Interfaith America (Formerly Interfaith Youth Core ) is a Chicago-based non-profit founded in 2002 by Eboo Patel. The organizationâÂÂs stated mission is to inspire, equip, and connect leaders and institutions to unlock the potential of AmericaâÂÂs religious diversity. Today it operates with approximately 60 full-time staff and a $15-million+ budget.Since 2023, IA has distributed more than $9 million to fund local pluralism and bridgebuilding projects. Since 2020, Interfaith America (IA) has published more than 2,500 articles on everyday pluralism and interfaith work in its digital magazine.
It has worked on five continents and with over 600 college campuses domestically.
Interfaith America (originally called Interfaith Youth Core) officially launched its operations at the 1999 Parliament of the WorldâÂÂs Religions in Cape Town, South Africa, under the direction of Eboo Patel, a Rhodes Scholar and author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation, and organizers Anastasia White and Jeff Pinzino. At the time, Patel was finishing up his doctorate in the sociology of religion at Oxford University, so Pinzino spearheaded much of IFYCâÂÂs early organizational growth. Upon completing his doctorate in 2002, Patel took over as executive director. A $35,000 grant from the Ford Foundation enabled IFYC to run its first conference of interfaith leaders and teach a graduate-level course on the methodology of interfaith work.Since then, the organization has coordinated the Chicago Youth Council, a group of eight student interfaith leaders, Days of Interfaith Youth Service, and the Fellows Alliance, a year-long fellowship that trained student interfaith leaders on individual campuses.Patel discuses the genesis of IFYC in-depth in his memoir, Acts of Faith.
In 2022, the organization officially rebranded as Interfaith America, expanding their mission from an exclusive focus on Higher Education to working in broader sectors such as healthcare, business, and government.
In September 2011, IFYC launched recruitment for its Interfaith Leaders for Social Action (ILSA) program.Through partnerships with NGOs in four different cities in India, ILSA trained 50 interfaith leaders, whose work will address social issues like child labor and domestic violence.The program receives support from the United States Department of StateâÂÂs Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & LaborâÂÂOffice of International Religious Freedom.