By Brian Grim
I’ll make a presentation, Unity in Diversity: Daring to Overcome the Barriers that Divide. Indeed, polarization is on the rise In countries around the world often fueled by narratives that suggest minorities are a threat to historic majorities. Such narratives view diversity as a liability rather than an asset. What is often overlooked is the economic benefits of engaged pluralism, which we refer to as covenantal pluralism.
In societies where people’s right to belief and behave according to their beliefs are protected and respected, development is much more sustainable largely because such societies are not only more innovative, but are more peaceful – a critical condition for sustainable development. These findings not only apply at the macro level, but at the micro level. Specifically, a growing number of businesses are embracing culturally inclusive workplaces, celebrating the backgrounds and cultural identities of all employees.
Indeed, in a business (or any organization), a culture of belonging and inclusion is associated with high performance, less attrition, better recruitment of talent, and bottom line success. This presentation will give examples from some of the biggest and best global corporations, showing how these principles work and can position any organization, community or country for success.
Bio
Dr. Brian Grim is an “applied academic” who has lived and worked globally since 1982. He established some of the early student and teacher exchanges between the US and China, and he helped found the first western-style business school in the former Soviet Union. He has also held teaching and curriculum design positions in the Middle East, such as the redesign of the first-year curriculum for UAE University, the country’s flagship university.
Dr. Grim holds a Ph.D. in quantitative sociology from Penn State University, specializing in demographics, survey research, and the “religious economies” approach to the sociology of religion. Dr. Grim currently has research affiliations and/or cooperative projects with Boston University, Baylor University, Brandeis University, Notre Dame University, Brigham Young University, The Catholic University of America, and Georgetown University, where he recently chaired a doctoral committee.
Dr. Grim is also founding president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and Global Chairman of Dare to Overcome, which brings together CEOs, Fortune 500 companies and major universities in support of mutual human understanding, open-mindedness, and peace. He lives in the Washington DC area at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis with his wife, Julia Beth, who coordinates study abroad for the Naval Academy. They have four grown children, each with advanced degrees in medicine, physics, and law. They have 16 grandchildren!