 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Interfaith Youth Work ConferenceCrossing the Faith Line: The 5th National Conference on Interfaith Youth Work
On Monday, October 29th, Ineko Tsuchida, Project Manager of the Shinnyo-en Foundation, participated as a panelist in a roundtable discussion on “Foundations and the Interfaith Youth Movement” at the 5th National Conference on Interfaith Youth Work. The conference was organized by the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) and held at the Chicago Cultural Center from October 28 through 30, 2007. Over 350 members of youth service organizations attended the conference. Conference sessions included many exciting and enlightening topics related to interfaith youth work, such as interfaith leadership, social networking, and deepening interfaith service learning. The panelists for the session on the Foundations and the Interfaith Youth Movement also included Lynn Szwya of the Henry Luce Foundation, Deborah Steinberg of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Frank Baiocchi of the Polk Bros Foundation, Aimmee Hagedorn of One Nation for All, and John Kassel of Argosy Foundation. After brief opening remarks, Eboo Patel, the founder and executive director of the IFYC, invited the panelists to introduce themselves and comment on the mission of their foundations or initiatives that they considered important for interfaith youth work. Following that, William Enright of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at Indiana University provided insights into current trends in grandmaking for interfaith issues and activities. Then Patel moderated the panelists’ discussion about future directions for interfaith youth work and asked how foundations and other grantmakers might support the future initiatives. Following the panelists’ responses to Patel’s question, the roundtable discussion was open to questions from the audience of approximately 100 participants. Several participants asked about how interfaith youth work could be a vibrant movement for the next 20 years and how it could be made systemic and sustainable. The day-long discussion on interfaith youth work was followed by “Days of Interfaith Youth Service Award Banquet” on October 29. The banquet was hosted by Krista Tippett, a journalist and a former diplomat, who recently published a book titled “Speaking of Faith.” Ineko Tsuchida and Mizue Sato of the Shinnyo-en Foundation and Qalvy Grainszvolt of Shinnyo-en USA attended the banquet and continued dialogue with enthusiastic youth workers and supporters. At the banquet, the New Orleans Interfaith Roundtable was recognized and awarded for their many days of service planting gardens and cleaning parks in areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Following the award ceremony, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf delivered the banquet’s keynote speech. He spoke about the inspirational role of religions in promoting enlightenment, but also cautioned about the dangers of religious extremism. He exhorted participants to continue their interfaith dialogues and activities.
|
 |
