Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies Inc.
Building learning communities where religious difference is a powerful force for good
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 the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, we strive to confront religious bigotry and bridge differences through learning. We foster difficult conversations across religious lines, bringing together Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others to acknowledge, understand, and positively engage our differences.
Where we work
External reviews

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 attendees of ICJS public programs. ICJS survey and feedback loop created in partnership with 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?
Responsible civic life requires more than tolerance and coexistence. It requires participation in community, respectful dialogue, mutual understanding, and flexibility with resources and positions. We build robust interreligious communities that interweave the civic, educational, and religious dimensions of our lives together.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
For over 30 years, the ICJS has developed and offered distinctive educational programs for clergy, religious leaders and communities, and the general public. More recently the work of the ICJS has expanded to include programs designed to equip teachers and community leaders working for social justice to be agents of interreligious understanding in the public square.
We use scholarly and educational resources to challenge religious bigotry and to confront the historical injustices that have divided our religious communities. Through the give-and-take of learning together, our understanding of ourselves and others expands through a process of encounter; translation; interpretation and/or misinterpretation; and clarification. We endeavor to create learning spaces where productive discomfort stretches us toward mutual discovery and deepens relationships.
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. Over the last 30 years, ICJS has built relationships in many faith communities within this region, in many cases serving as a bridge between such communities.
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 are intimately involved in the programming and strategy of ICJS as it engages the greater community. By constructively engaging with religious pluralism in education, outreach, and scholarship we are shaping a new relationship among Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and modeling a new conversation that affirms and values religious diversity in America.
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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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
ICJS serves the general public with education and dialogue programs. In addition, ICJS offers programming for specialized audiences, including secondary teachers, community & civic leaders, and congregational leaders.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys,
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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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What significant change resulted from feedback?
In 2021, ICJS began using the feedback tools provided from a Listen4Good grant from the Fund for Shared Insight. As we build a culture of continuous feedback from our learning communities, we will incorporate our findings into our program design and offerings.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders,
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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
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- 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 02/22/2022
Irfan Malik
Thomas Brown
Rabbi Daniel Burg
Stephanie Citron
Bonnie Clarke
Wm Cone
Anthony Day
Alan Edelman
Robert Hallock
Dr. Tazeen Hashimi
The Hon. Ellen Heller
Lee Hendler
Jacob Hodes
Kristen Kinkopf
David Kuntz
Joseph Langmead
Rev. Dr. Brent Laytham
Most Rev. Denis Madden
Larry Moscow
Anna-Maria Gonzalez Palmer
Qaisar Shareef
Lee Sherman
Arun Subhas
The Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton
Dr. Omar Zalatimo
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? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data