Civic Democracy Initiatives
The Interfaith Civic Pluralism Fellowship (ICPF) supports faith-based civic leaders looking for opportunities to strengthen their institutional culture of pluralism, to deepen their understanding and commitment to religious liberty and pluralism, and to partner with others committed to cooperating across differences to solve common problems and strengthen civic cohesion.
Applications Closed
At Interfaith America, we believe religious diversity and religious liberty are foundational American strengths. We activate leaders to build an America that embraces those strengths to cooperate across differences for the common good. We often use the metaphor of a “Potluck Nation” where our differences are not barriers but invitations for each particularity or identity to contribute its unique “dish” to a vibrant communal feast. Faith-based institutions and leaders have an invaluable role to play in promoting religious liberty and pluralism to build the potluck nation. As our CEO, Adam Phillips recently wrote: “We have an invitation to remember and put back together again what truly makes America great — the ability to build a home together, neighbor to neighbor, welcoming even the strangers in our midst.”
In honor of America 250, Interfaith America is launching a cross-partisan cohort of religiously diverse, faith-based civic leaders for a 9-month Fellowship from October 2025-June 2026 to help build the Potluck Nation. The Interfaith Civic Pluralism Fellowship (ICPF) will support faith-based civic leaders who are looking for opportunities to (1) strengthen their institutional culture of pluralism and commitment to religious liberty and pluralism; and (2) model interfaith and cross-partisan cooperation to solve problems and strengthen civic cohesion.
In partnership with IA, these leaders will amplify stories and narratives about the intersection of religious liberty and pluralism within their respective fields and faith traditions. Interfaith America will provide each fellow with a stipend and funding for joint projects to engage their communities and the broader public in viewing these complementary values as a place from which we can challenge polarization, strengthen civic cohesion, and build the potluck nation.
IA will provide small grants, convenings, trainings, and other resources as leadership development tools for the individuals and institutions invited to participate. The project’s narrative efforts will shine a spotlight on these leaders and the positive possibility of interfaith engagement, demonstrating practical examples of faith and civic leaders cooperating across difference and illustrating the story of the United States as a potluck nation.
Fellows will learn about each other’s approaches to religious liberty and carry out projects and thought leadership initiatives to demonstrate what a potluck nation does in practice. Through regular opportunities for dialogue and discussion, as well as joint projects, fellows will cooperate on ways to address those challenges, building bridges of respect, and modeling pluralism as a way to solve problems.
Key fellowship opportunities:
A recent member of another Interfaith America fellowship cohort, Vote is Sacred 2024-2025, explained their fellowship experience: “Hearing other leaders’ diverse perspectives and stories helped me situate, ground, and amplify my own story. The relationships I built will help me build coalitions and move our shared priorities forward. The relationships will also open me up to new audiences and constituencies as we share our message of pluralism and collaboration.” Many fellows wrote that they have developed meaningful new tools, skills, and paradigms for engaging in interfaith collaboration at an institutional level. They continue to invite each other to participate in their own work regularly. If you are interested to learn more about what this kind of fellowship looks like and what fellows take away from their experience you can visit the Vote is Sacred Fellowship webpage.
Fellows will receive a $4,000 stipend, half dispersed at the beginning of the fellowship in October 2025 and the other half upon completion of the fellowship in June 2026. Fellows will also receive a travel stipend associated with the in-person convening.
Limited funding will be provided to fellows for joint activities in connection with the fellowship. No funding will be disbursed for individual projects. The projects will demonstrate cooperation across differences in promoting religious liberty and pluralism and leverage the fellows’ roles as trusted messengers within their communities.
The Vote is Sacred Fellowship convened a cohort of religiously and ideologically diverse leaders to promote peaceful engagement in democratic processes during and after the 2024 election cycle. The Fellows published a joint op-ed, hosted webinars and events, and collaborated on best messaging practices to help their audiences learn accurate information about the election and combat toxic polarization. External pieces include “Christian Nationalism at the Nexus of Latinos’ Shifting Religious and Political Preferences” in The Fulcrum and “Opinion: We have faith in pluralism over polarization” in Deseret News.
Please contact us with any questions about this opportunity.
Scott Rasmussen
Director of Democracy Initiatives
Interfaith America
Our country’s founders made religious freedom a core constitutional right because they knew how deep religion runs for many people and that it inspires those people to do good for others
— Asma Uddin, Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for the Constitution
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