Background of Rob Tribken (Chairman)

Rob Tribken has been in business for more than four decades and is the founder of several businesses, including Bestfresh Foods, Inc. (a west coast supplier of packaged food to retail chains in ten states). Along the way he has had to deal with many of the most difficult issues faced by people in their work lives; this experience has informed his work at the CFE.

Over the years, Tribken became interested in the connection between faith, spirituality, and work, particularly work in the private sector. Several decades spent working in business combined with several years studying theology and becoming acquainted with organized Christianity convinced him that there is a great need for churches to find better ways to minister to people in the vocational aspects of their lives.

He believes there is a need to affirm the value of commercial vocations and to help people see how their faith and spirituality can help them in their work. This belief led to the founding of the Center for Faith and Enterprise.

Tribken’s background combines faith and business. His education includes an M.B.A. from The Harvard Business School and an M.A. – Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree in Faith, Work, Economics, and Vocation at Fuller. He has also spent considerable time researching positive organizational psychology, and positive psychology more generally, and has incorporated findings from these areas in his writings.

He is the author of The Sacred Meaning of Everyday Work and two sets of curriculum designed for small groups: Transforming Work: Spiritual Renewal In Our Work Lives and Questioning Faith: A Conversation for the Open Minded. He has led retreats, taught classes, led groups engaged in contemplative practices, and spoken on the subjects of spiritual practices, connecting faith and work, business as a calling, and the role of business in ending poverty. He is an active member of La Cañada Presbyterian Church in La Cañada, California.

Tribken has also worked with several other non-profit organizations that are involved in the connection between faith and work. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of Partners Worldwide  (www.partnersworldwide.org) and as a board member of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership. He can be reached at 626.355.8489 or rtribken@faithandenterprise.org

ABOUT US

Background of Rob Tribken (Chairman)

Rob Tribken has been in business for decades and is the founder of several businesses, including Bestfresh Foods, Inc. (a west coast supplier of packaged food to retail chains), and the East African Enterprise Fund –a small Kampala, Uganda, based venture fund. His education includes an M.B.A. from The Harvard Business School and an M.A. – Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree in Faith, Work, Economics, and Vocation at Fuller.

Tribken became interested in the connection between faith, spirituality, and work, particularly work in the private sector. Several decades spent working in business combined with several years studying theology and becoming acquainted with organized Christianity convinced him that there is a great need for churches to find better ways to minister to people in the vocational aspects of their lives. In particular, Tribken believes there is a need to affirm the value of commercial vocations and to help people see how their faith and spirituality can help them in their work. This belief led to the founding of the Center for Faith and Enterprise.

Tribken is the author of two sets of curriculum designed for small groups: Transforming Work: Spiritual Renewal In Our Work Lives (available from Amazon) and Questioning Faith: A Conversation for the Open Minded and has led small groups and spoken on the subjects of spiritual practices and business as a calling.

Tribken has also worked with several other non-profit organizations that are involved in the connection between faith and work. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of Partners Worldwide (www.partnersworldwide.org) and as a board member of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership (www.depree.org) at Fuller Theological Seminary.

To Contact: 1.626.355.8489 rtribken@faithandenterprise.org

About the Center

The Center for Faith and Enterprise was launched in 2009 by Rob Tribken and a group of like-minded California entrepreneurs and business people who wanted to find better ways to help people in business and related fields connect their faith and their work. In October 2018, Tribken sold his business (Bestfresh Foods, Inc.) in order to become the full-time executive director of the CFE.

Philosophy

As our work has progressed, we have become convinced that many people have a deep, intuitive faith or spirituality that, while sometimes unconscious or latent, can be powerful and life-giving. Our mission is to find ways to help people (including ourselves) tap into this deep resource and allow it to become a source of strength and purpose in our work lives.

Even aside from the income earned, work has important effects on human flourishing, for both good and ill. It can be a source of stress, burnout, boredom, and interpersonal conflict. But work can also provide an opportunity to build friendships, pursue personal growth, contribute to the well-being of others, and develop a sense of purpose. We intend to help people with both the positive and negative aspects of their work.

We also believe that churches and other faith-based entities can play a more important role in helping people deal with their serious work-related issues.

Programs

Work Life Forum: The WLF is a speaker and discussion series designed to help people deal with their serious work-related issues, and to do so in a way that is consistent with their own faith or spirituality. Each event includes a speaker who is an expert in the topic in question, as well as a time for informal discussion. The events are fairly large; the January 29, 2019, event attracted 199 people, roughly 40% from outside the church. To date, these events have been hosted by La Canada Presbyterian Church in La Canada, California, and sponsored and organized by the Center for Faith and Enterprise.

Transforming Work Small Group Curriculum: This is a small group curriculum series designed to help people seek spiritual renewal in their work lives and in their workplace. The first two series, published together in one study guide, included 12 sessions, each of which and deals with a serious work issue such as stress, integrity, burnout, opportunity, and others.

The Faith and Enterprise Podcast: The CFE produced 31 episodes of this podcast, on various topics. We are now in the process of transitioning from a weekly podcast series to a collection of audio recordings organized by topic. These will be updated periodically.

Retreats: The CFE has conducted three retreats to date, each under the name Spiritual Practices for the Active Work Life. Each of these retreats includes experience with particular contemplative practices as well discussion about the issues we face in our work life. We are planning a new series of retreats for the fall of 2019.

Articles:  We continue to produce articles and other written material designed to help people think about work and faith-related issues. We also publish articles on somewhat related subjects. Most of these are available for reprinting by other groups, with proper attribution.

Speaking and Consulting Services: The CFE can provide speakers and consulting services. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us at 626.355.8489 or rtribken@faithandenterprise.org.

Your Support Helps Us To Help Others

If you would like to participate and help support our work, there are two areas in particular where we would be most appreciative of your help:

1. Help us spread the word; Join our mailing list and we will send you announcements of events and programs that you could then send on to others.
2. Financial Support: The Center for Faith and Enterprise is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization located in California, and can therefore accept donations. To date, most of our activities have been supported primarily by our founders. As we expand the programs, however, we are beginning to need more support from others in order to reach and help more people. We would very much appreciate your help.

To donate online, click on the donate button at the bottom of the page (credit cards and Paypal accepted). To donate by mail:

Thank you!