By Brian Grim, RFBF President

BENGALURU (TIP): Intel Corporation’s CEO Pat Gelsinger and EVP Sandra Rivera received the 2021 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Gold Medal for their work in making Intel’s workplaces worldwide inclusive and welcoming for people of all faiths and beliefs. Due to covid, they were not able to receive their gold medals in person, but only in a virtual ceremony broadcasted from Tokyo, Japan, and Washington, DC, on August 24, 2021.

On Monday, two vice presidents from Intel India  received the medals on their behalf: Anita Vijaykrishnan, VP / GM Enterprise Operations, and Sumedha Limaye, Vice President of Engineering, Xeon & Networking.

“We thank the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and the United Nations Global Compact for recognizing Intel. It’s our honor to accept this award on behalf of Pat and Sandra,” said Sumedha and Anita. “Bringing our authentic self to work resonates with every Intel employee globally. There is more encouragement to realize your strengths and potential when the environment supports diversity of thought and expression.”

The Intel Corporation is the most religiously inclusive Fortune 100 company in America, according to the REDI Index.

I’m in the final three days of my 18-day trip to India, preparing for Dare to Overcome 2023. DTO 2023 will be held in New Delhi in tandem with the G20 meetings hosted by India.

Yesterday I was in Kochi (Cochin), Kerala, on India’s southwest coast, and visited the Paradesi Synagogue, which was established hundreds of years before, which now shares a wall with a Hindu temple. In fact, some Jewish communities in India trace their lineage back to the time of King Solomon. Kochi is also where the Apostle Thomas came soon after the time of Christ in outreach to these Jewish communities. Indeed, the synagogue is very close to several of the most important Catholic churches in Kerala, with communities dating back to the time of Christ.

Seeing the ancient heritage of such communities in India, helps understand the findings from a recent Pew Research Center poll, which found that a number of religious beliefs and practices are shared across religious groups in India.