Join people of faith from around the state for our annual Faith for a Fair New York Retreat, held this year October 11-13 at the Dominican Retreat Center in Niskayuna. 

This year's Faith for a Fair NY retreat will explore how the shift to a low-wage, high-inequality economy is impacting communities across the state and what people of faith can do about it.

We'll look at successful movements in New York and across the country - including the Fight for 15 and Moral Mondays - and look ahead to what we can expect in New York in the coming year. Throughout, we'll pay particular attention to the role of faith communities in the struggle for justice here in New York. 

Speakers will include (see below for schedule): 

Roz Pelles, longtime civil rights and labor activist and a key leader of the North Carolina Moral Mondays movement, serving as interim executive director of the North Carolina NAACP from 2013-2014. Previously she was the director of Civil, Women's and Human Rights for the AFL-CIO from 2005-2013.

Bishop Howard Hubbard, co-chair of the Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS and bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. For decades, Bishop Hubbard has been a leading moral voice for economic justice in New York State and throughout the country, .

Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Co-Director of the Kairos Center for Rights, Religions and Social Justice and a Founder and the Coordinator of the Poverty Initiative. She has spent the past two decades organizing among the poor in the United States, working with and advising grassroots organizations including the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Vermont Workers Center, Domestic Workers United, the United Workers Association, the National Union of the Homeless and the Kensington Welfare Rights Union.

Willie Baptist, Poverty Initiative Scholar-in-Residence and Co-Coordinator of Poverty Scholarship and Leadership Development for the Kairos Center for Rights, Religions and Social Justice. Willie is a formerly homeless father of three who came out of the Watts uprisings and the Black Student Movement. He has 50 years of experience educating and organizing among the poor and dispossessed including with the United Steelworkers, the National Union of the Homeless, and the Kensington Welfare Rights Union. 

... and more!

 Come be inspired and get connected to great work happening across the state!

Schedule:

Sunday, October 11^th:

3 pm – 5 pm - Registration

5 – 6:30 pm – Introductions and Opening Remarks

6:30 – 7:30 pm – Dinner 

7:45 – 8:45 pm - Remarks by Willie Baptist, Kairos Center followed by Q&A

Monday, October 12^th:

7:45 am – 8:45 am – Breakfast 

9 – 10:30 am – Rise of the Low-Wage Economy Panel - Willie Baptist - Kairos Center, Amanda Monroe - Fight for 15, Sara Niccoli - Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS 

10:45 am – 12:15 pm –Effectively Confronting Poverty, Racism and Inequality: Lessons from North Carolina Moral Mondays  - Roz Pelles, North Carolina Forward Together Movement

12:30 – 1:30 – Lunch 

1:45 - 3:00 – Promoting Educational Equality and Opportunity for all Students - Chad Radock, Alliance for Quality Education

3:00 – 6:15 – Values and Vision: Roundtable on the Pope's Visit and Implications for Movement-Building

3-4:30 - Pope Francis and the Power of Moral Leadership - Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard & Rudy López

4:30-4:45 - Break

4:45-6:15 - Acting on Our Values: Climate and Worker Justice - Ed Smyth, New York Interfaith Power and Light and Mark Emanatian, Citizen Action of New York

6:30 – 7:30 – Dinner (Dining Room)

8 pm – Interfaith Bible Study with Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis

Tuesday, Oct. 13^th:

8:00 – 8:45 am – Breakfast

9 am – 10:15 am – How faith communities can make an impact - Emily McNeill & Joe Paparone, Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS

10:30 - 11:45 am – Effectively turning out the vote to win the issues - Peter Kim, New York Civic Engagement Table - Jessica Wisneski, Citizen Action of New York - Mike Kink, Strong Economy for All

12:00 - 12:30 pm - Bringing it all together. What have we learned & what actions do we commit to taking throughout the year?

Registration Costs 

Full event (registration, single room for Sunday and Monday, meals) - $225

Commuter (registration, meals) - $125

Monday only (registration, 3 meals) - $70

Childcare will be provided!

Financial assistance is available to those who need it. Please do not let a lack of funds keep you from attending! Contact emcneill@labor-religion.org.

Continue to next page to pay by credit card. You can also mail your payment to 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110. 

The Faith for a Fair NY retreat is sponsored by the Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS, NYS Council of Churches, Reform Jewish Voice of NY, the NYS Episcopal Policy Network and NYS Interfaith Impact.