Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies Inc.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Religious bigotry and prejudice have led to acts of violence and intimidation around the world. At the core of such prejudice and bigotry is misunderstanding caused by religious illiteracy and indifference. While we may live in more diverse communities, our lack of understanding about different religions and cultures continues to cause harm. ICJS is committed to disarming religious hatred through education.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Interreligious Education
At ICJS, we envision a society where dialogue replaces division, friendship overcomes fear, and education eradicates ignorance.Religious difference has always been integral to life in the United States. George Washington famously wrote (in a 1790 letter to a synagogue) that the new country should aim to build a society that gives to religious bigotry no sanction and to religious persecution no assistance. At ICJS, we continue to build a society without bigotry, knowing that mere “toleration” of religious difference is not enough. We offer opportunities for people of many faiths or no faith to encounter one another in study and dialogue to forge shared understanding, resulting in creative collaborations and life-giving connections.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Net promoter score
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Interreligious Education
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
NPS based on survey responses from participants in the 2021-22 Teachers Fellowship (survey and feedback loop created with support from Listen for Good, a program of the Fund for Shared Insight).
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The 2021 Board-approved Strategic Framework names five core goals:
1. Increase interreligious literacy. Equip our learning communities with knowledge about the religious traditions, teachings, practices, and history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for interreligious understanding and dialogue.
2. Build resilient interreligious networks. Facilitate strong relationships among people with diverse religious and nonreligious identities who will work against religious bias and bigotry and work together for the common good.
3. Advance the academic field of Interreligious and Interfaith Studies. Be a leader in academic discourse and publishing on core concepts and principles in this emerging field
4. Inspire the public to champion religious pluralism. Act as a thought leader to help the American public value religious difference.
5. Foster a culture of equity and inclusion for our interreligious work. Build and increase trust, support, and involvement of those marginalized in interreligious spaces so that everyone is included in our work.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
- Expand educational programs that promote understanding of one’s own religious tradition and sacred texts, other religious traditions and sacred texts, and the history and practices of religious bigotry (e.g., Islamophobia and Antisemitism) that continue to permeate religious communities and society
- Use the Fellowship model to effectively reach into community sectors (e.g., education, nonprofit, congregations)
Cultivate strategic partnerships with secular, religious, and interreligious institutions;
- Train a diverse pipeline of interreligious leaders.
Establish the Silber-Obrecht Endowed Lectureship as the premier lecture in the field of Interreligious and Interfaith Studies;
- Equip faculty from diverse institutions (e.g., colleges, universities, seminaries) to develop interreligious literacy in their courses and seminars;
- Provide insight on interreligious issues through commentaries in local and national press;
- Recognizing where ICJS has an opportunity for growth and improvement, build and develop ICJS relationships with Muslims, people of color, and women;
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
As an independent organization, not connected to any specific religious or academic institutions, ICJS is in a unique position to promote religious diversity and inclusion. Because ICJS believes that the most effective interreligious learning is grounded in local relationships, we use the diverse Greater Baltimore Region to build models of robust interreligious learning and community. However, much of our programming is now offered online and reaches a global audience.
ICJS is home to four resident scholars who bring their academic and theological understanding to bear on ICJS’s work in the community. These scholars partner with four program directors who craft programming that reflects the diversity of lived religion today.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since its founding in 1987 as the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies, ICJS has focused on disarming religious hatred through education. In 2013, ICJS expanded the mission to include Islam. In 2015, ICJS developed programs to reach deeper into the divided community, equipping community leaders (“Justice Leaders”) and secondary teachers to be interreligious leaders in the public square.
In 2021, ICJS launched a new Congregational Program to bring religious and lay leaders from Muslim, Jewish and Christian congregations in the Greater Baltimore region to study and dialogue together.
ICJS is committed to five central Values: Difference, Equity, Dialogue, Learning, and Community. These values highlight how ICJS differs from other interreligious organizations in that it welcomes and embraces differences, rather than merely focusing on finding commonalities.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies Inc.
Board of directorsas of 06/07/2023
Irfan Malik
Bonnie Clarke
Anthony Day
Alan Edelman
Robert Hallock
Dr. Tazeen Hashimi
Kristen Kinkopf
David Kuntz
Rev. Dr. Brent Laytham
Most Rev. Denis J. Madden
Larry Moscow
Anna-Maria Gonzalez Palmer
Qaisar Shareef
Lee Sherman
Arun Subhas
The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton
Dr. Omar Zalatimo
Rev. Scott Adams
Nancy Bryant
Lisa Budlow
Megan Casey
Imam Tariq Najee-ullah
Farah Shakour-Bridges
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data