The El-Hibri Charitable Foundation’s Peace Awards Program recognizes individuals that promote inclusion, facilitate collaboration across various groups, and show leadership that encourages others to work toward social change. One of the Peace Awards is the Peace Education Prize, which in 2016 was given to Dr. Eboo Patel, president and founder of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC).
Since 2002, Dr. Patel has led IFYC in working to build interfaith cooperation across the United States. The biggest interfaith organization in North America, the organization collaborates with colleges and universities to build cultures of inclusion and mutual understanding. In addition to training some 500 students per year to serve as interfaith leaders, IFYC has helped to grow interfaith studies as an academic field, with more than 100 colleges now teaching the discipline as part of their curricular offerings.