Welcome to our interview with Kent Johnson. Kent is a Senior Corporate Advisor for the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) and a management consultant on religious diversity at work. Kent works with RFBF to help companies adopt and practice best practices regarding religious diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Kent recently retired from his role as a Senior Counsel at Texas Instruments Incorporated and now serves as a consultant to multinational companies on topics related to religious accommodation and faith in the workplace. Kent helps companies see the appropriate role of religious expression and religious diversity at work, in order to strengthen corporate cultures of trust, mutual respect and organizational effectiveness.

I’m Bill Fox, Co-founder here at Exploring Forward-Thinking Workplaces. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Kent Johnson today. I shared my reflections on my interview with Kent at Are you religious?

Kent, welcome to this forum and thank you for contributing to the questions that are at the heart of Exploring Forward-Thinking Workplaces.

Q1: How can we create workplaces where every voice matters, everyone thrives and finds meaning, and change and innovation happen naturally?

The starting point is to truly value our employees. Not to merely look for what they can do to help us achieve corporate profitability goals and short-term time-related goals, but to care about them as human beings.  My particular focus in this vein is on religious diversity, and here’s why:

If we really want to unleash diverse perspectives and energy, we must look for ways to help employees engage work in accordance with their deeply held beliefs. That crucial connection of passion with work is key to flourishing.

One of Webster’s definitions of “religion” is “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.” In that broad sense, nearly everyone is “religious.”  Everyone has some deeply held principles and beliefs. We must free people to connect their “religion” to their work.

There’s a wonderful story that comes from the movie Chariots of Fire. The protagonist is a very religious person who competes for an Olympic gold medal.  His religious sister asks why he spends so much time and effort running.  His reply is classic: , “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.”

Think about that:  When I invent, I feel God’s pleasure! When I resolve conflicts or stand up against favoritism, I feel God’s pleasure!  When I help others succeed, I feel God’s pleasure! When I work hard – at great personal cost – to do what’s right though nobody’s looking, I feel God’s pleasure! Is there any employer who wouldn’t want this kind of motivation in their workplace?

Religion – defined as a set of deeply held personal principles and beliefs – is an appropriate focus for the workplace.

By definition, religion is personal. Our workplaces are becoming increasingly diverse. It’s counterproductive to try to press people into a predetermined mold. If we value people, we will try to understand the deeply held beliefs that define and motivate them.

… Read full interview …

Businesses do much more than just create profits. Businesses are where people find employment and a means to support themselves and their families. Businesses are also engines of social change and development.

Businesses support civil society through foundations and enterprises that work on everything from alleviating poverty to promoting peace and development.

Enterprises are places where people from different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds can come together for shared purpose and goals. This session will look at the multiple ways that businesses help create sustainable development and peaceful, flourishing societies.

View full STS&P Website

<Program & Composition>

Time and Venue : 2018. 11. 30^th (Fri.) 10am~12pm @ Room 306, KINTEX

Moderator Doyoung Kim/ CSR Forum Korea President

Keynote Speech 1 Brian Grim/ RFBF President

Keynote Speech 2 Siwon Kim/ Editor in Chief, Chosun Media Better Future

Keynote Speech 3 Eundong Hwang/ SK Telecom AI Business Unit Head

Keynote Speech 4 Dongwon Seoh/ EBS General Manager

Panel Discussion Prof. Yonghee Yang/ Seoul Theological University, President of KANPOR Donghyung Lee/ Center Manager, Chosun Media Better Future Eundong Hwang/ SK Telecom AI Business Unit Head Dongwon Seo/ EBS General Manager Siwon Kim/ Editor in Chief, Chosun Media Better Future.

グリム博士が光祥さまと面会,大聖堂6F特別応接室,庭野光祥,光祥さま,庭野光祥,光祥さま

Last month Brian Grim, RFBF president, met leaders of Rissho Kosei-kai to discuss Dare to Overcome, our Global Business Festival & Peace Awards in support of the Paralympic Movement.

Rissho Kosei-kai is a worldwide Buddhist organization founded in Japan in 1938 by Nikkyo Niwano and Myoko Naganuma. It combines the wisdom of both the Lotus Sutra and the foundational teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. Its purpose is to bring these transformative teachings to the modern world.

Centrality of Peace

Rissho Kosei-kai members pledge to follow the bodhisattva way: To bring peace to their families, communities, and countries and to the world. As part of their religious practice, Rissho Kosei-kai members render altruistic services through activities dedicated to peace. These include supporting the World Conference of Religions for Peace.

The World Conference of Religions for Peace is a multireligious congress that first convened in Kyoto, Japan, in 1970. Religions for Peace invites world religious leaders to take part in congresses to share their goals and contribute to world peace in the spirit of interreligious cooperation. Religions for Peace’s membership includes religious leaders from the Baha’i; Mahayana and Therevada Buddhism; Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic Christianity; Confucianism; Hinduism; indigenous faiths; Islam; Jainism; Reform Judaism; New Religions; Shinto; Sikhism; and Zoroastrianism.

In 1973, Religions for Peace was granted Consultative Status, Category II, by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Founder Niwano delivers opening address at the 6th WCRP The sixth assembly was held November 1994 at the Vatican and Riva del Garda, Italy. To further its efforts as an action-oriented organization, Religions for Peace established six commissions in the following fields during this assembly: Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation;  Human Rights and Responsibilities; The Child and the Family; Development and Ecology; Disarmament and Security; and Peace Education.

Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, delivered the opening address and joyfully welcomed Pope John Paul II as the first papal participant in a World Assembly of Religions for Peace. Since then, the congress has been actively involved in conflict resolution processes in civil wars in the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, and so on.

In November 1999, the seventh assembly of Religions for Peace was held in Amman, Jordan, and in August 2006 the eighth assembly was held in Kyoto, Japan. On July 2-3, 2008, the Japanese Committee of Religions for Peace convened the World Religious Leaders Summit for Peace in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, with the cooperation of its international body, Religions for Peace.

The conference was held shortly before the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations (G8) held July 7-9 by Lake Toya near Sapporo. The participants discussed pressing global issues and worked out a statement to the G8 leaders. The religious summit was attended by about 300 religious leaders, including 100 delegates from 23 countries and regions. It was one in a series of multireligious conferences preceding annual G8 summits. For further information about the WCRP, visit http://www.religionsforpeace.org/.

by Brian Grim

What’s Thanksgiving got to do with religious freedom? For Americans, they recall the story of Pilgrim’s escaping persecution and surviving the first harsh winter thanks to Native Americans. In what seemed like a desolation, the Pilgrims experienced a great consolation as the indigenous people put the Golden Rule to practice, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

This Thursday, my wife and I mark Thanksgiving day at a lunch in Tokyo with people of different faiths discussing how to advance religious freedom in Asia and the world. This seems quite an appropriate way to spend the day, because looking back on my own work this past year there are many reasons for gratitude.

In religious freedom work, where stories of persecution tend to be the default narrative, I truly believe that by focusing on the good that is being done is critical to seeing the hand of God at work. In that spirit, meet some of the people I have the honor to work with worldwide who make gratitude an important part of religious freedom advocacy:

Netherlands

Mr. Mark Woerde, Founder Havas Lemz and LetsHeal.org, believes he can make the world a better place through advertising. This year his team advanced interfaith understanding and peace in a global campaign featuring the world’s most prominent religious leaders – from Pope Francis to Ayatollahs, Chief Rabbis and Hindu Swamis – making a joint appeal to “Make Friends Across Religions.” Mark with his team received a gold medal at the 2018 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards for this work.

Dallas, Texas

We welcome Kent Johnson as RFBF’s Senior Corporate Advisor. Read Kent’s interview “How to Help Employees Engage with Passion,” with Bill Fox, Co-founder at Exploring Forward-Thinking Workplaces, and see link below for the recent event he led in Dallas. Kent Johnson says that if companies truly want to unleash employee passion and energy in the workplace, then we must allow people to work in accordance with their deeply held beliefs.

Manchester, U.K.

Hinna Parvez Maluch, RFBF’s coordinator in Manchester, U.K., reaches out to refugees and asylum seekers to facilitate an interfaith initiative helping people apply faith as part of attaining job search skills. The latest course was delivered to a group of participants at the Cornerstone Day Centre for Refugees, a project of Caritas of the Catholic diocese of Salford. The group comprised of Catholic and Muslim participants. The group was coordinated by Amir Raki (Caritas staff) and Hinna Maluch (RFBF’s Empowerment+ Coordinator), and facilitated by a couple from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Alan and Janeth Dudley.

Hollywood, CA

Shirin Taber is Iranian-American and the author of Muslims Next Door (Zondervan) and Wanting All the Right Things (Relevant). The Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Fox News Christianity Today and NewYorkTimes.com have featured her writing and work among Muslims and Christians alike. She served with Cru, Inspirational Films and the Christian Broadcasting Network. Shirin is passionate about helping women become world-class leaders by creating media for their mission. Partnering with various United Nations, NGOs and faith-based agencies, she helps leaders develop media strategies to expand their visibility and outreach platforms. She is coordinating the film competition in partnership with RFBF.

Washington, DC

Paul Lambert serves as Secretary/Treasurer and Senior Business Fellow at the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. He is helping to develop the foundation’s in-company and campus-based executive education seminars on religious diversity & inclusion in the workplace. He has been spearheading this joint training initiative with the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute, including meeting with companies and producing training materials like the video below.

Davos, World Economic Forum

What faith-based narratives have the potential to emphasize the value of pluralism while promoting a sense of belonging and unity?

This session was live-streamed from Davos on Jan. 26, 2018, as part of the formal program of the 2018 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. It is available on TopLink and the Forum website.

Start of Paralympic Games, South Korea

The 2018 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards were presented at a ceremony held at the Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul. This is the second Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards. The inaugural awards were given the day before the opening of the Rio Paralympics in 2016. The 2018 Awardees and Symposium delegates held high level meetings at the Korean National Assembly (Parliament), the Presidential Blue House, and with the Mayor of Seoul. Delegates from the conference were also welcomed by senior politicians at the Korean National Assembly, where RFBF President Brian Grim was awarded the Main Prize at the World Peace Prize Ceremony.

Philadelphia, PA

In April of this year, RFBF Board member, Chris Seiple, wrote a short piece for the World Economic Forum about how faithful patriotism helps defeat religious nationalism. This article led to an October invitation from Philadelphia’s Foreign Policy Research Institute to give the 22^nd Annual Templeton Lecture on Religion and World Affairs. Chris has been doing a lot of thinking about beyond the diversity of side-by-side tolerance, to a mutually respectful engagement of each other, rooted in liberty of conscience.

Dear Friends,
Below I share the link to comments by a U.S. corporate leader following the terror in Pittsburgh. Ellyn Shook’s statement is titled Stop wondering if Faith is a workplace issue. It is. Indeed, Corporate America is a powerful force for advancing respect for religious freedom for all in society – a need tragically brought home this weekend.
Brian Grim, RFBF President

Immediate Release: Beijing, Oct. 13, 2018

Dr. Brian Grim will be the only foreigner to deliver a keynote speech at the Oct. 13-14 conference at Minzu University in Beijing on China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative (or One Belt One Road, OBOR). Using data from his work at Boston University and his previous work at Penn State and the Pew Research Center, Grim will outline the the role of religion in the OBOR countries where Beijing is hoping to do and expand business. He argues that successful international relations requires a good understanding of these dynamics.

The Role of Religion Along China’s Belt and Road Initiative

One Belt One Road Religious Literacy: Part 2

Brian J. Grim, Ph.D. (葛百彦)

Abstract

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the One Belt One Road initiative (OBOR, also known as the Belt & Road or Silk Road initiative). Over the past five years, scores of countries and international organizations have actively participated in OBOR which promotes common development and sharing, policy communication, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financing, and people-to-people links. As with any grand plan, challenges are numerous. Just as the pilgrims in the Chinese epic Journey to the West had to overcome a series of challenges to bring Buddhist scriptures back from India, Chinese goods, services and businesses also need to overcome many challenges on the road to success. One leading Hong Kong Business CEO investing heavily into OBOR pointed to cultural barriers as “quite the most challenging part” of being successful.

Grim’s presentation is the second in a two-part study contributing to successfully meeting those challenges. The first study provided data on and analysis of the religious demography of the 63 countries (besides China) participating in OBOR. This study provides data on additional religious dynamics in OBOR countries, including how religion impacts governments and economics.

Grim will present the pivotal research he and Roger Finke published in the American Sociological Review that shows how government restrictions on religion contribute to religious violence, which in turn adds to social regulation of religion, setting of a cycle of religious violence. These dynamics are impediments for sustainable development and economic growth in OBOR countries.

Grim will also present his research  from the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion (with Greg Clark and Robert Snyder) showing that government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion in OBOR countries are key factors holding back economic growth.

You are invited to attend a groundbreaking breakfast meeting with a select group of diversity/inclusion influencers and a spectrum of faith leaders, at 7am, Friday, October 26 at the Doubletree Dallas on North Central Expressway.

Attendees will hear eyewitness reports about the effects of opening the workplace to diverse religious expression, including positive impact on:

• › Employee recruitment, engagement and retention
• › Culture of ethics and integrity
• › Product and service quality
• › Creativity, inventiveness and productivity
• › Dissolution of unwarranted and toxic fears and prejudices

They will also hear a crisp business case for action, including:

• › Demographic trends in religious affiliation
• › The fact that, for increasing numbers of people, their religious belief defines the core› principles by which they live and work
• › The importance of freeing employees to connect their faith to their everyday life, so they can bring their whole selves to work
• › Increasing claims of workplace religious discrimination and other negative effects when companies stifle faith-related communications

Lastly, speakers will introduce:

• › Some policies and best practices for accommodation and encouragement of relevant religious expression at work (including a corporate pledge), and
• › Available tailored seminars/how-to resources

The breakfast is sponsored by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF).  Among others, speakers will include the Foundation’s President, Brian Grim.

See the following links for information about Brian Grim and the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation:

• › https://religiousfreedomandbusiness.org/brian-j-grim
• › https://religiousfreedomandbusiness.org/

Please RSVP to Kent Johnson, Senior Corporate Advisor, RFBF:

• kent@religiousfreedomandbusiness.org
• Tel: 972-977-5420

Workshop: Private sector’s contribution in supporting interfaith understanding

The UN Global Compact Network Egypt hosted the 2018 Business for Peace Annual Event that took place on the 7th and 8th of November in Cairo, Egypt. About 300 leaders from the private sector, civil society, Governments and the United Nations came together to explore innovative approaches to, and opportunities for collaboration in, sustaining peace.

• Nov. 7-8, 2018, Marriott Mena House

• Hosted by Brian Grim, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

In many countries around the world, sectarian conflicts can paralyze the society’s potential to grow and to develop. However, Businesses can play a very effective role in promoting inter-faith understanding as a substantial condition for peaceful social coexistence. Business can often be at the forefront of creating space where people from different cultures and religions can meet and cooperate. When companies are sensitive to religious and cultural issues around them, they can strengthen their social license and increase employee morale and productivity, while addressing difficult social needs at the same time. Beside being a moral commitment, promoting interfaith understanding is also important for business in terms of financial profit because it makes the work environment healthier and more productive.

During this workshop, the audience will explore how businesses can effectively uphold interfaith understanding within the communities in which they operate by providing examples and best practices from different countries. 

High level panel of CEOs will discuss how faith within the business sector makes for a more human economy

Business is a powerful force for improving the lives of people around the world. And many business people are motivated by faith. They view life holistically, where what they do from Monday to Friday flows from their religious convictions. Such holism can impact not only their ethics but also their priorities and practice.

This multi-faith panel of business leaders will discuss the practical challenges at the intersection of religion and business, the difficulties they face as people of faith who also have to make a profit, and ways business and religious leaders can work together to strengthen human rights, sustainable development and reach the most vulnerable in our communities.

Location: Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel and Convention Center, San Martín 1225/1275. 16:30-17:45.

Panelists

• – Brian Grim (chair), President, Religious Freedom and Business Foundation, USA
• – Mohamed Amersi, Founder & CEO of Emergent Telecom Ventures; Head of the Amersi Foundation
• – Roberto Murchison, CEO, Grupo Murchison, Argentina.
• – Juan Vaquer, President, Asociación Cristiana de Dirigentes de Empresa (ACDE), Argentina.
• – Eduardo Elsztain (invited), Chairman, IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones; Vice President, World Jewish Congress, Argentina.

Bios

Brian Grim (PhD, Penn State) is the leading academic expert on the economic impact of religion and religious freedom. Brian is the founding president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, but, more interestingly, he is the personification of the film character played by Tom Hanks, “Forrest Gump,” who was everywhere at just the right time. Deng Xiaoping, the Paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China, approved Grim’s proposal to build a faith-based graduate school in the largest Muslim region of China on 8/8/88, a significant date to the Chinese. Then in November 1989, Grim walked through the Berlin Wall the day it fell. He was there as the Soviet Union dissolved – right in his office building – in what was then the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, and at the request of new (and current) President Nazarbaev, helped turn the Communist Party Training School in the country’s first free market management institute. Later, during the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Grim was an academic coordinator at the military academy of the United Arab Emirates. And in 2008, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj considered him the definitive source on the number of Muslims in the world. And after being neighbors with Barak Obama on Capitol Hill, the United States Senate used his research on religious freedom and the economy to pass unanimously a bipartisan amendment incorporating respect for religious freedom into its policy on international trade. More recently, he had meetings at the Vatican the day Pope Benedict resigned in 2013 and was soon pictured with Pope Francis, not to mention other world leaders as diverse as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. These Forrest Gump experiences make Grim a participant in our world’s key political, social, religious, and economic dynamics.

Mohamed Amersi is the Founder and CEO of Emergent Telecom Ventures, a consulting, advisory and asset management firm specializing in telecoms, media and technology. His non-profit, Amersi Foundation supports charities in education, poverty, conflict and religion in Africa, Middle East and Asia. More recently Mohamed launched the Inclusive Ventures Group, a social impact investing platform that has invested in education, livelihood, health and waste management in Africa and Asia. Mohamed is a fellow of Brasenose College, University of Oxford, a trustee of Prince’s Trust International, a member of the Development Board of the British Academy, a member of the Governing Council of the Royal Agricultural University, a member of the Global Leadership Council of the Said Business School, University of Oxford, and a trustee of the Satyarthi Foundation, Rose Castle Foundation, and Reboot the Future.

Roberto Murchison is CEO of Grupo Murchison, dedicated to port and logistic activities in Argentina. He is the President of Terminal Zárate, Vice-President of Murcan, and managing director of Murchison Uruguay. He is also the President of Cámara de Puertos Privados y Comerciales (CPPC). He is an industrial engineer educated at Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA) and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT – Boston, USA). Murchison is on the advisory board of Asociación Cristiana de Direigentes de Empresa (ACDE).

Juan Vaquer is President of the Christian Association of Business Leaders (Asociación Cristiana de Dirigentes de Empresa-ACDE). He is a lawyer with a Masters in International and Comparative Law from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA. He began his career as a lawyer in civil and commercial matters. Between 1988 and 1991, he worked in the public sector. Since 1990, he has worked at DuPont, currently occupying the position of President for Latin America. He was Chairman of the Board of AmCham Argentina, member of the Steering Committee of IDEA, and member of the CEADS Board of Directors.

Eduardo Elsztain (invited) is Chairman of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones, Argentina’s largest real estate company; His business holdings include Cresud and Brasilagro, leading agricultural companies in Latam; Austral Gold, an Australian-based mining company; Dolphin Fund, which controls IDB Development, one of the largest conglomerates in Israel, involved in the insurance, telecommunications, agrochemicals and retail industries, among others. He is a member of the World Economic Forum; the Council of the Americas; the Group of 50; Argentina’s Association of Corporations (AEA); and on the Global Advisory Board of Endeavor, an international nonprofit organization that supports entrepreneurs in emerging markets. He is the President of Fundacion IRSA, which promotes education among children and young people, and is involved with TAGLIT, Birthright Argentina. He is Chair of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Business Advisory Council, and WJC Vice-President.