By Brian Grim

Diversity is seen merely as a political agenda by some. One reason is that it has largely excluded religion, but that is changing.

See the recent article published by the nation’s leading human resource organization, SHRM: Are Your DE&I Efforts Missing This One Critical Component? … FAITH …| By Denise Yohn – a brand leadership expert, keynote speaker and best-selling author of books such as Fusion (Nicholas Brealey, 2018) and What Great Brands Do (Jossey-Bass, 2014).

Yohn writes, “If you want employees to bring their whole selves to work—as most companies say they do—it’s important to acknowledge that faith is an essential part of many people’s identity…”

Worth a read …

By Brian Grim, RFBF President

Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, written two decades before the covid pandemic, talked about how social change follows a similar pattern as epidemics. If he were writing the same book today, he might use China’s zero-covid policy that isolated its 1.4 billion people for nearly three years as the tipping point for the world to abandon authoritarian regimes as trusted supply chain partners.

Gladwell’s argument focused on three elements that create a “tipping point” – the point at which everything seemed an uphill struggle until suddenly the peak was reached and everything shifted into downhill mode. The elements are The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and The Power of Context.

For religious freedom, all three elements are converging in 2023. Let me give examples of each that I’ve seen in the lead up to 2023.

The Law of The Few

The first element in reaching a tipping point is that a few socially gifted people share knowledge, connect with social networks, and sell the idea.

In October 2022, Pat Gelsinger, the CEO of the Intel Corporation, urged corporations to place more emphasis on facilitating safe spaces for religion at work during Stanford University’s “The Role of Faith in Business in Silicon Valley” conference at the Rock Center.

While the event may not have made national headlines, Gelsinger’s ideas are contagious and leading other leaders to also speak out.

For example, when Gelsinger received the 2021 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Gold Medal from the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation for his enthusiastic support for religiously inclusive workplaces, his acceptance speech triggered another top corporate leader to respond. John Tyson, chairman of Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, to also spoke out on the importance of faith-friendly workplaces, referencing Pat Gelsinger.

In December 2022, I was in Silicon Valley for PayPal’s Interfaith Fair and Equinix’s Interfaith Holiday Luncheon and saw how this movement is spreading among top leaders and top companies.

Beyond companies, it is now even being argued for in influential business publications, including the Harvard Business Review in September 2022 by the influencer Simran Jeet Singh. And just yesterday in the nation’s premier human resource organization’s publication SHRM Executive Network: Are Your DE&I Efforts Missing This One Critical Component? – Faith, by brand expert Denise Lee Yohn.

The Stickiness Factor

The second element of a tipping point is that there is a quality that compels people to pay close, sustained attention to a product, concept, or idea. There is a change in the message that makes it more contagious or memorable.

For decades, religious freedom was something that was largely the providence of lawyers and court battles, everything from fights over zoning restrictions and grooming regulations to hot-button culture war issues that continue to be litigated up to the Supreme Court level.

However, the embrace of workplace religious freedom is a complete change in the message. It means that religious freedom is not just an issue for the few who are aggrieved but for absolutely everyone. From the Atheist to the Adventist and the member of Zion Baptist to the Zoroastrian, everyone has a stake in being able to bring their whole authentic self to work – faith/belief and all.

This is a paradigm shift – workplace “freedom of religion and belief” is a matter of consensus rather than contention. The consensus can be seen in that this is not just a Silicon Valley idea, but one being embraced by wide range of industries participating in the Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index: retailers, airlines, financial institutions, manufacturers, insurers, defense contractors, and consulting groups.

Workplace religious freedom for all is a sticky idea because it does not make sense for people to check their faith — what for many is their deepest source of inspiration — at the door when they come to work. That’s a bad business idea.

The Power of Context

The Power of Context refers to the environment: if the historical moment is not right, then the tipping point will not likely take place.

I believe that the context is ripe. Corporations in the United States have been focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for decades, largely omitting religion and instead focusing on other important issues including race, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, age and even family, as our 2020 REDI Index report showed.

While the seeming omission of religion gives fuel to detractors who dismiss corporate diversity programs as nothing but a woke agenda, the DEI movement provides a context into which workplace religious freedom for all can naturally grow and be accepted.

And as mentioned already, the consensus that religion should be included is moving across industries, not just among those in Silicon Valley. This context not only allows religious freedom to be embraced in workplace, it means that millions of people are able to be involved in building religious freedom right in their own work environments.

Therefore, religious freedom is no longer defined as something fought about in courts and culture wars, but something that every person can work to build with colleagues of all faiths and beliefs for everyone’s benefit.

I expect 2023 to be a tipping point not just for freedom of religion and belief in the workplace but for such religious freedom across the country because where big business goes, society follows. And so does the world.

In case you missed them, have a look at RFBF’s top 10 most-read stories from 2022. Stay tuned for an exciting 2023 of advancing freedom of religion and belief for all in and through business.

Wishing a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and productive New Year to all!

Brian Grim
RFBF President

#1 Pune, India: RFBF and India’s MIT World Peace University sign agreement to study socio-economic impact of religion and religious pluralism in India

#2 Pivotal Finding: 80% of business leaders say it’s “good for company culture” to encourage employees to be open about their faith, according to a new Deseret News/HarrisX nationally representative poll

#3 Get it Done “by/vs” Building the Relationship? Where do you fall on the “by/vs” spectrum?

#4 Two EEOC Commissioners to Share Expertise on Combating Anti-Semitism in the Workplace

#5 Vocation of the Business Leader: From the Vatican to American Airlines, seeing the dignity of human work as a “community of people”

#6 Religious diversity: Corporate obstacle? Or asset? US companies embrace religious diversity as good for people and for business

#7 Company On Nasdaq With Purpose To Honor God: Did you know that Coca-Cola Consolidated’s leading purpose is to honor God in all they do?

#8 American Airlines CCO & G100 Founder To Receive Top Awards: 2022 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards

#9 Severely Restricting Religious Freedom Predicts War: Russia, perpetrating war in Ukraine, has the highest restrictions on religious freedom in Europe, 4th highest in world

#10 Religious Freedom & Peace: Strengthen our democracy by protecting religious freedom

By Brian Grim

On Wednesday I had the honor of speaking at the Annual Meeting of GDIT’s interfaith employee resource group Faith and H.O.P.E. I came away seeing how their exercise of workplace religious freedom for all is a model both for the faithful in society as well as for society itself.

Rather than religion being a source of disagreement and conflict – as it can be at times – I had the opportunity to meet people from across the faith and belief spectrum coming together in HOPE: Honesty, Optimism, Prayer, and Encouragement.

This year, GDIT’s Faith and HOPE ERG has experienced double digit growth in members, hosted dozens of events and meetings, all with the mission to:

“promote understanding of the hope and resources that can be found through faith in God or a higher power or philosophical system, provide employees with a network of like-minded peers, address questions from those interested in learning more, and pray for GDIT’s success in its work and mission.”

It is indeed hopeful to see that in today’s best workplaces there is free space for such open dialogue and religious engagement. It is a great example of what we refer to as Covenantal Pluralism. If you’re not familiar with the concept, check out the short video below. Have HOPE!

Covenantal Pluralism from Religious Freedom & Business Foundation on Vimeo.

1st-ever PayPal Interfaith Fair

By Brian Grim

PayPal’s interfaith employee resource group (ERG) ‘Believe’ hosted Silicon Valley’s first-ever Interfaith Fair at their global headquarters in San Jose, California, on Thursday. Believe leads Becky Pomerleau and Neetu Dhaliwal brought Believe members from across the country to participate, including John Huân Vũ and Jessica Aycock among many others! During the Fair, hundreds of PayPal team members visited the interactive faith booths (pictured above).

The Interfaith Fair was kicked off with virtual comments by PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, who was in Europe. Schulman emphasized the central place faith and belief has in the company’s overall diversity commitments.

Following Schulman’s welcome, an inter-company, interfaith panel moderated by PayPal’s Neetu Dhaliwal discussed the opportunities and challenges for bringing their whole selves, faith and all, to work. Discussants included Salesforce Vice President Randhir Kalsi, Amazon’s Mimi Chan, Equinix’s Husain Husna, and Intel’s Rajesh Yawantikar.

The Fair culminated with an executive Fireside Chat on the Value of Faith that I had the honor to participate in with PayPal Board member Debbie Messemer, moderated by Ellen Hayes, Vice President, Global Communities, Culture, and Change Communications at PayPal (pictured L-R below).

On Friday, as a follow-up to PayPal’s Interfaith Fair, Equinix’s FaithConnect ERG founded by Marsie Sweetland invited everyone to their Redwood City headquarters on Friday for the first annual interfaith Holiday Luncheon, also attended by Bruce Owen, Equinix’s Vice President of Employee & Community Impact, and others including Ismael Rivera.

At the Equinix luncheon, together with Kimberly Moses of ChaplainCare (pictured below right with Marsie Sweetland), I shared about the importance of recognizing the holidays of all religious communities of employees in a company.

It’s amazing to see the synergy between the religiously inclusive activities across companies in Silicon Valley, with the actions of one company stimulating similar and innovative activities in others. What wonderful examples of faith and hope in this holiday season!

Religious Repression Yields Economic Stagnation – as evidenced by countries on US State Department Countries of Concern list

by Brian Grim

The US State Department just released the latest Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list for egregious violations of religious freedom. The list includes the world’s second largest economy, the People’s Republic of China, which has seen a marked economic downturn coinciding with the draconian zero-covid policy that has put hundreds of millions of residents in a series of lockdowns.

The Chinese Communist Party’s total population control — now easing due to a series of public protests the likes of which have not been not seen since the government brutally put down the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations — mirrors policies used to control religious populations, such as their detention of an estimated one million Uyghur and other Muslims in the western Xinjiang region.

Such policies are drawing not only sanctions but driving global businesses to move their operations and supply chains elsewhere for freer, less state-controlled markets. (Also see my previous analysis, China’s Economic Secret Under Threat.)

Religious repression is also associated with market liabilities in Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Myanmar, all of which continue to be under heavy sanctions for hostile actions, many involving religiously repressive or assertive policies, such as Russia’s Orthodox Church justifying on religious grounds Putin’s war of aggression on Ukraine, as I’ve previously written.

As shown in our Cambridge University Press book, The Price of Freedom Denied, a lack of religious freedom in a country results in violent religious persecution and conflict. Furthering that research, our article “Is Religious Freedom Good for Business?” shows that religious hostilities and restrictions create climates that can drive away local and foreign investment, undermine sustainable development, and disrupt huge sectors of economies.

If you’d like to help address these issues, there’s something you can help us with. Please nominate business leaders you know (or know about) who are working to advance cultures of interfaith understanding, religious freedom (broadly defined), and peace for our 2023 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards. More information is here.

The Awards will be presented next September in India, part of our covenantal pluralism initiative devoted to interfaith understanding and peace in the world’s largest democracy.

By Jonathan A. Segal* | Guest Post on our blog series, Authenticity & Connection.

Last year, a company wanted to celebrate the holidays but without risking offending anyone in the process. Out of an abundance of caution, they did not have a “holiday” party. Instead, as recommended by a consultant, they had a “December dinner.”

Per that same consultant, they did not have a Christmas tree. Instead, they had a “Seasonal Evergreen.”

There are other examples. But, I think you can see the movie.

The company took the issue very seriously but they ended up looking very silly instead. They did not want to offend anyone but they ended up offending almost everyone.

We cannot tell our employees we want them to be their authentic selves but then tell them to check their faith at the workplace door. For many employees, faith is an important part of who they are.

Inclusion relative to faith means everyone and that includes Christians. And, how an employer handles Christmas sends a small but still symbolic message about the inclusion of those of the Christian faith.

So, please, don’t attempt to eliminate Christmas from the holiday season. Acknowledge Christmas but also acknowledge other holidays, too.

It is more than okay to have a holiday party and specifically mention Christmas in connection with it. Just mention other holidays too, such as Hanukkah, Bodhi Day and Kwanza.

Please, have a beautiful Christmas tree. But have a Menorah and Kwanza harvest basket, too.

And, yes, you can wish someone a Merry Christmas if you know they celebrate the holiday. Frankly, if you know someone celebrates Christmas but wish them Season’s Greetings instead, it feels a bit uncharitable to me.

I very much appreciate when someone wishes me a Happy Hanukkah because they know I am Jewish. An important part of my family, culture and me is acknowledged in the process.

But some think: it is very hard to acknowledge all faiths so it is better to acknowledge none at all. The focus on the perfect is the enemy of the good.

Further, it is possible to cast a wide net of inclusivity relative to faith during the holiday season. And so I shall try.

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, may the peace and happiness of Christmas be yours.

For those of you who observe Bodhi Day, may it be a blessed day.

For those of you who celebrate Hanukkah, I will be lighting a candle with you to celebrate our resilience.

For those whose seasonal holidays I did not mention, they—like you—are no less important and I respect your faith, too.

For those of you who celebrate holidays at other times in the year or are of no faith but good faith, I wish you well just as well.

The December holidays provides us with an opportunity to focus on religious inclusivity and that includes Christmas. What we do now sets the tone for the year to come.

Erase Christmas from your workplace and all your subsequent efforts relative to the religious inclusivity will be for naught.

Merry Christmas to my Christian friends.

* Jonathan A Segal is a partner at the Duane Morris Law Firm. He also is the managing principal of the employment group’s training arm, the Duane Morris Institute. Previously a litigator, Jonathan’s practice focuses on avoiding discrimination, harassment and retaliation and increasing diversity, equality and inclusion. Jonathan has a particular passion for preventing religious bias both as a legal and cultural matter and for promoting religious inclusivity. With the alarming increase of antisemitism, preventing and addressing this form of hate has become core to Jonathan’s practice. Jonathan has provided training to federal judges for more than 20 years, is a frequent speaker at business, HR and other conferences, and has had published on 3rd party platforms approximately 500 articles/blogs.

At Thursday’s monthly Women’s CEO Roundtable we heard the fascinating story of how faith has played a central role in King Husein’s business success (see recording above).

It was a the wonderful opportunity to hear how faith played a role in King’s coming from India where his mother helped put him through school sewing on a Singer machine, to founding and being CEO of Span Construction and Engineering – one of the country’s largest metal building construction companies, including being the exclusive builder of Costco stores.

King Husein is a Global Business & Interfaith Peace Award Gold Medalist. In addition to meeting King at the CEO Roundtable, hosted by fellow award-winner Ingrid Vanderveldt, you can learn more about King in the videos and links below.

On Veterans Day (11/11/22), the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation in partnership with Utah Valley University hosted a half-day conference for companies on the “Silicon Slopes” of Utah at the UVU Campus at Thanksgiving Point.

Topics addressed included:

• – How including faith and belief reinforces other diversity initiatives
• – How to start and grow a faith-or-belief employee resource group (ERG)
• – How faith and spirituality, when accommodated in the workplace, provide resiliency, health, and wellbeing to employees
• – How corporate chaplains are providing the same level of spiritual care in corporate workplaces as they do in the military
• – Corporate General Counsel Panel
• – Contribution of freedom of religion or belief for all to the US economy

The event ends with lunch* and an optional tour of Tom Holdman’s glass studio.

Keynote Speakers

• – King Husein, Chairman and CEO of Span Construction and Engineering, which has the exclusive contract to build all Costco stores worldwide

• – Astrid S. Tuminez, President of the Utah Valley University
• – Dr. Brian Grim, President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, and the world’s leading expert on the socio-economic value of religious freedom for all
• – Jefferson “Jeff” S. Burton, Maj. General, US Army (ret.), Vice President, Zions Bank, and member of the Utah House of Representatives

Panel Speakers

• – Archana Thiagarajan, Adobe, Senior Director Experience Design
• – Fr. Greg McBrayer, Chief Flight Controller and Company Chaplain, American Airlines
• – Chaplain Kimberly Moses, Captain, U.S. Navy, ret., ChaplainCare Learning Officer, former executive director of the Navy Chaplaincy School
• – C. Todd Linton, Director, Military Relations and Chaplains Services Division, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
• – Michael Isom, Adobe, Senior Business Operations Management
• – Adam Smith-Cairns, ServiceNow, Product Marketing Manager, and Co-chair, Interfaith Belonging Group
• – Kristine Ouzts, Strategic Planning Consultant for start-ups focusing on revenue generation, market segmentation, and financing needs
• – Keagan Case, People Analytics @ Qualtrics
• – Matt Evans, Sr. Director, Digital Transformation at Salesforce, and Global Vice President of Salesforce’s Faithforce
• – Robert Burton, UVU Civic Education Initiative

If your company has an office in Utah, get your tickets today before they sell out!

* Please contact organizers with any dietary needs.

Thanksgiving report for India’s engaged pluralism with Latter-Day Saints

By Brian Grim

I’ve just landed in New York after meetings and encounters in India that have given me so much to be thankful for. Research I did more than seven years ago for the World Economic Forum documented the socio-economic rise of India and the growing global impact of it’s Hindu majority. This can be a boon for the world, especially if it is accompanied by engaged and respectful interfaith relations, what we call covenantal pluralism.

At a meeting on Tuesday in the World Peace Dome (the world’s largest free-standing dome, pictured above and below), I had the opportunity as a Catholic to watch such engaged pluralism unfold in an historic interfaith event.

Looking up at the top of the dome from inside tells the story of their aim to “promote peace through the union of spirituality (of all faiths) and science.”

At the World Interfaith Harmony Conference, with thousands in attendance, the Hindu founder of the MIT World Peace University Dr. Vishwanath D. Karad, together with leaders and members other faiths ranging from Bahai and Buddhists to Muslims and Sikhs gathered for the installation of the 50th 12-foot bronze statue under the massive dome dedicated to peace.

The conference is the outgrowth of the amazing relationship between Dr. Karad and his university classmate, Dr. Ashok Joshi. Dr. Joshi, a renowned entrepreneur and holder of the first patent for a lithium battery, moved to Utah decades ago and became a friend to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though not a member of the church himself, Dr. Joshi introduced the Latter-day Saints to Dr. Karad a few years ago (Karad and Joshi pictured from yesterday).

On Dr. Karad’s first visit to Utah at a reception held by BYU President Kevin J Worthen, he was feeling tired and asked for a cup of coffee, not knowing that members of the church don’t drink coffee. When he heard the explanation, that led him on a deeper exploration of what the church was all about, culminating in his deciding to install a statue of their founding prophet Joseph Smith under the dome along with the 49 other statues of religious leaders (from multiple faiths) as well as statues of philosophers and scientists already commemorated beneath the dome.

On hand to celebrate the unveiling of the statue in addition to Pres. Worthen (pictured above), was Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Sister Katherine Jacob Christofferson, along with King Husein, Chairman and CEO of Span Construction and Engineering, and Ron Gunnell, global envoy for the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square and Global Chairman of Truth Alone Triumphs LLC.

And back to Thanksgiving. This amazing interfaith conference gives reason to be thankful that the communalism that often makes news is not the deeper and more nuanced news of an India where great institutions like the MIT World Peace University (with more than 50,000 students) are promoting engaged and respectful interfaith relations and thereby working for peace.

This is good news – not only for those represented at the conference – but for everyone in India and the world. Indeed, this will be India’s century if such engaged pluralism continues and grows.

With thanksgiving and hope – Happy (US) Thanksgiving Day!