The event featured prominent speakers such as:

    Marc Gopin, noted scholar and practitioner of conflict resolution based at of George Mason University, who challenged the U.S. to ask the tough questions of allies who fund extremism on one hand and support counter-terrorism funds on the other;
  • Imam Magid, former head of the Islamic Society of North America, who is catalyzing a historic document articulating what the Qur’an says about freedom of conscience/belief and respecting religious minorities, to be released by the end of 2014 and signed by some 250 Muslim scholars from around the world;
  • Robert Destro of Catholic University, who stressed the importance of understanding history and strategy in IRF engagement, instead of merely reacting tactically to each moment;
  • and more

A highlight of the event was the presentation by IGE President Chris Seiple of the IRF Roundtable’s lifetime achievement award to Congressman Frank Wolf, a tireless advocate for religious liberty around the world.

Along with IGE, the other co-conveners of the event were the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Russian Ministries, International Christian Concern, Church of Scientology National Affairs Office, and Christian Solidarity Worldwide UK. Co-sponsors of the event included Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation, The Mitchell Firm, Generative Ideas, and the Center for Inquiry.

The IRF Roundtable—co-founded and co-chaired by IGE—is a non-partisan consortium of Washington-area NGOs committed to raising awareness and creating action among policy-makers on behalf of religious freedom worldwide.