Giving Compass' Take:

• Faith-based leaders are tapping community organizations to work together to build resilience and strengthen and connect leaders. 

• How can donors play a role in fortifying these bonds in the community?

• Read why funders should turn over leadership to communities. 

We at the Inclusive America Project have also been experiencing this struggle and uncertainty in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, in the midst of the pandemic and the recent protests in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many other Black people, faith leaders have demonstrated their vital role across America. Even in these tumultuous times, faith leaders continue to operate at the frontlines, providing emotional, intellectual, and social support to those in need.

It clearer than ever that faith institutions are incredibly important to the social infrastructure of local communities, to the resilience of this country, and its future rebuilding. We believe that thriving religious communities are an integral component of a thriving American religious pluralism. To thrive, religious communities rely on resilient and adaptable faith institutions, and strong faith institutions would not exist without skilled and capable leadership.

Our first meeting of the Powering Pluralism Network was aimed at strengthening that foundational component of leadership, connecting and encouraging leaders of houses of worship and faith-based organizations from around the country. After a lunch session with cohort members from their own city, the larger cohort was split up into two groups for a text-based seminar led by the Institute’s Executive Leadership Seminars team. Rabbi Missaghieh shared two core themes that emerged from the first gathering.

Read the full article about community leaders by Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh at The Aspen Institute.