Know Your Neighbor (KYN)

A moment of interfaith dialogue from a Muslim-Jewish Halaqa-Seder dinner

We find ourselves in a moment where we are deeply polarized as a nation by divides—cultural, religious, political—that impact our communities and even our families. At this critical juncture in our history, we want to advocate a simple model for effecting social change: working at the grassroots level in our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, houses of worship, and civic organizations to model the civility and respect we want to see upheld by everyone.

This is why Islamic Networks Group has launched the Know Your Neighbor: Multifaith Encounters Program with simple yet impactful tools and resources for reaching out to build mutual understanding and respect among all our fellow Americans. Studies show that all you need is a ten-minute non-confrontational encounter with a person from a different background to dispel stereotyping and prejudice. We believe that if enough Americans join our campaign by participating in one or two simple actions of mutual encounter, we can strengthen our communities, foster relations among all Americans, and live up to our national ideal of being one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We invite you to participate in this effort by using the suggestions and resources on this webpage for individual and community actions. By building bridges across our current divides we can build the community and nation that we all want to live in.

What is the Know Your Neighbor Program?

Know Your Neighbor: Multifaith Encounters (KYN-ME) is a national grassroots interfaith program that is the outgrowth of the Know Your Neighbor coalition of around 15 groups that was launched at the White House in December 2015 to work on policy concerning civil rights.

Founded on American values of religious freedom, pluralism, and inclusion, and motivated by a desire to build peaceful communities at the grassroots level through community engagement, the KYN-ME program was created by Islamic Networks Group (ING) in February 2016 to promote understanding and mutual respect among Americans of diverse religious and ethical traditions.

KYN-ME has grown into a collaborative effort of over 75 partners with diverse missions and objectives who work together on campaigns that push back against bigotry and discrimination while promoting civil dialogue across differences, building relationships and peaceful communities, and advancing human rights and justice.

For a historical look at the reach and effect of KYN-ME campaigns, check out our impact report.

See this page to learn how to join the KYN-ME program as an organization and go here to get a closer look at our current program partners. You can also get caught up on past campaignsnewsletters, and webinars on interfaith best practices.

Individuals

Engage in Dialogue

Share your Perspective

Communities

Work Within Your Community

Work With Other Communities

Know Your Neighbor Social Media Posts and Graphics

Know Your Neighbor Public Event Templates

We have created several public event templates that you can use to bring people together in your communities. They’re meant to provide the framework that you can customize to your needs. Enjoy!

Know Your Neighbor Flyers

Share this: