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Faith and Belief Forum’s young leadership programme welcomes 19th cohort
Year-long interfaith ParliaMentors initiative matches MP's as mentors for social action projects
Fifty young leaders came together this month for the launch of a year-long interfaith political leadership programme designed to deliver social action projects under MP mentorship.
The group represents the 19th cohort of The ParliaMentors programme, a UN Award-winning initiative launched by The Faith and Belief Forum in 2007 and supported by the Sigmund Sternberg Charitable Foundation.
Nearly two decades on, around 75% of ParliaMentors go on to cite the experience in their university and job applications, with the network now numbering some 800 alumni across the UK and globally, working in fields from law and engineering to politics — and, in a number of cases, founding NGOs of their own.
Across 20 years the programme has drawn on the support of nearly 100 parliamentarians as mentors, among them Sir Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Dominic Grieve, Sajid Javid and Sadiq Khan, now Mayor of London.
One alumna recalled the opportunity to visit the US Embassy and discuss hate crime and faith relations on university campuses during her time on the programme, while in April this year ParliaMentors past and present had the chance to engage with faith leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Sikh traditions to talk about Interfaith Leadership in Divided Times.
Chair of the board of trustees Michael Sternberg said: “When I, together with my late father Sir Sigmund Sternberg, the founder of The Sternberg Foundation and one of the three creators of the Three Faiths Forum, (the ancestor of the Faith and Belief Forum), decided to create ParliaMentors, it was in a world which was completely different to the savage one in which we live.”
Thinking about it now, he added, “I don’t think any of us believed just how successful and important ParliaMentors would become in bringing together young people of all faiths and no faith to do vital social projects.”
Whilst he continues to “pray and hope for better times”, the initiative works “to bring that about and I want to pay a warm tribute to those who lead and organise the programme, without whom it couldn’t happen.”
One ParliaMentor this year reflected: “It was very insightful. I gained so much knowledge from meeting different people and exchanging ideas with them. I learnt about people’s values and belief systems and it made me feel so much more exposed to different faiths.”
Another added: “I was sceptical of the types of conversations I could have and genuinely thought I would be limited. However, I am leaving extremely happy and looking forward to doing more good in the world.”
This year ParliaMentors is running at King’s College London, the London School of Economics, the University of Westminster and the University of Liverpool, a number of which are contributing financially to the programme to give their students the opportunity to learn from MPs and sector leaders as well as connecting with such a strong 800+ ParliaMentors ِlumni body.
The Faith and Belief Forum also offers training for university staff on questions of faith inclusion.
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