Interview with Tolga Misirli from the Niagara Foundation and Turkish American Society of MN

Please join us in welcoming the Niagara Foundation of Minnesota into the Minnesota Multifaith Network! We recently interviewed Executive Director Tolga Misirli to learn about his background, the history of the organization, and how we as a Network can best support them.

The Niagara Foundation was originally founded in Chicago in 2003 by a group of Turkish Americans who wanted to work towards abolishing the ignorance, disunion, and misunderstanding they saw in society through hosting various interfaith activities and events. As the group grew, they expanded to the greater Midwest region, including Minnesota. In 2013, Tolga Misirli became the Executive Director of the Minnesota branch.

On top of his work with the Niagara Foundation MN, Tolga is also a Chemistry and Physics professor at Metro State University. He says that he enjoys taking complex ideas and turning them into concepts that his students can understand. That is also how he approaches his work with the Niagara Foundation. Oftentimes when people want to get involved in interfaith work, they feel intimidated by the idea of trying to solve these big societal problems, or they are unsure of how to interact with people from different faith or cultural backgrounds. That is why the Niagara Foundation focuses on low-stakes opportunities for engagement.

One example of a current opportunity is the 3Faiths@OneTable project. This initiative gathers folks who are interested in developing relationships with people from different religious or cultural backgrounds. The families meet at each other’s homes over the course of three months and get to know one another over the sharing of a light meal or snack. This project has had a
successful run in the past pre-Covid with eight cohorts, and the Niagara Foundation MN is excited to start it up again.



The Niagara Foundation MN also hosts different events including dialogue iftars, book clubs, educational speakers, and their annual Abrahamic Traditions Dinner. If you are interested in learning more, you can visit their website or email Tolga.