Faith in Public Life Announces Plans to Build a National Coalition of Influential Faith Leaders to Achieve New Vision
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT
Lizzy Ganssle, lganssle@faithinpubliclife.org, 203-623-2271
Faith in Public Life Announces Plans to Build a National Coalition of Influential Faith Leaders to Achieve New Vision
Washington, D.C. – Faith in Public Life has launched a new strategic plan to build an essential piece of democratic infrastructure – a coalition of highly influential faith leaders who will foster communities of belonging and advance a multifaith and multiracial democracy. This national coalition will leverage faith communities’ collective power to shift culture towards each person feeling they belong and they are valued in society.
To carry out this new vision and strategic plan, the Board of Directors voted to make Jeanné Lewis, who has served as Interim CEO since June 2022, the Faith in Public Life CEO. Lewis joined the FPL staff after serving on the Board of Directors for six years. Heather Cronk has also joined the staff team as Chief Strategy Officer; in this position she will manage staff to execute the strategic plan and make this vision a reality. Rev. Jennifer Butler, the Founder of Faith in Public Life, is leaving the organization to focus her attention on the growing and troubling trend of global religious nationalism.
Jeanné Lewis, CEO, Faith in Public Life
“Over the last several decades, faith leaders have often been used as a token for justifying political aims. There is a gap in our current democratic infrastructure, and we recognize that faith leaders, working across religions and grounded in love, have important wisdom to offer around building inclusive, respectful and equitable communities. To fill this gap, we are building a coalition of influential faith leaders from a variety of faith traditions to serve as a strategy hub for fostering communities of belonging and creating the multifaith and multiracial democracy we desire. Together, we can bring about the cultural change needed to foster a sense of spiritual connection that binds us together and ensure our human rights are prioritized.”
Heather Cronk, Chief Strategy Officer, Faith in Public Life
“Faith leaders have a unique opportunity to make the moral case for a just and equitable democracy that allows each of us to live into our full humanity. I look forward to expanding Faith in Public Life’s legacy of supporting faith leaders to build power through this multifaith, multiracial coalition in order to protect and advance our sacred human rights.”
Adrianne Johnson, Senior Director of Development, Faith in Public Life
“When we strategically invest in influential faith leaders, they can make an extraordinary impact through campaigns to protect and expand our multifaith, multiracial democracy. This coalition will be an essential piece of democratic infrastructure to work toward creating a country where each person can thrive.”
To learn more about the new vision, visit faithinpubliclife.org/newvision.
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Faith in Public Life works to advance the moral imperative for a just, inclusive and equitable country so everyone is able to live into their full humanity. We are expanding the vision of an equitable democracy by building and leveraging power and by building cultures of belonging.