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In This Issue
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ING Celebrates 16 Years of Education and Interfaith Community Engagement at Annual Supporters’ Dinner ING celebrated its 16-year anniversary at its Annual Supporters’ Dinner and Eid Celebration on Sunday, October 5, 2008. The sold out event, which was attended by over 700 people featured as its keynote speaker, Dr. John Esposito, author and professor, who began the evening before the program commenced with a book-signing of
his most recent work “Who Speaks for Islam.”
 The program began with a welcome and introduction by the emcee for the evening, ING board member Kamal Ahmed, followed by interfaith reflections on the event’s theme “Telling Our Stories” by Imam Tahir Anwar, Pastor Ben Daniel and Rabbi Dana Magat.
One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of six awards by ING to its partners, supporters and recipients of its educational programs. These included the “Building Bridges” award, which was presented to the East Bay Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and accepted by Regional Director, Myrna David.  ING Awards for “Excellence in Cultural Diversity Education” were given in three categories: high schools, healthcare and law enforcement. School awards  were accepted by Elizabeth Dinh of Independence High School in San Jose, and Dr. Marcella Fox
of Carondolet
High School in
Concord; healthcare awards by Dr. Valerie Berry of the Stanford School of Medicine Primary Care Associates Program and Reverend Peter Yuichi Clark of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center; and law enforcement awards by Paul Cappitelli, Executive Director, California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) on behalf of this law enforcement training organization. During the program, ING president, Maha Elgenaidi spoke about the outreach
philosophy of ING, emphasizing that
education is one of the most effective means towards promoting long-term change because it addresses the underlying beliefs that lead to bias and discrimination. She cited the example of an iceberg, which although only visible at the tip, the bulk of it is under water; similarly by focusing only on negative actions such as harassment or discrimination, one misses the issues that lead to such actions. She emphasized that at ING, by addressing people’s misperceptions through education and emphasizing commonalities with other faiths through interfaith community engagement, ING is not only preventing negative behavior from occurring, but is also building positive relationships among all Americans.
 The highlight of the evening was the keynote address by Dr. John Esposito, who talked about the importance for American Muslims to be proactive in defining their own identities and telling their own stories, rather than allowing the media to tell them in a manner that is often skewed. He stressed the imperative for Muslims to work together, and encouraged increased involvement by the community. The evening concluded with entertainment by Iranian American comedian Maz Jobrani, who ignited the room with laughter for over an hour with jokes about Iranians, Muslims, and other current topics, through his comedic genius dispelling stereotypes about Muslims in the U.S. and abroad.  Many thanks to all those who contributed to this successful event. Sixteen years of challenging stereotypes and misperceptions through education could not have been possible without the generous support of community members, faith groups, and leaders in various institutions who see the importance of fairness, civic justice and equality for all. Visit our website to see a history of ING accomplishments over the past 16 years. For more information on how to support ING, contact Yasmin Mirza at yasmin@ing.org. 
ING Contributes to California Law Enforcement’s Cultural Competency of American Muslims  ING has been training law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area and California since 1995, when the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certified its training. The ING training seminar not only covers basics, but also addresses contemporary issues which are sometimes a
source of misperceptions, including violence and terrorism, women’s rights and politics in the Muslim world.
Police recruits are extremely gratified to learn about a culture they hear much about but know very little. ING has also worked extensively with POST in the capacity of advisor and is a long-time contributor to training videos used to educate recruits throughout California. In recognition of POST’s dedication to multi-culturalism and cultural competency, ING honored the organization at its recent Supporters’ Dinner. ING Board member and San Jose Police Department Chief, Rob Davis, presented the “Excellence in Cultural Diversity Education” law enforcement award to Paul Capitelli, Executive Director of POST. Capitelli accepted the award and shared his thoughts with the audience on the significance and impact of ING, particularly to the training videos: "I am honored to be here tonight on behalf of POST. . . . . This training would not be effective if it were not for the efforts of Police Chief [Rob] Davis and subject matter experts like Maha [Elgenaidi], who challenge us to stay current and fresh and acts as a source of inspiration for us for the furtherance of cultural diversity awareness. We are truly grateful for your contributions. On behalf of the Commission on POST and some 96,000 California law enforcement professionals, we remain committed to the furtherance of cultural diversity." Learn more about ING and its work with law enforcement agencies. American Muslim-Jewish Dialogue at Santa Clara University  In October, ING hosted a Jewish-Muslim panel for a Religious Studies class at Santa Clara University. Interfaith speakers Maha ElGenaidi of ING and Richard Heiman of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) spoke about their personal backgrounds, and what drew them to interfaith work before addressing the topics of Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. The dialogue between the speakers quickly led to questions by the students on the impact of interfaith work, 9/11 and the government’s role in promoting religious pluralism. In describing the impact of interfaith work, Heiman shared his personal story about Jews and Muslims working together. “There is a mosque in Belmont - the Yaseen Foundation. They have attended events at our synagogue and we attended events at the mosque during Ramadan. The Imam was at our temple at an interfaith event. We talked about how we house the homeless ... and he was enthused about helping. This week, we are housing the homeless in our synagogue and representatives from the mosque will be joining us to help feed them. That’s action, and not just words.” In response to a student’s question about what is unique about the interfaith work of ING, ElGenaidi answered: “The interfaith movement is very young. Most [interfaith work] thus far has been done among Christian clerics or between Christian and Jewish clerics. ING brings into the conversation Muslim perspectives and tries to contribute to the interfaith movement its experience and expertise in running speakers bureaus where we take the conversation about faith to the public square, thereby engaging everyday common folks who are saying, ‘hey, faith is alive and well, and through our faith, we’re contributing to America in very positive ways...” Learn more about the Interfaith Speakers Bureau (IFSB) or consider scheduling an interfaith panel for your school or organization to increase religious literacy and promote increased dialogue among people of all faiths. If you would like to join the program as a speaker, contact Grace Fong, Marketing and Programs Director at grace@ing.org, or sign up for one of the IFSB speaker training workshops coming up in 2009. 500,000 Chances to Change the World for Stanford University School of Medicine  At the ING Annual Supporters’ Dinner, the Stanford University School of Medicine Primary Care Associates Program (PCAP) was recognized with an “Excellence in Cultural Diversity Education” award for their significant work in fostering a better understanding of healthcare needs for Muslim patients among their students, administrators and staff. Medical Director, Dr. Valerie Perry accepted the award and spoke about the Hippocratic oath, her commitment to passing on knowledge to the next generation of healthcare providers, and how ING has been a part of that endeavor. According to Dr. Perry, “Something I really value about ING is that they take their time and their best effort and come to speak to our students. Every year, when I give the graduation address to our students, there [are] about 50 students in the graduating class. I did the numbers once based on my own life as a primary care provider. Over about 20 years of average practice, I will see 10,000 people. If you multiply that by the 50 people who graduate every year from our program, I look at a half a million chances to change the world every January when they go out. So ING has taken their message to that half a million chances and I value it a very great deal.” ING has been offering cultural competency seminars to healthcare facilities since 2000, and has visited Stanford University many times to provide onsite training in various departments. Learn more about ING and our resources and services to healthcare organizations. Teacher Staff Development for Palo Alto Unified School District  ING conducted a professional development workshop for social studies teachers at the Palo Alto Unified School District in October 2008, which included educators from Terman, Jordan, and JLS middle schools. The presentation focused on the topic of teaching about religion in the classroom, covered tools for supplementing education about Islam and Muslims in world history and social sciences, and discussed interacting with Muslim students.
Teachers especially valued the ING speaker ’s candid and thoughtful responses to questions. As a result of the workshop, one teacher who had previously voiced reluctance about attending the presentation is now excited about scheduling an ING speaker for her classroom. Educating teachers who educate students is one of the best ways to counter intolerance and bigotry, and work for positive change. Learn more about the professional development workshop and online resources that ING offers to K-12 teachers, administrators and staff. To schedule an ING presentation at your child’s school, complete the online speaker request form or contact Cyndee Goldstein at cyndee@ing.org. Become a Monthly ING Donor For As Little As $10 a Month  One
of the easiest yet most dependable contributions you can make to ING is
to become a monthly donor. This ensures that you will not be asked to
contribute beyond your means and ING can more accurately budget for its
important, ongoing projects. ING is building positive relationships among
all Americans. Imagine for a minute a nation characterized by respect and understanding for all its diverse citizens, where children at school can walk without fear of teasing or harassment, and adults feel secure in their jobs and neighborhoods, regardless of their background and religious or ethnic identity. Imagine that this was the legacy you were leaving for your children and future generations. We can achieve this through education. You don’t have to become a speaker to make positive change. You can donate with your dollars to make positive change. We invite you to play your part in ensuring the continued success of ING. Thank you for all your past and present support, without which we would have been unable to accomplish our goals and continued growth. Be a part of the change that is needed. Learn more about how you can donate to support ING or contact Yasmin Mirza, Development Manager, at yasmin@ing.org to sign up as a monthly donor. |
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 ING is a non-profit organization that promotes religious literacy and mutual respect through onsite educational presentations to academic institutions, public agencies and private corporations. Copyright © 2008 Islamic Networks Group (ING). All Rights Reserved |
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