Faith Matters: How Entrepreneurial Leadership Can Spur a Religious Renaissance in America

Rebecca Kaduru May 14, 2021

A recent Gallup poll found that the number of Americans who belong to a house of worship has decreased by around a third since the turn of the century. The percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion at all has nearly tripled over the last two decades. Yet, religious communities can be powerful forces for belonging, equity, and social change.

In this session, we’ll look at the Jewish community as a case study of how religious communities can combat these downward trends by leveraging the tools and frameworks of social entrepreneurship. We’ll look at how direct support of social entrepreneurs and “intrapreneurs” in religious communities can generate new innovations and solutions to the challenges of relevance, inclusion, equity, and accessibility, ultimately spurring a renaissance in American religious life.

Format

Workshop

Meta Themes

  • Social Entrepreneurship

  • Equity & Inclusion

Themes

Religion; Social Impact; Identity-based organizing

Purpose and Desired Outcome

To explore how direct support of social entrepreneurs and “intrapreneurs” in religious communities can generate new innovations and solutions to downward trends in religious affiliation and address the challenges of relevance, inclusion, equity, and accessibility in religious communities.

Audiences

  • Entrepreneurs

  • Artists & Culture-makers

  • Accelerators & Incubators

  • Academia

  • Government

Speakers

  • NameEli Malinsky
  • TitleAssociate Director
  • OrganizationAspen Institute Business and Society Program
  • StatusConfirmed
  • NameRabbi Benay Lappe
  • TitleExecutive Director
  • OrganizationSVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva
  • StatusConfirmed
  • NameRebecca Kaduru
  • TitleChief Strategy & Impact Officer
  • OrganizationUpStart
  • StatusConfirmed
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