Meet the 2012 Common Ground Awardees for Interfaith Diplomacy

In the first part of a series introducing the recipients of our upcoming Common Ground Awards, we would like to highlight the achievements of three distinguished interfaith leaders. They have dedicated themselves to promoting awareness of and respect for religious diversity worldwide.  These figures have not shied away from openly discussing and engaging with difficult and controversial issues and have given themselves in service to dialogue and illuminating the issues and challenges we face in developing respect and understanding among diverse religions.

Archbishop George Carey                                                                                                                                      

Lord Carey was enthroned as the 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury in April 1991 and retired from his position in November 2002. As the leader of the Anglican community worldwide, he played a key role in relationships with other denominations and faiths in the United Kingdom and beyond, and saw the ordination of the church’s first women priests.  He has served as Chair of the Trustees of the World Faiths Development Dialogue since 2003. In 2004, he became co-chair of the Council of 100 Leaders (World Economic Forum), promoting understanding and dialogue between Western and Islamic worlds. His publications include The Gate of Glory (1992), as well as Why I Believe in a Personal God: The Credibility of Faith in a Doubting Culture (2000), and a recent autobiography, Know the Truth: A Memoir (2004). In February 2012, he co-authored with his son, Andrew, We Don’t Do God.  Lord Carey served as Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire until 2010 and is at present, President of the London School of Theology.  Lady Eileen Carey has long served in the medical profession as a nurse with St. Luke’s Healthcare for the Clergy.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is the Founder of The Cordoba Initiative, an independent, multi-faith, and multi-national project that works to improve Muslim-West relations.  Under Imam Feisal’s leadership, the Cordoba Initiative’s programs craft strategic avenues for approaching divisive Muslim-West tensions.  The programs include the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow (MLT), which cultivates the next generation of Muslim leaders from all over the world, and the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), which empowers Muslim women globally.   In 1997, he co-founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), the first Muslim organization committed to building bridges between Muslims and the American public by elevating the discourse on Islam through educational outreach, interfaith collaboration, culture, and the arts. Imam Feisal is a Trustee of the Islamic Center of New York and Vice Chair on the board of the Interfaith Center of New York.   Recipient of numerous awards, Imam Feisal was listed as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2010 by Foreign Policy magazine.   In April 2011, Time magazine named him among the 100 most influential people of the world.  Imam Feisal and his wife, Daisy Khan, Co-Founder and Executive Director of ASMA, received the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 2011.

Rabbi David Rosen                                                                                                                                                    

Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, is the International Director of Interreligious Affairs of AJC and Director of its Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding. Rabbi Rosen is Honorary Advisor on Interfaith Relations to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel; serves on its Commission for Interreligious Dialogue, and represents the Chief Rabbinate on the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land.  He is International President of Religions for Peace; Honorary President of the International Council of Christians and Jews; and serves on the World Council of Religious Leaders. Rabbi Rosen was a member of the Permanent Bilateral Commission of Israel and the Vatican that negotiated the establishment of full diplomatic normalization of relations between the two. He has been a member of the Advisory Committee of the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis and of the World Economic Forum’s C-100, a council of 100 leaders formed for the purpose of improving relations and cooperation between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.  In November 2005 he was made a papal Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great for his contribution to promoting Catholic-Jewish reconciliation and in 2010 was made a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to interfaith relations.  Rabbi Rosen’s wife, Sharon Rosen, is Co-Director of Search for Common Ground in Jerusalem.

The Common Ground Awards will be presented at the Carnegie Institution for Science on November 8, 2012 at 8:00pm in Washington, DC. The Awards are presented annually by Search for Common Ground to honor outstanding accomplishments in conflict resolution, negotiation, community and peace building.   Recipients have made significant contributions toward bridging divides between people, finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems, and providing inspiration and hope where often there was none. Past recipients of the Award include: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, former President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali, Sesame Workshop, and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

“In a world where adversarial behavior is so prevalent, we honor people who build bridges and resolve conflict” said John Marks, President and Founder of Search for Common Ground.  “These are our heroes, and it feels wonderful to celebrate them.”

Other 2012 Common Ground Awardees

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Respected TV, radio, and print journalist who integrated the University of Georgia as one of its first two African-American students; author of recently published “To The Mountaintop: My Journey Through the Civil rights Movement.”

Ingoma Nshya (“New Era”)

Rwanda’s only female Hutu and Tutsi drumming troupe and the subject of the new documentary film Sweet Dreams.

Peace Child International

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Peace Child International empowers young people to be the change they want to see in the world, by encouraging youth to become informed and then take action.

Additional award TBA