Faith@Work ERG Conference "Dare to Overcome"

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Join Fortune 500 ERG leaders at Dare to Overcome 2026 (May 20–21, Busch School of Business, D.C.) to discover how spiritual values drive integrity, innovation, and profitability. Be there for groundbreaking global research and strategies shaping the future of faith-friendly workplaces.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or new to the field, you’ll find sessions that inform, equip, and inspire. Be part of the movement shaping faith-friendly workplaces for the future!

2026 Theme: How Spiritual Values Reinforce Corporate Values and Catalyze Transformation, Innovation, Meaning and Profitability. Join us!

Dare to Overcome 2026 returns May 20–21 at the Busch School of Business in Washington, D.C., as the premier national gathering for Fortune 500 Faith@Work Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).

This transformative event brings together business leaders, ERG champions, and advocates of religious inclusion to celebrate the power of faith and values in the workplace. Hosted by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, Dare to Overcome fosters collaboration, inspiration, and actionable strategies for building faith-friendly corporate cultures. Attendees will engage in dynamic panels, networking sessions, and recognition of companies leading in religious diversity. Join us to connect with peers, share best practices, and help shape the future of faith at work.

What truly drives the world’s most successful companies?
At a time when corporate inclusion efforts face new challenges, a bold new study is set to reshape the conversation—revealing a powerful and often overlooked force at the heart of corporate values: faith and belief.

This landmark research, spanning 400 of the most successful companies across the U.S., Europe, Southeast Asia, and China, uncovers a striking global convergence around a single core value—integrity—and traces its roots to the ethical and spiritual traditions that shape billions of lives.

From boardrooms to breakrooms, this study explores how employees’ deepest convictions—whether grounded in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Humanism, or other traditions—are quietly fueling cultures of trust, excellence, and purpose.

• Why does integrity matter so universally?
• How do faith and belief identities shape corporate success?
• And what happens when workplaces embrace—not suppress—these identities?

Join us at Dare to Overcome 2026 for the exclusive unveiling of this transformative research. Discover how faith-and-belief friendly workplaces are not just more inclusive—they’re more resilient, innovative, and ethically grounded.

This is more than a report. It’s a call to action.

Be there when the future of values-driven business is revealed. May 20-21, 2026.

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Info: This roundtable discussion brings together Christian workplace leaders and ERG organizers to share best practices and explore how to foster greater belonging in their organizations.

Info: This dynamic 2.5-hour convening will focus on sharing best practices, strengthening interfaith allyship skills, and connecting with a vibrant community of colleagues committed to religious inclusion. Participants will reflect on successes and challenges from the past year, learn skills for supporting colleagues of diverse traditions, and find inspiration from their own traditions and worldviews for leading interfaith ERGs at work. Leaders will leave inspired by a shared purpose and with new ideas for interfaith activities to bring back to their workplaces.

Info: This roundtable discussion brings together Muslim workplace leaders and ERG organizers to share best practices and explore how to foster greater belonging in their organizations.

Info: The Mini-Summit is an interactive, peer-driven convening of Jewish ERG leaders focused on strengthening workplace community and leadership. Participants will engage in rapid connection, expert insight, and interactive roundtable discussions on today’s most pressing challenges. The program features Q&A from industry expert, Ovadiah Jacob, Senior Managing Director at Evercore and Founder of Jewish Forum at Goldman Sachs.

Info: Hear about the new research, new connections, the latest best practices, as well as a perspective on where we've come from and where the movement is going.

Info: Bruce Owen’s keynote will explore how embracing spiritual values and freedom of belief in the workplace can catalyze innovation, resilience, and ethical leadership. His insights will inspire executives and ERG leaders to create environments where faith and belief identities are not suppressed but celebrated as a source of strength.

Info: "Hear from senior leaders from Merck and BCG as they explore one of the most overlooked dimensions of workplace inclusion: the freedom to bring your faith identity to work. This panel will examine whether faith is still something employees feel pressured to hide, quietly tolerated, or fully embraced as part of a culture of belonging.

Drawing on real-world experience, these industry leaders will share best practices, key challenges, and practical strategies for fostering environments where people of all faiths and beliefs—and none—can contribute authentically. Join this conversation on how organizations can move beyond accommodation toward true inclusion, unlocking engagement, trust, and stronger organizational culture."

Info: In today’s workplaces, faith-based Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) remain one of the most under-resourced and misunderstood diversity initiatives—yet they hold untapped potential to strengthen employee belonging, reduce bias, and fuel innovation across global teams. This highly interactive 45-minute workshop equips ERG leaders and business sponsors with practical tools to overcome the top barriers: executive buy-in, participation fears, legal concerns, resource constraints, and proving ROI. You’ll start with a live anonymous poll that surfaces real challenges, then move into tabletop discussions to brainstorm and prioritize concrete, ready-to-implement strategies with owners, timelines, and metrics. Walk away with a personalized action plan, a crowd-sourced “Practical Solutions Toolkit” with adaptable tactics, and fresh insights for building inclusive, compliant, high-impact faith-based ERGs that work for employees of all faiths and none—whether your group is just launching or ready to

Info: Throughout her career, Debbie Lovich was always openly Jewish, but for many years kept that part of her identity relatively quiet — focused more on fitting in, proving herself, and navigating both subtle and not-so-subtle antisemitism along the way. In this session, she will share what changed, what led her to become more visibly and proudly Jewish, and the unexpected response that followed across faiths and communities. She will also explore the harder questions she continues to wrestle with around leadership, allyship, identity, and why being a “heads up Jew” is still very complicated for her.

Info: As America approaches its 250th anniversary, this plenary panel looks ahead to the future of our nation and the opportunity to foster a culture of pluralism in the workplace. Grounded in the country’s founding commitment to religious freedom, the session will explore what it takes to build workplaces where people can respect, relate, and cooperate across real differences in faith, culture, and worldview. Leaders from interfaith ERGs and corporate DEI partnerships will share practical examples of what works—and what doesn’t—when it comes to strengthening trust, inclusion, and collaboration across lines of difference.

Info: How do you demonstrate real impact in a Fortune 500 environment? This session equips faith-based ERG leaders with focused, business-aligned metrics to measure outcomes like engagement, retention, and culture. Learn how to translate your efforts into clear, data-driven insights that resonate with senior leadership and drive meaningful organizational impact.

Info: The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer shows a growing “insular trust mindset” at work—70% are hesitant to trust people different from them. But there are also hopeful findings that point to concrete strategies ERG leaders can use to become “trust-brokers.” In this hands-on workshop led by Interfaith America, you’ll walk away with actions you can take to build trust and nurture relationships across difference in your workplace.

Info: Join Dell for a plenary discussion on the lifecycle of an ERG, from inception to growth and beyond. This session will highlight key milestones, best practices, and strategies for developing future leaders, offering practical insights for anyone involved in building or sustaining employee resource groups.

Info: How should Faith-based ERGs respond when external events create tension, emotion, or division in the workplace? This session explores practical approaches for ERG leaders to navigate sensitive external events in ways that foster trust, respect, and psychological safety. Learn how to support employees, guide constructive dialogue, and maintain strong workplace relationships while staying aligned with company values and policies.

Info: Across diverse industries, belief systems, and regions, research increasingly links faith-friendly environments to stronger employee well-being, motivation, engagement, civility, and values-aligned leadership. Five key areas of impact form a self-reinforcing cycle that multiplies the business impact of faith-friendly workplaces: people thrive → perform → collaborate → act ethically → outcomes scale globally.

Info: The leaders of the four ERG Roundtables share the insights and new developments they gained from the roundtables. They will also share about key resources each group has bound most useful in their work.

Info: Explore the impact of the annual Faith and Belief at Work case competition in this engaging plenary featuring perspectives from corporate leaders and student participants. This session will highlight how the competition equips the next generation of the corporate workforce business leaders to thoughtfully integrate faith at work, while offering companies a meaningful way to invest in and shape emerging talent.

Through firsthand insights and moderated discussion, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of why this initiative continues to resonate and grow—and how organizations can benefit from being part of it.

Info: Corporate leaders from diverse faiths share how bringing their values to work allows them to better live out their companies core values and missions.

Info: This breakout session will surface real-world examples of high-impact ERG programs by learning from peers which formats, topics, and experiences consistently engage employees – and what design choices made those programs successful.

Info: Join Dr. Paul Lambert and Dr. Stephen Courtright for an engaging, research-driven exploration of what it truly means to bring your faith to work at an individual level. Drawing from insights in their forthcoming book and years of experience working with companies across corporate America, this session will highlight how faith—across traditions—can serve as a powerful asset for personal and professional growth, stronger work performance relationships, and meaningful organizational impact.

Blending data, real-world stories, and interactive reflection, the session will invite participants to both learn from diverse faith-at-work experiences and contribute their own. You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how to authentically integrate faith into your professional life in ways that add value to yourself, your colleagues, and your workplace.

Info: Faith at Work changes lives. This open mic session invites conference guests to share 2-minute stories of how integrating faith into their work has transformed their lives, enriched their careers, and strengthened their organizations.

Info: Where do we go from here? Join a dynamic, forward-looking conversation with experienced ERG leaders and corporate practitioners as we explore the most pressing needs for faith-at-work initiatives in today’s evolving workplace.

Through guided discussion and audience-submitted questions, we’ll surface key challenges, emerging opportunities, and practical ideas to strengthen faith-based engagement in corporate environments. Whether you're building, leading, or supporting a faith at work initiative ERG, this session will leave you with clearer direction and actionable takeaways for what comes next.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Religious Freedom & Business Foundation