OUR MISSION
As a human relations organization dedicated to overcoming hatred, bias and exclusionary practices, we build inclusive communities through experiential learning, intentional dialogue, fostering relationships, and the cultivation of tomorrow's leaders. We strive to support our community through engagement, respect, concern, empathy and understanding.
As a human relations organization dedicated to overcoming hatred, bias and exclusionary practices, we build inclusive communities through experiential learning, intentional dialogue, fostering relationships, and the cultivation of tomorrow's leaders. We strive to support our community through engagement, respect, concern, empathy and understanding.
HOW WE WORK
We create opportunities through training workshops and retreats to explore difficult social issues and how they affect our communities, homes, and workplaces. Each of us has room to grow in order to better relate to individuals who make up our diverse communities. Using human relations as a foundation, we work together to understand the dynamics of exclusion, and in so doing, recognize the humanity in all of us.
OUR HISTORY
ICCJ's origins can be traced back to 1923, when the Convention for the Federal Council of Churches of Christ discussed the growing problem of the Ku Klux Klan; this resulted in the formation of a Committee on Goodwill between Christians and Jews. This evolved into the National Coalition of Christians and Jews, founded in 1928-29 by prominent social activists such as Jane Addams, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, and President Theodore Roosevelt, in response to anti-Catholic sentiment being expressed during the Democratic primaries. The organization was dedicated to bringing diverse people together to address interfaith divisions. The group again changed their name in 1938 to the National Conference of Christians and Jews. The NCCJ expanded its purview to include all issues of social justice including race, class, gender equity, sexual orientation and the rights of people with different abilities
The Regional Utah Chapter was founded in 1966 by local philanthropists and humanitarians John W Gallivan, Arch L Madsen, and Joseph Rosenblatt. In 1998, the name was changed to the National Conference for Community and Justice to better reflect the breadth and depth of its mission, the growing diversity of our country and our need to be more inclusive. On August 6, 2005, the Salt Lake Chapter incorporated as the Inclusion Center for Community and Justice. Today, we continue to draw upon the tradition of championing the cause of social justice for all. Our board, staff, and volunteers are fully engaged in the mission of fighting bias, bigotry, and racism in all its forms and to work toward building strong and inclusive communities.
OUR LOGO
A Möbius strip is a unique object that has only one side and one edge. To us, the Möbius represents inclusion by allowing an individual to preserve their personal identity while being part of a larger whole — the community. Like the Möbius, we often appear to be vastly different in our opinions or traditions, or on two opposite “sides.” In the end, however, we share our common humanity and find we can work together to build respectful and safe communities; thus remaining on the same side!
Inclusion is acknowledging and honoring our individuality, while moving towards unity.