Interfaith America

This data was last updated on 20 January 2023

Address: 141 W. Jackson Blvd, Suite 3200, Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: 312-573-8825
Email: info@interfaithamerica.org
Website: https://www.interfaithamerica.org/

Mission

Interfaith America describes its mission as: "To inspire, equip, and connect leaders and institutions to unlock the potential of America’s religious diversity." Their vision is: "Religious diversity is a foundational American strength. Interfaith America is building a nation that achieves that promise for the common good."

History

Interfaith America (IA) began as Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC). In 1998, a group of young people informally came together after attending an interfaith conference hosted by the United Religions Initiative at Stanford University. Three leading organizations - United Religions Initiative, The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, and The Interfaith Center of New York - committed themselves to support a "youth core" as well as the first IFYC conference. This conference, held in 1999, consisted of 16 people and was led by Eboo Patel, Jeff Pinzino, and Anastasia White. IFYC relocated to Chicago in 2000 as a literal "basement operation" at the home of Pinzino, who traveled widely to organize for IFYC and marshal resources. IFYC began to host young adult gatherings citywide shortly thereafter. In 2001, it formed the Chicago Youth Council, which brought together high school students from around the city to join in multi-faith community service and dialogue initiatives. 2002 marked the acquisition of a Chicago office and IFYC's first grant of $35,000 from the Ford Foundation, as well as the creation of a Board of Directors and the legal incorporation of the organization.

IFYC's first “National Conference of Youth Work,” which was held at the University of Chicago in 2003 and attended by 105 people, led to IFYC's selection to coordinate a national interfaith youth service campaign. Additionally, Eboo was asked to speak at the 16th Nobel Peace Prize Forum (held the following year in 2004). IFYC was involved in several conferences and national/international initiatives, including the 2005 Clinton Global Initiative. From 2007-2011 IFYC implemented the IFYC Fellows Alliance, an intensive year-long fellowship that equipped interfaith student leaders on college campuses to run interfaith service and dialogue events. IFYC also collaborated with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to run the Faiths Act Fellows program, which brought together exceptional future leaders inspired by faith to serve as interfaith ambassadors for the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with particular focus on malaria. IFYC served as a resource for campuses to creatively and effectively develop the core components of their strategic plans for the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, which President Obama launched in spring of 2011. IFYC extended their work internationally through its Interfaith Leaders for Social Action program. For many years, IFYC hosted annual Interfaith Leadership Institutes (ILIs), training students to run the organization's model interfaith action campaign, Better Together. In 2020-2022, IFYC launched new initiatives focused on public health and racial equity, including the Faith in the Vaccine Ambassadors program and the Black Interfaith Project.

On May 10, 2022 Interfaith America inaugurated its new name and mission with an interfaith ceremony and panel discussion at the Georgetown Center on Faith and Justice. Today, Interfaith America works across eight sectors:

As IFYC rebranded and expanded to become Interfaith America, founder Eboo Patel commented: "We are the world's first attempt at religiously diverse democracy, and we are the most religiously diverse nation in human history. It is time to write the chapter after Judeo-Christian in the great story of American diversity. The goal of Interfaith America the organization is to help build Interfaith America the nation."