriculum, set to pilot in India in 2024-2025. This unique initiative integrates ten core human rights, guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, with essential business skills, fostering inclusive peace and mutual understanding among future generations.

For instance, the lesson on “Freedom from Discrimination” combines knowledge about equality rights with networking skills, encouraging students to appreciate and collaborate with diverse individuals, while honing key professional abilities.

Sanjoy K Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, said, “India stands as a beacon of unity in diversity, with its workforce enriched by varied backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures. Through Dare to Overcome, we aim to create inclusive platforms that empower individuals to embrace unique ideas and perspectives. This conference celebrates the strength of diversity in the Indian corporate landscape, where talents converge to drive innovation, collaboration, and collective success.”

Syed Shams Jawaid, Producer of Dare to Overcome, noted: “We’re excited to host the second annual Dare to Overcome Conference in India, a celebration of Unity in Diversity. This year, we continue to explore how India’s rich cultural and spiritual diversity serves as a powerful business asset, fostering innovation and collaboration. Our mission remains to bring together visionary leaders from diverse walks of life, working in harmony to build a more inclusive, equitable, and promising future for all. This event stands as our contribution to making the world a better, more equal place. We hope to see you there.”

Event Details:

• — Date: December 9, 2024
• — Time: 9:00 AM onwards
• — Venue: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi

For more information, visit: https://daretoovercome.com/

Indeed, India’s rich cultural diversity stands as one of its most profound strengths, shaping its remarkable achievements and global impact. This year’s Dare to Overcome ‘Unity in Diversity’ conference will honor businesses that lead the way in harnessing this diversity as a catalyst for innovation and growth. On 9th December, the event will spotlight how embracing inclusion and cultural richness creates a powerful competitive advantage in an increasingly interconnected world.

In follow-up to our recent event in Parliament during National Grief Awareness Week, this month’s Faith@Work zoom call is, “Managing grief in the workplace: Why employers should embrace faith inclusion to support their staff.” Several of the speakers from the Parliament – specifically leaders from the NHS’s Muslim and Christian networks — will be sharing how faith adds resiliency to workplaces.

Yusra Choudry

• Pharmacist, NHS National Muslim Network Co-Chair

Tanya Malik

• NHS England, NHS Christian Staff Network Co-Chair

David Law, Moderator

• Thames Water
  

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(Pictured from top left: Wales; Scotland; UK Parliament; England)

By Brian Grim

We explored and celebrated the role that faith plays in making workplaces and communities more resilient and caring in a series of meetings across three of the four countries of the UK.

In Wales, I met with Simon Gibson and the FoRB Foundation’s Julie and Matthew Jones. We explored the possibility of hosting a Faith@Work conference in Wales in the near future.

Gibson is the chairman of Alacrity Graduate Entrepreneurship Foundation and chief executive of Wesley Clover Corporation, a global technology investment fund. He’s a non-executive director of the Celtic Manor Resort, the United Kingdoms’ largest leisure resort. He’s also a regent of the Harris Manchester College at the University of Oxford and a professor at the Swansea University School of Management. He was most recently High Sheriff of Gwent, a royal appointment. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1999 and Commander of the same order (CBE) in 2018 for his services to Wales’ industry, community and economy.

In Scotland, Louise Bailey, Belonging Lead at OVO, invited companies headquartered in Glasgow to engage in a morning long discussion on the business case for faith-and-belief-friendly workplaces. Companies participating were invited to consider benchmarking their journeys on creating religious inclusive workplaces, using the REDI index. One outcome of the meeting was to pencil in a date for a city-wide follow up on 23 April 2025.

In England, we had a series of meetings, including a discussion with board chairs from FTSE 100 organizations hosted by Oliver Pawle at Korn Ferry on religiously inclusive workplaces. Following that we met with partners at Equinix, whose president of EMEA, Bruce Owen, has offered their headquarters to host our 29 April 2025 annual Faith@Work summit. Finally, we had a roundtable discussion in the Palace of Westminster on the role of faith in providing health and resilience as people face the challenges of life. Participants included HSBC’s diversity lead, the Canary Wharf Multifaith Chaplaincy, and leaders of the Muslim and Christian networks the NHS.

If your company has an Interfaith member/representative in Ireland, please put them in touch with ServiceNow’s Mariana Ciocca Alves Passos, and she can add them to the calendar invite. Or they can just join on Zoom using this link.

On Monday, had a great conversation on Faith and Work with Forbes’ Seth Cohen at Nasdaq studios as part of ForbesTalk from Nasdaq Marketsite.

Are you based in Scotland?

Would you benefit from a discussion on faith, religion and beliefs in the workplace?

Faith is a core part of many people’s being and to ensure people can bring their whole selves to work, we need to create faith friendly workplaces.

If you’d like to join our discussion on 2nd December to talk about how to do this and share ideas, please reach out on LinkedIn to Louise Bailey, Belonging Lead at OVO.

On the occasion of National Grief Awareness Week, join us for an important discussion of the role spirituality can play in making working environments more resilient and able to respond to the difficulties of life inside and outside the workplace.

Speakers from the Canary Wharf Multifaith Chaplaincy and their corporate partners as well as leaders of the faith-based employee resource groups (ERGs) at the UK National Health Service (NHS) will describe the benefits and spiritual health outcomes of opening the workplace to faith and belief.

Attending to spiritual health is a part of a trend in best global corporate practices, as measured by the REDI Index, which a growing number of UK and international organisations are using to benchmark progress in workplace religious diversity, equity and inclusion.

The discussion will be moderated by the APPG FoRB and the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.

Registration Required.

Dare to Overcome 2024 returns to New Delhi this December to celebrate global best practices that foster inclusivity in workplaces. Join us in critical and relevant conversations that reinforce the need for intercultural empathy amongst the workforce.

Mark your calendars, get the latest here, and stay tuned for more details.

“When you have a society where people respect each other’s right to believe and behave according to their beliefs, then you have the recipe for a peaceful and prosperous society, and in that condition, normal business can thrive.”

In the latest episode of the Religion at Work podcast, host Professor Binna Kandola OBE is joined by Brian Grim, President and Founder of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation to discuss:

• — Brian’s personal journey of faith in the workplace
• — How years of data and research prove a link between economic sustainability and freedom of religion or belief for all
• — Examples of workplace faith in action and the benefits to society as a whole

We hope you enjoy listening!