Kooyers continues building community as director of Kaufman Interfaith Institute

Kyle Kooyers was named director of the Sylvia and Richard Kaufman Interfaith Institute after serving as director of operations.

Douglas Kindschi, the institute's founding director who now serves in an advisory role, said Kooyers has made many notable contributions and community connections over the past decade since he joined the team. 

"During his tenure, Kyle coordinated the West Michigan Interfaith Council and its task forces, resulting in formal partnerships among congregations in Grand Rapids," Kindschi said. "Building upon those partnerships, Kyle oversaw the creation of over a dozen interfaith affinity groups and an Interfaith Service Day Camp for teens, which led to the creation of the Kaufman Interfaith Leadership Scholars program."

Kooyers said he has learned much from Kindschi over the years and greatly admires his ability to see and pursue potential. Additionally, he expressed gratitude for his new position. 

“It's been a real privilege and honor to work for Doug over the last decade," Kooyers said. "I'm very appreciative that he gave me this opportunity. It's truly been life-changing to get to work here. Doug is somebody who, for me, has really demonstrated what it looks like to bring a vision to reality.”

Kooyers emphasized the Kaufman Interfaith Institute’s important work in providing opportunities for gathering and community-building. 

“The core of what we do here is create spaces for people to build relationships that they otherwise would never have been able to because, unfortunately, our lives are kind of siloed and segmented. So, we create pathways and bridges for people to meet their neighbors in ways that might not have happened in the average day-to-day,” he said.

For Kooyers, a particular point of pride has been the development of the institute’s next-generation programming. In 2017, the institute established day camps for middle and high school students to visit sacred sites, experience interfaith dialogue and engage in service projects together. Those camps have since morphed into the Kaufman Interfaith Leadership Scholars, a bi-weekly leadership development program held on the Health Campus. 

“Some of those high school students have been with us since the very beginning," Kooyers said. "Now, we are graduating some seniors who have been around for almost as long as I've worked here, and those are really incredible relationships."

This year, the institute adapted that model and launched the Grand Valley Interfaith Leadership Cohort, creating a similar space for college students. 

"I'm inspired by them, both our high school and university leaders," Kooyers said. "I see the vision that they have for the world, and we utilize their voice, through the platform these cohorts provide, as a way to direct what we do here at the institute.”

Kooyers earned a master's degree in divinity from Calvin Theological Seminary and a bachelor's degree in religion/religious studies and philosophy from Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania.

— Sofia Ellis, a senior majoring in writing, is a student writer for University Communications.