April Updates
Dear Friends of Invested Faith,
I’m greeting you this month from Hawaii, the beautiful islands where I grew up and where my family lives. Like many of you, I haven’t been able to visit home for over a year, so reuniting with my parents and siblings has been especially meaningful. We’ve lost a lot through this pandemic, but one thing we may have gained is some perspective on what’s important.
Returning home always makes me reflect on a basic lesson that island culture taught me early on: we are inextricably interconnected. When you live on an island you know in visceral ways that my thriving is directly connected to your thriving. We need each other, and it’s in our collective best interest to care for each other and to build economies that support health and well being for all our neighbors.
Finding and amplifying the stories of people doing that in innovative ways is a priority for Invested Faith. Our team of advisors meets next week to begin selecting grantees--social entrepreneurs who are building vehicles to help heal the world. I’m excited to start learning and telling their stories as we begin inviting all of you to celebrate and support their work.
In the meantime, I hope you’re beginning to reconnect with people you love, too. The world is a better place when we’re connected to each other.
Sending a little aloha your way,
De’Amon Harges
2021 Tom Locke Innovative Leader Award Recipient
Congratulations to Invested Faith Advisor, De’Amon Harges, on being selected for the Tom Locke Innovative Leader Award.
Presented by the Wesleyan Investive, the award recognizes five leaders across the United States who “exemplify innovative spiritual leadership and missionally driven entrepreneurship.” Wesleyan Investive, formerly the United Methodist Development Fund, is a national nonprofit that invests in congregations, leaders, and faith-based innovation within communities.
“The award is named after Wesleyan Investive President Tom Locke who holds a strong belief that investment in bold, enterprising leaders with inventive approaches to ministry not only advances the church but creates flourishing communities,” according to the press release.
The Tom Locke Innovative Leader Award recognizes individuals who exhibit the following characteristics:
Have proven themselves in the innovation space and demonstrated evidence indicating great potential for the future. Positively impacted the Methodist ecosystem.
Live out of a deep spiritual faith and work at the intersection of faith and individual and communal transformation.
Invest in people, populations, and communities not currently effectively reached or well-resourced, especially by the church.
Are committed to life-long learning with a willingness to experiment, fail, reflect, learn and try again.
Invested Faith congratulates De’Amon Harges on this honor. We are excited to add his leadership and imagination to the work of Invested Faith.
““Social entrepreneurship is really about social invention. It’s about finding ways to get over barriers, finding ways that people can have better lives, and finding ways to bring joy. Social innovators do that.” ”
Read more about the Tom Locke Innovative Leader Award here.
Each of us has a responsibility to work together to create real change in the world. Every month, we will be suggesting one small act that each of us could take to create change in our own sphere of life and influence.
This month, support minority-owned businesses. Choose a local business and become a regular. Get to know the names of the employees and owners. Every dollar you spend makes a difference.
Share this support with Invested Faith on Facebook and give a shout-out to those well-deserving businesses.
Spread the word! Help us build our audience by using your social media presence and word of mouth to tell others about this important work. Join us on Facebook and LInkedIn.
Support the ongoing development of Invested Faith through a tax-deductible gift. Click here to support our work.
Grant a social entrepreneur. If you’d like your gift to go directly to someone working innovatively to reimagine the faith community, your tax-deductible gift of $5000.00 can make that happen.
