The Niagara Foundation is a nonprofit organization, founded in 2004, dedicated to the mission of fostering civic conversations and sustained relationships between people of different cultures and faiths, and part of the Alliance for Shared Values. Niagara has branches across the Midwest including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Iowa, but is headquartered in Chicago. On October 3, 2013, the Niagara Foundation branch in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

held a Turkish American business development forum. The Niagara Foundation is associated with the

Gülen movement The Gülen movement ( tr, Gülen hareketi), referred to by its participants as Hizmet ("service") or Cemaat ("community") and since 2016 by the Government of Turkey as FETÖ ("Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation" or, more commonly, "Fethullah T ...

and its honorary president is

Fethullah Gulen Fathallah, Fathalla or the Turkish variant Fethullah is a Romanization of Arabic, transliteration of the Arabic given name, فتح الله (''Fatḥ Allāh''), built from the Arabic words ''fath'' and ''Allah''. It is one of many List of Arabic t ...

. Which lead to Turkey freezing Niagara Foundation's assets in December 2021.

Key people

The former President of the Niagara Foundation, Şerif Soydan, and its Vice President Hilmi Çınar were present for the signing of the "sister airport" agreement between Chicago's airports and the

Istanbul Atatürk Airport ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

in Turkey. Çınar was also a member of the 2012 Chicago NATO Host Committee and he also spoke at an Elgin Chamber of Commerce (

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-large ...

) development meeting about trade with Turkey. Soydan is on the board of advisors to the

Catholic Theological Union Catholic Theological Union (CTU) is a private Roman Catholic graduate school of theology in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the largest Catholic graduate schools of theology in the English speaking world and trains men and women for lay and orda ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the mericanrevolution." It enrolls nearly 5,000 students and offers 60 b ...

Moon Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Moon Township is a township along the Ohio River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Moon is a part of the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area and is located northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 27,261 at the 2020 census. History E ...

. These academic relationships are also fostered by Niagara's internship program, which has hosted international students from universities around Chicago.

Activities

Niagara carries out its mission through programs and events in three centers: *Niagara Foundation’s Center for Academic Affairs works in collaboration with universities and scholars, offering platforms for discussion, organizing conferences, and publishing academic reports, such as the Chicago Gulen Conference in 2010 and Study Turkiye, which is a competitive program that takes professors on annual trips to Turkey. *Niagara Foundation’s Center for Cultural Exchange & Interfaith Collaboration encourages pluralism by providing opportunities for people from all cultures, communities, and faith groups to be engaged in dialogue with events such as the Abrahamic Traditions Dinner, the Chicago Interfaith Gathering, intercultural trips to Turkey for local leaders, and many more. *The Center for Public and Global Affairs, which offers platforms for speakers to spotlight trends, analyze important issues, exchange ideas, and participate in productive interactions that promote innovative global and public policy solutions. Speakers at the Niagara Forum have included US Senator

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate De ...

, Lori Healey, Executive Director of the NATO Host Committee and Graham Paul, Consul General of France and

John Kass John Kass (born June 25, 1956) is an American columnist and former editorial board member for the ''Chicago Tribune'' and radio broadcaster. Until summer 2020, his opinion pieces regularly appeared on page 2 of the main news section of the ''Tribun ...

among others.

Peace and Dialogue Awards

Niagara Foundation grants the "Dialog and Peace Award" each year to individuals or organizations that "have demonstrated strong commitment to serving their community while maintaining a global mindset." The awards were founded in 2006 and have honored the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

, Mark Owen Webb (professor of philosophy at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

Henry Bienen Henry Samuel Bienen (born 1939) is an American academic and administrator. He was named President of the Poetry Foundation in 2015, and is President Emeritus of Northwestern University, where he served from 1995 to 2009. Life and career Bienen re ...

(President Emeritus, Northwestern University),

Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos Bishop Demetrios (born Demetri Kantzavelos, el, Δημήτριος Καντζαβέλος) is Proistamenos of the St Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine in St. Augustine, Florida and the Synodal Liaison of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox ...

, and US Secretary of Education (previously CEO, Chicago Public Schools) Arne Duncan.

References

{{Authority control Non-profit organizations based in Chicago Interfaith organizations Organizations established in 2004 2004 establishments in Illinois