IDEA Fund Generators Conference on Creation Care

The Issachar Fund is pleased to partner with the IDEA Fund (Interfaith Dialogue and Entrepreneurial Activities) to host the inaugural IDEA Generators Conference (IGC) on the topic of Creation Care in Chicago, May 27-30, 2016.   

 

IGCs seek to take the best of what happens in scholarly exchange programs, interfaith conversations, interdisciplinary scholarship, and professional networking associations to develop workable solutions to real problems that touch the lives of Muslim and Christian faith communities. Over the course of 3+ days, talented individuals committed to generating positive social change gather in teams to design projects related to a specific theme. For this IGC, we are soliciting projects that a) are based at university campuses, b) are focused on care for the environment, and c) bring Muslim and Christian faith communities together.

 

 $100,000 in grant money will be available to generate and implement exciting new project ideas. After two days of planning, project design, and meeting with advisors, teams will pitch their project to a panel of judges and to fellow competitors. Winners will be announced at the concluding banquet. $15,000 will be awarded to the five-person team that develops the most compelling project idea. $10,000 will be awarded to the second-place team. The remaining $75,000 will be used to help the winning teams, or other organizations, implement their project ideas. In addition, The Issachar Fund will provide professional support to ensure the project succeeds. The IGC will be limited to six teams, giving each team a significant opportunity to win prize money. 

 

This inaugural IGC builds upon Issachar Fund’s Creation: Our Shared Inheritance conversation held in 2015 (http://www.issacharfund.org/scholarly-consultations), with the added focus on academic institutions and their surrounding communities. The conference begins with a reception on May 27 to launch the IDEA Fund, and concludes with an awards banquet on May 30.  If you are a student, scholar, campus chaplain, or college activist who cares deeply about the world we inhabit, and are interested in building bridges across faith communities while doing good work that impacts people, we eagerly invite you to apply.  We are especially looking for those who are creative, skilled, and passionate. 

 

Apply here.