Empowerment+ interfaith action groups are communities of people helping each other gain practical life and career skills that focus on more than just finding a job, but on a vocation that is meaningful and fulfilling’, according to the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF).
Empowerment+ is being piloted for global rollout at Manchester Universities’ Catholic Chaplaincy (UK) in collaboration with the al-Furqan Islamic Centre, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and other faith partners.
The international project is coordinated by Brian J Grim, PhD, Visiting Professor, School of Management and Social Sciences, St. Mary’s University, Twickenham and President of the RFBF.
A key component of Empowerment+ is an interfaith toolkit containing several 12-unit courses – the course ‘Find a Better Job’ is taking place in Manchester. This is made possible by a licence granted to the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help produce and distribute an interfaith version of a self-reliance and empowerment programme successfully pioneered worldwide. Nearly a million Mormons globally have so far been helped to move from poverty and/or economic hardship to living more spiritually and temporally empowered lives.
Participants in Manchester comprised members of a range of faith groups including Mormons. Here they share individual perspectives on Empowerment+ Launching Leaders, as participants and mentors: