We believe our faith is essential

Our organization has faith values at its core, but that does not mean our vision is narrow. We approach issues through a lens of faith because we believe the wider-faith community can be thought leaders on a wide array of topics.

We believe faith has a place in shaping public policy, meaning that God guides our decisions and that our faith steers our moral compass. It is nearly impossible to entirely remove faith from our advocacy, as it colors how we view the world.

Still, we will never leverage our community to further a political agenda. We will not wield religious ideology for political gain, and we do not support any effort to use faith beliefs as vessels for political maneuvering and opportunism. Religion is a guide, not a partisan tool.

“If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under.”
– Ronald Reagan (40th President of the United States)

We believe faith communities working together is the foundation for change

Interfaith work is essential to what we do and is a key element of our equation for creating sustainable change. It involves cooperation and communication with people of varying beliefs. Our goal is not to change minds but to find ways to live in amity with others.

Bringing together communities of faith allows us to find the commonalities and differences between individuals and groups. When we can identify intersectionality, we can begin to have productive conversations with those who differ from us and begin to solve the problems we have in common.

The policies we pursue are multi-faith in nature. Since our coalitions include all faith communities, our policy concerns benefit all of our partners. For example, when we address freedom of religion, we address the freedom of all religions. We believe that any action we support should intrinsically result in the betterment of all.

Modeling this idea, Minaret Foundation’s staff is multi-faith or belonging to no faith. We have a diversified workforce with different viewpoints, but we come together because we desire to better our communities and country.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” – Henry Ford (Founder of Ford Motor Co.)

We believe advocacy is the best tool for change

There is an intrinsic distinction between advocacy and activism. Both approaches aim to bring about social change; however, activism often involves working outside the “system.” Activism plays an essential role in developing solutions to social problems. Those adhering to this strategy are vital to change, and their techniques are decidedly valuable to shaping policy narratives. But this strategy is not ours.

Advocacy tends to work within the “system.” We play an active role in educating policymakers to implement concrete measures so that the changes we suggest are material and sustainable.

“All advocacy is, at its core, an exercise in empathy.” – Samantha Power (Former US Ambassador to the UN)

We believe relationships strengthen our nation

Relationship-building is at our core. Through multi-faith programming and partnerships with faith communities, we’re applying our faith traditions to better serve our neighborhoods by furthering policies that impact the lives of all Texans and, ultimately, all Americans.

With diverse alliances and established relationships, we can tackle our core issues by ensuring nuances are understood and addressed.

Relationship-building does not happen overnight. It is a continuous process, one that can take years. Maintaining relationships is just as important as forming new ones. Otherwise, we risk forfeiting the very coalitions we built necessary for sustainable development.

“We have to face the fact that either all of us are going to die together or we are going to learn to live together, and if we are to live together, we have to talk.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt (Former First Lady of the United States)

We believe in engaging everyone

Our work entails actions intended to promote the interests of others, particularly groups that are overlooked, underserved, or at risk of having their rights abridged.

To confront our core issues as an organization, we must set aside our differences and focus on creating sustainable solutions for our children. If we pick and choose with whom we work based on a litmus test, we close ourselves off to the possibility of robust, enduring solutions. This means that for our organization, there is no pretext for conversation. If a person or organization is willing, in good faith, to discuss solutions to issues that are important to us, we are happy to work with them.

Sometimes, we must establish relationships with those who see the world very differently. We know how difficult these interactions are. They aren’t always comfortable for us. When we meet with those who hold views antithetical to ours, it is not because we are validating those beliefs. It is because these relationships may be a pathway to furthering ideas within our core issues of community cohesion, child welfare, food insecurity, or religious freedom.

Our vision is resolute, and our goal is singular: to bring faith communities together to change the world around us. Sometimes, that requires reaching out to those with whom we do not see eye-to-eye.

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
– Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Civil Rights Champion)

We believe in the push and pull of bipartisanship

Minaret Foundation’s work is hyper-bipartisan. This is more than the two-party political system; it reassesses how we approach others and encourages us to view each other as individuals.

This means that we try not to let emotional predispositions muddy existing and future relationships. It can be challenging to work with those who do not share similar worldviews. These relationships can be tricky. But here at Minaret Foundation, we find that not giving up on these relationships can be as rewarding as they are challenging. We are here to work for all Texans. That means setting aside our egos to do just that.

“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
– John F. Kennedy (35th President of the United States)

We believe in the value of small steps

Working within the world of policy often necessitates incrementalism. We are looking for sustainable solutions and systemic change, not quick fixes. However, to get to this, we must work slowly and meticulously to further policy after policy to rebuild broken or buttressing existing systems piece by piece. Ultimately, these add up to profound advancements. While this means that there are few overnight fixes, this also means that our changes are both secure and lasting.

Through small changes and an enduring step-by-step approach, both Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and Christ changed the world.

“Make incremental progress, changes comes not by the yard, but by the inch.” – Rick Pitino

We believe in a mission-centric approach

Our core and expertise lies in fostering multi-faith engagement, contributing to community cohesion, and working within those relationships to address child welfare, food insecurity, and religious freedom—all within the context of our state of Texas.

While our immediate focus is on the fulfillment of our mission, we remain optimistic that, in due course, our work will benefit a broader spectrum of those in need.

“I want to change the system from within the system. And that means focusing and specializing.” – Jodie Foster