July 13, 2006

AJC's interreligious and interethnic departments recently launched EngagingAmerica.org, an intergroup virtual resource center. This novel and dynamic online resource provides a wide array of resources about ethnic, religious and national origin groups in America – including core beliefs and doctrines, demographics and organizations, and contemporary issues of concern. In addition, it shares a great deal about the American Jewish Committee and where it stands on current public policy and intergroup issues.

Easy to access and to use, EngagingAmerica.org provides a ready source of information and tools for religious leaders, educators, intergroup professionals, community organizers and journalists. EngagingAmerica.org is a dynamic website that remains current as events and issues arise.

"In a world where diversity often devolves into conflict, EngagingAmerica.org is a hopeful contribution, a tool to help each of us realize the imperative of Leviticus 19:18, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,'" says Ann Schaffer, director of AJC's Belfer Center for American Pluralism.

The Engaging America Virtual Resource Center is part of the Engaging America initiative at the American Jewish Committee which advances three objectives that are linked to the founding mission of the American Jewish Committee:

• To bolster the competence and confidence of American leaders for intergroup engagement, coalition and community building.

• To ensure that our leaders gain the requisite knowledge about the key issues of other groups, core tenets of other faiths, and relevant AJC policy positions.

• To increase public support for the Jewish community's issues among ethnic and religious groups, and in alliance with them, advocate and act toward shared goals.

The American Jewish Committee