Eboo Patel is an American

Ismaili Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...

of Gujarati Indian heritage and founder and president of

Interfaith America Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

(previously known as

Interfaith Youth Core Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) is a Chicago-based non-profit founded in 2002 by Eboo Patel.Goodstein, Laurie. "An Effort to Foster Tolerance in Religion." ''The New York Times''. June 13, 2011. Accessed September 21, 2011. https://www.nytimes.com/201 ...

), a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-based international nonprofit that aims to promote interfaith cooperation. Patel was a member of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

's inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.

Biography

Patel grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where he attended Glenbard South High School. He attended the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

for his undergraduate studies and earned a degree in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

. He has a doctorate in the

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

of religion from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where he studied on a

Rhodes scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world ...

. Patel details his life and career extensively in his 2007 autobiography, ''Acts of Faith''. In the book, Patel notes that he became interested in religious diversity in college, where he noticed that conversations on multiculturalism and multiple identities did not involve religious identity. After graduating from college, he taught at an alternative education program for high school dropouts in Chicago and, inspired partly by Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker movement, founded a cooperative living community for activists and artists in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. As an activist, Patel felt that diversity, service, and faith were important parts of civic life but found no community organization that touched on all three, specifically one that worked with young people. In response, he developed the idea for the

, formulated through his relationship with Brother Wayne Teasdale and blessed by the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

, that would bring young people of different faiths together around service and dialogue. While a student at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, Patel ran numerous interfaith youth projects in India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. He officially founded IFYC in 2002 with a Jewish friend and a $35,000 grant from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the dea ...

.Goodstein, Laurie. “An Effort to Foster Tolerance in Religion.” ''The New York Times''. June 13, 2011. Accessed August 9, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/us/14patel.html?_r=3. Today the organization employs approximately 30 people and has a $4-million operating budget. In addition to his work with IFYC, Patel has spoken at numerous college campuses and conferences across the country. Patel and IFYC partnered with White House officials in developing President Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, which invited schools across the nation to make interfaith cooperation a campus priority and launched in 2011. His second book, ''Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America'', was released in August 2012.

Work

* Patel has blogged for

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

, and Sojourners, among other outlets. * He is on the Religious Advisory Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Committee of the

Aga Khan Foundation The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is a private, not-for-profit international development agency, which was founded in 1967 by Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, the 49th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. AKF seeks to provide long-term ...

* He was on the Advisory Board of Duke University Islamic Studies Center. * Patel is an Ashoka Fellow, part of a select network of social entrepreneurs. * He is serving as Dominican University's Lund-Gill Chair in the Rosary College of Arts and Sciences for fall 2011. * Patel serves on the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-te ...

’s Faith-based Advisory Council * He has spoken at

TED (conference) TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sa ...

, the

Clinton Global Initiative The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was es ...

, and the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

Forum *He wrote "We Are Each Other's Business".

Awards

Sandor Teszler Award for Moral Courage and Service to Humanity

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the Americ ...

, Spartanburg, SC, March 5, 2013
2012 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize
2012 * Honoree at Union Theological Seminary (New York)’s 175th Anniversary, 2012 * Named t
100 Most Powerful Chicagoans List
by

Chicago (magazine) ''Chicago'' is a monthly magazine published by Tribune Publishing. It concentrates on lifestyle and human interest stories, and on reviewing restaurants, travel, fashion, and theatre from or nearby Chicago. Its circulation in 2004 was 165,000, ...

, 2012 * Named to th
“YES! Breakthrough 15” List
by YES! Magazine, 2011 * Named to th
“Top 50 Power and Influence” List
by

The NonProfit Times ''The NonProfit Times'' (NPT) is a newspaper based in Morris Plains, New Jersey, covering the business management of non-profit organizations in the United States. The first issue was published in April 1987. The newspaper covers fundraising, ac ...

, 2011 * Feature article in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

“An Effort to Foster Tolerance in Religion,”
2011 * University of Illinois Outstanding Asian-American Alumni Award, 2010
Common Ground Award
given by Search for Common Ground, 2010 *

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

br>Grawemeyer Award
">Grawemeyer Award">Grawemeyer Award
in Religion, 2010 * Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum, 2010
Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom of Worship Medal
(with

), 2009 * Stanford University Muslim American Contribution Award, 2009 * Named one of Islamica Magazine'
10 young Muslim visionaries
shaping Islam in America * Named one o
“America’s Best Leaders”
by U.S. News & World Report, 2009 * Named a “Future Policy Leader” by Harvard Kennedy School Review, 2008
David Kellum
award from th
Baha'i House of Worship
in Wilmette for service to youth, 2005 *

Ashoka Foundation Ashoka (formerly branded Ashoka: Innovators for the Public) is an American-based nonprofit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship by connecting and supporting individual social entrepreneurs. Their stated mission is "the creation of a ...

Fellow, 2004 * Prime Mover/Hunt Fellow, 2004 * Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, 2003

Honorary degrees

*DePaul University, June 16, 2013 * Claremont Lincoln University, May 21, 2013 * Doctor of Humanities,

, Spartanburg, SC, March 5, 2013 * Colgate University, 2012 *

Dominican University (Illinois) Dominican University (DU) is a private Roman Catholic university in River Forest, Illinois, affiliated with the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees, certificate programs, and a PhD in information studies. Dom ...

, 2012 *

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has pro ...

, 2011 *

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, Catholic univers ...

, 2010 *

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July 1, 2020. Hist ...

, 2009 *

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

, 2008

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

References

External links

* *
https://web.archive.org/web/20090211145215/http://ifyc.org/about_core/staff
Bio at IFYC *
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4989625
Eboo Patel on This I Believe - NPR, Nov. 7, 2005.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12098469
Eboo Patel on

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial is ...

- NPR, July 19, 2007.
''Voices on Antisemitism'' Interview with Eboo Patel
from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Ismailis in the News - Eboo Patel named to Obama Inter Faith Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Eboo Ashoka USA Fellows Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American Ismailis American Rhodes Scholars American political consultants American male writers of Indian descent People from Glen Ellyn, Illinois University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni American people of Gujarati descent Recipients of the Four Freedoms Award