U.S. Department of Education Conference
on Religious Inclusion

July 13, 2023

To: Dr. Miguel Cardona, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education; Melissa Rogers, Special Assistant to the President, Domestic Policy Council & Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships; Maggie Siddiqi, Director, U.S. Department of Education Office of Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships

From: Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director, Islamic Networks Group (ING)

Re: Religious Inclusion Conference

Greetings of peace Secretary Cardona, Director Rogers, and Director Siddiqi:

Congratulations on the Department of Education’s first-of-its-kind conference on religious inclusion in schools titled “Free to Learn: Inclusion, Rights, and Accommodations for Students of All Faiths and None.”

We are so honored to be participating as an organization that has served public education since 1993. Islamic Networks Group, also known as ING, counters bigotry and racism against Muslim Americans and other marginalized groups through education, engagement, and policy in K-12 public and private schools. Recognizing that Islamophobia, like other forms of bigotry, is rooted in centuries-old attitudes of prejudice and xenophobia against marginalized communities that go back to colonialism, we collaborate with other communities to supplement education in social studies classrooms and in-service days in public and private schools through educational seminars for students and educators. By collaborating with representatives of Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, African/Caribbean, Latinx/Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous communities, ING actively draws connections between Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti-Blackness, anti-Asian attitudes, and the “othering” of marginalized and minority populations generally.

Delivered face to face (in person or online) by trained and accredited speakers, our programs reach over two million people a year through in-person trainings or social media campaigns. Our lesson plans and curricula are also downloaded by thousands of educators across the United States.

ING’s programs include:

Islamic Speakers Bureau: Made up of Muslim American speakers, this program counters Islamophobia through trainings that raise awareness of Muslim American identities, their history and contributions, their experiences with bigotry, and ways to be an effective ally in preventing and responding to discrimination and hate.

Interfaith Speakers Bureau: Promoting religious freedom and pluralism while building understanding and respect for all groups, this program features speakers who represent Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist Americans on panels and training seminars that address more than a dozen topics related to the impact of faith and religion in public life today.

Intercultural Speakers Bureau: Countering bigotry in all its forms while fostering a culture of belonging, this program features representatives of African American, Latinx/Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous communities in addition to Muslim and Jewish communities who are racialized as non-Whites. Topics include the roots of racism, how it manifests for each group, and what members of these groups want audiences to know about them. These panels challenge stereotypes and end with a discussion of specific policies and actions to counter racism both institutionally and interpersonally.

DEI-B Educator Training:  Provided by interreligious or interethnic panels of representatives of diverse communities, our training seminars address unconscious biases, marginalized communities’ experiences of racism and its impact on them, cultural competency education, and policy recommendations for promoting inclusion.

INGYouth: Muslim students are bullied at twice the rate of other students. Geared towards teen Muslims, this program provides students with tools to respond to bullying and gain confidence in their identities, together with resources to supplement education about their identities in schools while partnering with other marginalized student populations.

The core of ING’s outreach is the broad and diverse group of speakers who deliver ING content in our programs. Comprised of over 55 individuals from a variety of racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, ING speakers represent their respective communities through their identification with and active membership in community organizations. Eighty-six percent of ING’s speakers represent religious minorities, including Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Jews as well as the African American, Latinx/Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous communities.

We are looking forward to our participation in the upcoming conference and look forward to sharing our experiences and working with you to counter bigotry and foster more inclusive schools where commonalities are recognized and differences are respected, and where students and school staff have an opportunity to play a vital role in the betterment of their schools and communities regardless of race or religion.

Thank you,

Maha Elgenaidi
Executive Director
www.ing.org

To register for the conference, visit here.