Faith in Action

The world is undergoing deep, complex and accelerated transformations, and neither government, nor business, nor civil society alone can address our common challenges. Religion, values and spirituality continue to shape the societal transformations of today - economic, geopolitical, technological and cultural. With over 80% of the global population adhering to religious and spiritual traditions, the influence of faith today underlines the need for multi-stakeholder action to solve global challenges and build social cohesion.

As part of its Civil Society Communities and across our Centres, the World Economic Forum engages roughly 125 religious leaders, faith-based organizations, interfaith groups, multi-faith networks, and experts of religion from over 10 of the world’s major religions and spiritual traditions.

In partnership with key global faith representatives, experts and community leaders, the Forum will launch a report (entitled "Faith in Action) in January 2024. The report will highlight contributions that faith communities and organizations are providing through public private partnerships. Covering key thematic areas for public-private cooperation (from urban transformation to climate action), the report will discuss the impact of religion and spirituality towards public private cooperation in today's polycrisis and provide a roadmap for transformative partnerships with business, government and philanthropic organizations.

The report aims to accelerate the prosocial good of faith through multi-stakeholder partnerships, spotlighting key case studies of existing partnerships and what’s needed for meaningful collaboration between faith, business and other stakeholders. Case studies will focus on the impact of faith and areas of public-private cooperation, including: environmental care; health and healthcare; inclusive societies and social justice; just transition and sustainability; peace and reconciliation; technology and trust; thriving cities; values based investments and industry transformation.

In collaboration with report partners, the Forum is gathering case studies through the Faith in Action survey. To submit your impact examples on faith and public-private cooperation, please visit wef.ch/faithsurvey. The deadline to submit survey responses is September 15th, 2023. The full list of survey questions can be found here.

For more information, please contact:

David Sangokoya, Head of Civil Society Impact, World Economic Forum

Jack Hildebrand, Community Specialist, Civil Society, World Economic Forum

Natalie Cilem, Community Specialist, Civil Society, World Economic Forum

Gopal Patel, Co-Founder and Director, Bhumi Global; Co-Chair, UN Multifaith Advisory Council

Chris Elisara, PhD, Co-Director, World Evangelical Alliance Sustainability Center

Faith in Action Report Advisory Board:

Tariq Al-Olaimy, Co-Founder, 3BL Associates

Amma, Founder, Mata Amritanandamayi Math

Venerable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, Abbess, Songdhammakalyani Temple

H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, Secretary General, Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies

Alexis Crow, Partner; Global Head, Geopolitical Investing, PwC

Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, General Secretary, ACT Alliance

Bani Dugal, Principal Representative to the United Nations, Bahá’í International Community

Reverend Mark E. Fowler, CEO, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President, Conference of European Rabbis

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and National Director, Anti-Defamation League

Brian Grim, Founding President, Religious Freedom and Business Foundation

Azza Karam, Board Member, United Nations' Secretary General High Level Advisor Board on Multilateralism

Farhan Latif, President, El-Hibri Foundation

Brie Loskota, Executive Director, Martin Marty Centre for Public Understanding of Religion, University of Chicago

Martin Palmer, Founding President and Chief Executive, FaithInvest

Venerable Anil Sakya, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Mahamakut Buddhist University

Bp. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, Secretary General, World Evangelical Alliance

H.E. Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh, Spiritual Leader and Chairman, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha

Simran Jeet Singh, Executive Director, Aspen Institute's Religion and Society Program

Meredith Sumpter, CEO, Council for Inclusive Capitalism

Sir Mark V. Vlasic, KCHS, KCEM, CBS Television Studies

Rodrigo Whitelaw, General Secretary, International Christian Union of Business Executives (UNIAPAC)

Joshua Zinner, CEO, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility