by Brian J. Grim, Ph.D.

This is part of a daily blog by RFBF President Brian Grim highlighting positive business responses to the pandemic, and part of the COVIDxNOW Global Economic Leaders Consortium, which is seeking to deliver innovative solutions for COVID19

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Amazon to hire more than 4,500 people in Kentucky and Indiana in response to COVID-19

Amazon is expecting to hire more than 4,500 people in Kentucky and Indiana at fulfillment centers to meet the surge in product demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Ben Tobin (Louisville Courier Journal) Published 11:01 a.m. ET March 18, 2020 |

The Seattle-based tech conglomerate is opening 100,000 part- and full-time roles across the United States. The company also will give a $2 per hour wage raise for U.S. fulfillment center employees, who make $15 or more depending on the region.

“We are opening 100,000 new full and part-time positions across the U.S. in our fulfillment centers and delivery network to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service during this stressful time, particularly those most vulnerable to being out in public,” the company said in a press release.

As of Wednesday morning, the United States has surpassed 6,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and has more than 110 deaths.

Those interested in applying can go to www.amazon.com/jobsnow.

A megachurch has nearly 1,000 people tested for coronavirus in two days

Church of the Highlands, Alabama’s largest megachurch, hosted drive-through coronavirus testing at one of its parking lots in Birmingham on March 17.

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey (Washington Post) March 19, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

On Sunday, Alabama’s largest church stopped its in-person worship services. By Tuesday, it started hosting drive-through coronavirus tests in one of its parking lots.

In the span of just two days, doctors in Birmingham tested 977 people from across the state by using the parking lot and volunteers from Church of the Highlands, according to Dr. Robert Record, who is helping to lead the effort. The drive-through effort at one of America’s largest churches is part of a larger nationwide push for more information about coronavirus as more testing locations began to pop up this week.

Read full story on Washington Post.

By Brian J. Grim, Ph.D.

We are in unprecedented times. The price tag on the Trump administration’s proposed economic rescue package approached $1 trillion. It seeks to bail out not only industries and defer annual income tax collection but also to $1000 or more directly into the hands of each American adult.

And businesses themselves — reservoirs of resources and knowhow — face existential threats as commerce, trade and normal business are curtailed. McKinsey & Company now offer two scenarios, put simply, bad and worse. Others are looking for the U.S. economy to come back even stronger once the pandemic is stopped, including the COVIDxNOW initiative.

With this background, it is useful to look at a third sector – the faith-based sector – as an added source of national and global resilience.

Previously, our research has shown that religion annually contributes $1 trillion or more to the U.S. economy, with especially impactful contributions in areas such as substance abuse recovery ($316 billion), local congregational activities ($418 billion) and religious institutions ($303 billion).

Given these resources, how are faith-based communities responding?

First, many are foregoing and moving online their regular worship services and gatherings. Synagogues around the world are not holding services. The Vatican announced that all the Liturgical Celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful, and that until April 12 the General Audiences and the Angelus presided over by Pope Francis will be available only in live streaming on the official Vatican News website. And it’s not just at the Vatican. For example the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore suspended all Catholic masses across the diocese. Prayers at mosques and other places of worship have been suspended in the UAE.

Some have gone even further. For example, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has cancelled all public gatherings worldwide. Church leaders announced on March 12 that worship services worldwide are temporarily suspended and that its twice yearly General Conference will be available only by video.

Second, faith groups are donating medical supplies and services at home and abroad, including to China. The Latter-day Saints donation to China, for example, included 220,000 respirator masks, 870 pairs of protective goggles and more than 6,500 pairs of protective coveralls sent on 79 pallets of protective medical equipment. And Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham,  just sent a DC-8 aircraft carrying an emergency field hospital and a team of 32 technicians and medical personnel from Greensboro, North Carolina, on Tuesday (March 17) for Cremona, Italy, to set up a triage operation outside a hospital there.

Third, a huge chunk of global health services are provided by faith-based institutions. As John Allen points out, “Globally, the Catholic Church operates 18,000 health care clinics, 16,000 homes for the elderly and those with special needs, and 5,500 hospitals, with 65 percent of them located in developing countries. It’s by far the largest non-governmental provider of health care in the world. Despite that staggering infrastructure, the reality is that relationships between those facilities and the institutional Church tends to be fairly loose, with leaders on either side often not thinking about, or talking to, their counterparts on the other.”

On March 11, 2020, a meeting to launch an online platform to collect and communicate information related to religious actors responding to the COVID-19 pandemic was held at the Berkley Center at Georgetown University.

Click here for a summary of the discussion. 

The meeting highlighted that “Faith leaders and communities are critical actors in the current crisis and there is a rapidly growing set of actions and statements. The need to engage religious communities is quite well appreciated by public health officials (national and international) at a broad level. There is, however, much room for specific measures to translate that awareness to practice.”

by Brian J. Grim, Ph.D.

This is part of a daily blog by RFBF President Brian Grim highlighting positive business responses to the pandemic, and part of the COVIDxNOW Global Economic Leaders Consortium, which is seeking to deliver innovative solutions for COVID19

Another casualty of Covid-19 coronavirus is this year’s annual global meeting of Horasis in Cascais, Portugal. As I have done for the past four years, I was to lead a panel of business and faith leaders to discuss the role of ethics in our global economy.

Included on our now-canceled panel was Klaus Moosmayer, Ph.D. Chief Ethics, Risk & Compliance Officer of Novartis. Swiss-based Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies by both market capitalization and sales. Novartis, like many companies, are responding to the pandemic in a variety of ways, ranging from funds to help economically impacted communities to using their own capabilities to seek for solutions.

I applaud Frank Jurgen-Richter, Chairman of Horasis, for his tireless efforts to find solutions to global challenges, including this one. He emphasizes — in the following Horasis Declaration — the importance of principled leadership during this unprecedented global challenge.

The Horasis Declaration

Our Commitment to Principled Leadership in Times of Disruption

At the dawn of a new decade, humankind faces unprecedented challenges to the wellbeing of our planet and the prosperity as well as survival of our species. Confronting the perils of climate change, economic, racial, ethnic and gender inequality, and most recently disease outbreak, urgently necessitates increased international and inter-generational collaboration and collective creativity.

Yet, the trend towards populism is sowing seeds of division and isolation within society, undermining this capacity to effectively work together to address the globe’s most pressing issues. ‘Us versus them’ ideologies further strain socio-economic, racial and government relations, all while neglecting to provide solutions.

Businesses also feel the effects of the leadership crisis. Saddled with uncertainty surrounding trade disputes and the decoupling of long-standing international organizations, industry leaders face deepening existential challenges.

As government, private, and non-profit sector leaders of influence at this most decisive moment in history, we collectively express our conviction that the biggest problems of humanity can and must be resolved by adhering to a more Principled form of Leadership, defined as the alignment of a leader’s behavior with the values the organization outlines for itself. By leading by example to apply ethical standards that reflect shared values, we can best apply this leadership. Furthermore, we hereby commit to:

1. 1. Promoting a culture of collaboration within and amongst societies, as well as between the public and private sectors.
2. 2. Foregoing short-term, personal gains in favor of benefiting humankind and the planet in the long run.
3. 3. Running our governments and organizations with openness, transparency, honesty, humility, and trust in others.
4. 4. Championing the rights of all stakeholders, not just those of shared affiliations or mutual interests.
5. 5. Actively investing in underserved communities to better address global inequality.

Historically, times of crises have opened the door to oppressors. Now, facing perhaps the biggest test to humankind and the future of our planet, it will be up to principled government and business leaders to lead society to favourable, democratic resolutions.

We thusly make known our firm resolution to this endeavor.

• — Mohamed ElBaradei, Former Vice-President of Egypt, Nobel Peace Price 2005, Egypt
• — Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, Minister and Special Advisor to the President of Niger, Niger
• — Luca Jahier, President, European Economic and Social Committee, European Union
• — Dalibor Jevtic, Minister for Communities and Return, Kosovo
• — Dylan Jones, Deputy Minister for Western Economic Diversification, Canada
• — Diene Keita, Minister for International Cooperation and African Integration, Guinea
• — Fawzia Koofi, Vice President, National Assembly, Afghanistan
• — Ernest Bai Koroma, Former President of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone
• — Yves Leterme, Former Prime Minister of Belgium, Belgium
• — Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, Norway
• — Ehud Olmert, Former Prime Minister, Israel
• — Jonathan T. M. Reckford, Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity International, USA
• — Valerie Rockefeller, Chair, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, USA
• — Amos Sawyer, Former President of Liberia, Liberia
• — Eva-Lotta Sjöstedt, Member of the Supervisory Board, Metro, Germany
• — Karen Tang, Executive Director, The Better Hong Kong Foundation, Hong Kong
• — Vitaly Vanshelboin, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations, Denmark
• — Luca Visentini, General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), European Union
• — Deborah Wince-Smith, President, United States Council on Competitiveness, USA

New business initiative invests to address social, health and economic impact of Covid19 outbreak

New offering creates 48-hour turnaround solutions focused on slowing negative economic impact, opening new opportunities for revenue growth and job opportunity across the globe.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Austin TX, March 16, 2020: Today COVIDxNOW.org was launched as leaders from around the globe galvanized together over the weekend to create new opportunities to stabilize the global economy and facilitate new revenue growth during a paradigm shift created by the Covid19 outbreak. COVIDxNOW is open to all and is specifically targeting women & diverse leaders and innovators and those corporations seeking to align with them.

COVIDxNOW is bi-partisan, open and respectful of all belief systems and includes leaders from Intel, the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, PVBLIC, as well as leaders from countries including Austria, the UK and others. COVIDxNOW brings a priority focus on stimulating new entrepreneurial innovations and business opportunities in tandem with efforts by global companies such as Walmart, Target and Google, who are partnering with government efforts to address the health crisis.

“Over the past 2 weeks. I have travelled to Washington DC, San Francisco and now in Austin and have seen firsthand in what is happening at the policy level, corporate enterprise, NGO’s and with small to medium businesses here in the US and globally. Answers and solutions are not happening fast enough. With COVIDxNOW and Rainmaking’s leadership we have activated a global team to coordinate immediate solutions to help large scale enterprises succeed while opening opportunities for small to medium businesses to grow” says organizer Ingrid Vanderveldt, Chief Impact Officer of Rainmaking US, and Founder of Empowering a Billion Women 2020 (EBW2020) and The EBW Foundation. She was the 1st Entrepreneur in Residence of Dell Technologies.

COVIDxNOW was set up in response to the wake of the global health and economic crisis being experienced across the world.

The primary purpose of the COVIDxNOW consortium is to bring to the forefront immediate, “rapid response solutions” to help solve some of today’s biggest economic challenges created as a result of the COVID19 outbreak.

The consortium will work to bring media attention, galvanize global leadership conversations and foster strategic “out-of-the-box” innovative thinking and practical tactics.

Any specific project requests that come to COVIDxNOW be coordinated by the COVIDxNOW team with the organizing committee and participating organizations.

The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation’s president, Dr. Brian Grim, also announced today that – as part of the COVIDxNOW initiative – the foundation will publish a daily blog highlighting news of positive and innovative business and faith actions that are bringing solutions. You can see the blog on the foundation’s Facebook page.

COVIDxNOW’s focus is solving the “task at hand”. That means, working diligently to see a “retreat” of COVID19 globally. As we come out of this period of time with COVID19, steps are already being put in place for a complimentary ongoing thought leadership, resilience initiative to support the “new normal” that can carry on for generations to come #world- strong.

The consortium, pledge and activities of the consortium are a 501c3 initiative organized under The EBW Foundation (Empowering a Billion Women Foundation) in partnership with the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. All monies contributed to the COVIDxNOW initiative will remain in COVIDxNOW and its organizers to help distribute community information and grow the pledge base of companies seeking to participate.

For more information on how you can get involved, or to learn more about these solutions, please go to www.covidxnow.org or contact Pam Pike at pam@ebw2020.com.

# # #

Personal reflections of Brian J. Grim, Ph.D.

Not everyone reading this was alive on Black Monday, 1987. For those who were and had investments in the stock market, it was a crash that for some wiped out up to half of their savings and investments. The Friday before Black Monday was the day my wife and I invested our total savings into the stock market. On Monday, what we had saved was lost.

Over and over again through the years we have been thankful for that day. That may seem odd. But for us, who have devoted our lives to serve God in a variety of ways, we came to experience that our security was not in bank accounts or portfolios, but in a far higher asset.

That asset is faith. Faith in an unseen God.

In those days, we were working in the westernmost part of China, and found over and over that challenges ranging from Hepatitis to navigating the communist system were possible with help from above.

It’s not that everything worked out, but everything had a place in the eternal flow of things.

For example, not long after Black Monday, on 8/8/88, the paramount leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, approved a proposal I had made to set up a faith-based graduate school in the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region, China’s far west where up to a million Uygurs have been put into “vocational” re-education camps purportedly to protect against radicalization.

Unfortunately, the graduate school fell through due to reversing commitments from the American side. To this day I wonder how the future of Xinjiang would have been different had the American side stayed engaged.

The lesson, however, was that trusting in human institutions, including the stock market and even my own compatriots, was not as strong as the miraculous experience of 8/8/88.

In faith, I believe breakthroughs like 8/8/88 are around the corner. But we must act in faith, not fear.

Also read:

— Coronavirus will bankrupt more people than it kills — and that’s the real global emergency

— Coronavirus: Ten reasons why you ought not to panic  

— SHRM: Coronavirus and COVID-19 Workplace Resources 

— CDC: Get your home ready 

More US Firms Are Boosting Faith-Based Support For Employees, AP

By DAVID CRARY, AP, National Writer

It has become standard practice for U.S. corporations to assure employees of support regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation. There’s now an intensifying push to ensure that companies are similarly supportive and inclusive when it comes to employees’ religious beliefs.

One barometer: More than 20% of the Fortune 100 have established faith-based employee resource groups, according to an AP examination and there’s a high-powered conference taking place this week in Washington aimed at expanding those ranks.

“Corporate America is at a tipping point toward giving religion similar attention to that given the other major diversity categories,” says Brian Grim, founder and president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation that’s co-hosting the conference along with the Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business. Read the full story.

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DAVOS: Diversity is top of the corporate agenda. Why doesn’t that include faith?

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JANUARY 30, 2020

Contact: Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, media@religiousfreedomandbusiness.org – +1.410.268.7809

Google Tops New Religious Inclusion Rankings

Most Fortune 100 Companies Neglect Faith-Friendly Workplace Initiatives

New Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Index Gives High Marks to Several Tech, Financial Firms and Other Fortune 100 Brands 

Index Finds Corporations Continue to Overlook Religious Inclusion, with More than Half of the Fortune 100 Making No Public Mention of Faith as Part of Diversity Initiatives

(ANNAPOLIS, MD) – A new annual ranking of Fortune 100 companies shows many fail to include faith and religion as part of corporate diversity initiatives. The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation’s new Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Index, released today, gives high marks to major companies like Google/Alphabet, Tyson Foods, and Intel for taking steps to recognize the importance of faith in the lives of employees.

The REDI Index establishes a new benchmark for annual assessment of the state of corporate America’s inclusion of religion as an integral part of its diversity initiatives. Despite a positive faith-friendly trend emerging in a number of major corporations, the REDI Index also exposed striking shortfalls among Fortune 100 companies. Most companies on the list continue to overlook religious inclusion in favor of prioritizing other important diversity classifications such as race, sexual orientation, disability and others.

“Companies scoring well on the REDI Index are using a variety of innovative programs to make faith expressions more welcome in the workplace, creating a more inclusive environment,” said Dr. Brian Grim, President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. The Foundation is the leading global authority on issues surrounding how faith contributes to global business and economic success.

Each of the top ten companies encourage respectful religious expression in the workplace ranging from the development of faith-based Employee Resource Groups to having corporate chaplains. The top ten companies in the 2020 REDI Index raking are:

• 1. Google/Alphabet
• 2. Intel (tie)
• 2. Tyson Foods (tie)
• 4. Target
• 5. American Airlines (tie)
• 5. Facebook (tie)
• 7. Apple
• 8. Dell
• 9. American Express (tie)
• 9. Goldman Sachs (tie)

Alphabet/Google scored highest on the 2020 REDI Index because of the number and diversity of faith- and belief-based Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) mentioned on the company’s website. Google has established an Inter Belief Network (IBN) that aims to create a culture of inclusion, tolerance, and mutual understanding at the company. IBN consists of multiple member chapters representing specific communities of interest, including but not limited to Buddhists, Christians, Jewglers [Google’s term], and Muslims. Google’s IBN also aims to ensure that the voices of belief-based communities are represented in Google’s products.

Tied for second in the ranking, Tyson Foods openly welcomes what they call “the whole person,” when it comes to matters of faith, even fully including those who don’t identify as “religious.” The company has ninety-eight dedicated chaplains that can provide compassionate pastoral care to team members and their families, no matter what their religious affiliation or beliefs.

While some of the biggest brands have begun recognizing that respect for faith expression is vital to recruitment, retention and creating a productive work environment, the majority of Fortune 100 companies have yet to account for the value of faith-friendly workplaces. The REDI Index revealed that outside of the top ten, many Fortune 100 companies fail to include religion as compared to other major identity categories: race/ethnicity, women/gender, sexual orientation, veterans/military, dis/ability, age, and family. “With religious affiliation and diversity continuing to grow world-wide between now and 2050, companies that fail to understand the value of a religiously inclusive workplace are increasingly at a competitive disadvantage,” stated Grim.

REDI Index Top Line Findings include:

• – 57 of the Fortune 100’s diversity landing pages fail to make a single mention of faith or religion.
• – Race or Ethnic Diversity is mentioned more than 1000 times across company public platforms, but religion only 92.
• – Fewer than 1-in-5 (18-percent) of companies mention having faith-related Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
• – Of 775 ERGs touted by companies, only 5% are related to faith, interfaith, religion or specific religions
• – Companies that include faith in diversity programs are overall more inclusive, including LGBTQ inclusion

“Failing to foster religious inclusion can be costly. In 2017, there was a $25 million court finding against Hilton for not reasonably accommodating the religious needs of a dishwasher. A high-profile Supreme Court decision was also rendered against Abercrombie & Fitch for putting their ‘looks policy’ above religious nondiscrimination. Going beyond the minimum legal requirements, employers are increasingly promoting religious diversity and inclusion in order to strengthen employee recruitment and retention,” Grim said.

“While companies still have a long way to go to be faith-friendly, with major brands like Walmart, Salesforce, PayPal and others also starting to make this a priority, we are at a tipping point at which we will very likely see greater momentum on this issue in the near future. That’s a great thing for business, especially because it means better, more inclusive workplaces for employees,” said Grim.

The full study, including its methodology and the rankings of all Fortune 100 companies can be found at: https://religiousfreedomandbusiness.org/redi.

Next month, the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation in conjunction with the Busch School of Business at Catholic University will hold a groundbreaking conference in Washington DC, “Bringing Your Faith to Work,” for employees and executives to discuss the importance of corporate programs that foster religious inclusion. It will feature executives and members of faith-oriented Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) sharing best practices, challenges and opportunities.

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ABOUT THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND BUSINESS FOUNDATION
The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation is the preeminent organization dedicated to educating the global business community, policymakers, non-government organizations and consumers about the positive power faith and religious freedom for all have on business and the economy. RFBF believes that business and religious freedom combine to form a powerful force for a better world. Through groundbreaking expert research, training programs, practical business tools and convening interfaith dialogue, RFBF helps demonstrate the critical link between respect for faith, successful enterprise and dynamic national economies. RFBF’s pioneering work serves as a catalyst for executives to promote Freedom of Religion or Belief for all people through employee programing, customer-facing policies, and leveraging their broader societal influence. RFBF is a non-partisan, non-political registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization in the United States. For more information or to get involved visit www.ReligiousFreedomandBusiness.org.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tokyo: The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation is taking the interfaith ‘job search skills’ course we piloted in Manchester — with support there from former Manchester United’s Manager Sir Alex Ferguson — to Tokyo!

In Japan, the program will help people with physical challenges have enhanced skills to find and get better jobs.

The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) is pleased to announce that it will team up with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to provide materials to help physically challenged workers and others find a better job. Several workshops, sponsored by Dare to Overcome, will be held prior to and following the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.

This builds on RFBF’s Empowerment-Plus program, which also involved collaboration with Latter-day Saints in using the same program to help people of different faiths and beliefs come together in Manchester, UK, to help each other find better employment. The program in Manchester also partnered with non-denominational Launching Leaders to offer personal development courses for young adults in a multi-faith setting, together with the Catholic, Muslim and Jewish Chaplaincies at Manchester University (see video with Launching Leaders Graduation at end). We also offer Launching Leaders in three regions of Africa in partnership with URI.

In Japan, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will translate an Interfaith version of a workbook used in its self-reliance program entitled, ‘Get the Job You Want’. This is a 12-lesson seminar aimed at helping the under- or unemployed prepare themselves for a successful job search by becoming their best selves through working with God, their families, and communities. Participants will learn the importance of giving back to their families and community after achieving success.

Topics covered during the two-hour, weekly course include: basics of a job search, networking, matching skills to employer needs, writing a resume, and interviewing. This interactive course is led by a facilitator who will help prepare participants for success in finding a better job. Plans are to hold workshops at multiple locations in the Tokyo area. The Church will print and provide 400 manuals for the seminars.

Darwin Halvorson, Asia North Area Welfare and Self-Reliance Services Manager for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has served as a workshop facilitator many times. “One of the best results of the workshops is that most participants find jobs in less time than they would have without attending the group. At first, participants are hesitant and apprehensive. Soon, they relax, become energized and find hope. That is why they get excited. It helps them build confidence to find a job,” he added.

Dare to Overcome is a global business and peace symposium held biannually in support of the Paralympic Movement and people with disabilities. This symposium will be held at the start of the Summer 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo (Aug. 23-25). Dare to Overcome supports the mission of the Paralympic movement, in particular, to bring peace and empower those who face a variety of physical disabilities to succeed.

To get involved, email RFBF at: contact@religiousfreedomandbusiness.org

Empowerment-Plus Graduation, Manchester, UK

The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) is a non-partisan, nonpolitical, registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization in the United States, dedicated to educating the global business community, policymakers, non-government organizations and consumers about the positive power faith — and religious freedom for all — has on business and the economy.