Hosted by Hanadi Doleh, ICNY Director for Community Partnerships

Throughout New York, clergy members, lay leaders and faith-based activists from every faith tradition are working to create positive change for our own communities and the city as a whole. But all too often we find ourselves working alone — without a strong network of interfaith ties, or knowledge of the city’s civic institutions. One way leaders can gain the tools they need to make a difference is through the Interfaith Center of New York’s Interfaith Civic Leadership Academy, an intensive seven-month leadership development program, about to launch its third year.

In this episode of our #InterfaithMattersPodcast, host Hanadi Doleh talks with three graduates of the Interfaith Civic Leadership Academy about some of the most useful (and sometimes unexpected) aspects of the academy, and what many NYC faith-based activists can stand to gain from participating.

Pictured above, left to right:

• Hanadi Doleh, Director for Community Partnerships at the Interfaith Center of New York
• Ayoka (Mayanah) Johnson, founder of Genesis 2 Ministries and Ha Nasheem
• Dharmachari Ananta, member of the Triratna Buddhist Order
• Sati Gurdial, General Secretary of the Tristate Arya Samaj

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Calling all NYC faith leaders working to make a difference!

Apply now for the next #InterfaithCivicLeadershipAcademy.

Build your leadership skills and your multifaith network through interfaith dialogue and civic engagement training. Be the leader your city needs you to be. Clergy, lay leaders, and faith-based activists from all communities welcome to apply.

Stipends for participants and grants for community projects.

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Podcast Questions? Comments?

Have a question for our guests or comment on our podcast series? Would you like to suggest a guest or topic for a future podcast episode? Please feel free to contact us at podcast@interfaithcenter.org.

This episode of “Interfaith Matters” is guest hosted by Hanadi Doleh and edited by executive producer Kevin Childress.

Learn more about the podcast team on our website.

Welcome to a special episode of Interfaith Matters, exploring New York City Council Resolution 1257, and the importance of religious diversity education in public schools. Resolution 1257 calls on the New York City Department of Education to offer age-appropriate religious diversity curricula for all public school students, as well as professional development in this area for DOE teachers.

Our guest host today is Dr. Henry Goldschmidt, the Director of Programs at the Interfaith Center of New York. Henry talks with New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm, a lead co-sponsor of Resolution 1257, and a panel of religious diversity educators: Rev. Mark Fowler, CEO of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, Dr. Pritpal Kaur, Education Director of the Sikh Coalition, and Aniqa Nawabi, Executive Director of the Muslim Community Network.

The conversation explores how religious diversity education can help create inclusive schools and communities for all New Yorkers, and address the growing problem of hate crimes against religious minorities.

Take Action to Support Religious Literacy

in New York Public Schools!

New Yorkers, click here to email your City Council Member, and encourage them to co-sponsor Resolution 1257.

Teachers, click here for classroom teaching resources, including the teachers guides discussed in the podcast -- all found on the website of ICNY's Religious Worlds of New York summer institute.

Or click here for webinars on religious diversity in the classroom, produced by the Tanenbaum Center and Teaching Tolerance.

Or click here for Sikhism lesson plans and teaching resources, from the Sikh Coalition.

Or click here to learn about workshops on Islam and Muslim life, from the Muslim Community Network.

Together We Can Create Inclusive Schools

and Communities for all New Yorkers!

Podcast Questions? Comments?

Have a question for our guests or comment on our podcast series? Would you like to suggest a guest or topic for a future podcast episode? Please feel free to contact us at podcast@interfaithcenter.org. 

This special episode of “Interfaith Matters” is hosted by Dr. Henry Goldschmidt, and edited by Executive Producer Kevin Childress.

Learn more about the podcast team on our website.

In recent years, religious liberty has primarily been framed as a concern of conservative Christians in the United States, particularly in their opposition to reproductive and LGBTQ rights. But faith-based values are not the sole province of social conservatives, and Americans from diverse religious and political backgrounds are fighting for religious freedom in a wide variety of contexts.

In this episode, host AJ DeBonis explores the changing meanings of "religious liberty" with Liz Reiner Platt, director of The Law, Rights and Religion Project - a think tank at Columbia Law School promoting social justice, freedom of religion, and religious plurality. AJ and Liz examine ways religious liberty is threatened when it is equated with a movement advocating for a narrow band of religious views. Liz argues that elected officials, media, and the public must broaden our understanding of religious liberty, so that it is neutral, noncoercive, nondiscriminatory, not absolute, democratic, and pluralistic.

Podcast Questions? Comments?

Have a question for our guests or comment on our podcast series? Would you like to suggest a guest or topic for a future podcast episode? Please feel free to contact us at podcast@interfaithcenter.org. 

This episode of “Interfaith Matters” is hosted by co-producer AJ DeBonis, edited by co-producer Michelle Polton-Simon, and executive produced by Kevin Childress.

Learn more about the podcast team on our website.