Strategic Plan Goals 2022-2024
These goals reflect RPL’s foundational commitments to religious literacy and to just peace. They also affirm RPL’s focus on interdisciplinary approaches, deep collaboration, experimentation, and real-world application.
Mission
Religion and Public Life promotes the public understanding of religion in service of a just world at peace.
Approach
We collaborate across disciplines and vocations to examine religion in context, advancing leadership to deepen understanding of the causes of injustice while opening imaginative possibilities for addressing the urgent challenges of our time.
I. Strengthen RPL foundations
1. Test Religion and Public Life (RPL) hypothesis through a structured learning and assessment agenda.
2. Develop scholar/practitioner intellectual foundations in the form of white papers, best practices, case studies, and publications.
3. Continue current Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative focus on Israel/Palestine, while developing a model and approach for the development of an additional regional focus.
4. Develop strong RPL academic programs through the Master of Religion and Public Life (MRPL) and Certificate in Religion and Public Life (CRPL) that provide students with applicable skills and experience.
II. Build the RPL community
5. Recruit an annual cadre of 12–15 engaged Practitioner Fellows.
6. Build and support intentional networks/communities of practice among fellows, alumnx, students, and other stakeholders.
7. Deepen HDS faculty engagement with RPL.
8. Deepen HDS and Harvard student engagement with RPL.
9. Identify promising Harvard and other institutional collaborations that align with faculty interest and student demand (“sweet spots”).
III. Influence the public realm
10. Develop a core suite of curricula and experiential learning opportunities for practitioners in diverse fields.
11. Sharpen RPL strategic messaging and expand overall public communications to core audiences (profiles, case studies, timely news stories and commentaries, etc.).
IV. Build a sustainable program
12. Build around the initial core of RPL donor investment to raise $2M more through FY24.
13. Create an advisory board to track progress and engage in the next strategic planning process.
14. Support and strengthen a diverse, intellectually strong, empowered, creative, curious, and cohesive RPL team that takes full advantage of individual strengths and collective wisdom.