Kids4Peace Boston educates, trains and inspires Christian, Jewish and Muslim youth from diverse backgrounds to become interfaith peace leaders.
We concentrate on the value-formation ages of 12 to 18, creating opportunities for youth and their families to build relationships across faith and other boundaries and become ambassadors for coexistence and justice. Through a six-year sequence of summer programs and monthly school-year activities, we equip participants with the knowledge, skills and relationships to promote interfaith understanding, advocate for social change and take action for peace in Boston and beyond.
Our Work
Kids4Peace Boston (K4PB) offers an integrated, year-round, six-year Peace Leader Program focused on the peace-building aspirations of middle and high school youth from many different communities throughout the Boston area.
Among interfaith and peace-building organizations, Kids4Peace Boston is distinctive in several important ways:
Our programs begin at age 12 (as youth enter seventh grade), capitalizing on this developmental stage when youth begin to define their personal identity, values and sense of justice.
Over the course of six years (seventh to 12th grades), K4PB participants foster relationships across boundaries, gain and use peace leadership skills, develop global and local insights on peace and justice, build an appreciation for the faiths of others and have fun together!
We build bridges among a diverse group of youth, families and communities. Boston-area participants represent a wide spectrum of Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious practices, urban and suburban neighborhoods, ethnicities, races and income levels.
During monthly school-year experiential learning activities and one- to two-week immersive summer programs, participants actively learn, apply and improve their leadership skills. Through many of our summer opportunities, K4PB teens develop a broader perspective on peace through interactions with Israeli and Palestinian peers. Together, they learn how faith can nurture peace and how they can take action to promote understanding.
K4PB middle school and high school youth can be found throughout Greater Boston promoting interfaith understanding and working toward justice and peace as they:
- Lead the annual K4PB Interfaith High School Conference
- Conduct workshops for youth at local temples, mosques, churches and schools
- Stand up for tolerance and diversity in their schools and towns
- Engage in community service projects
Kids4Peace Boston is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization and collaborates with many partners, including Kids4Peace International (Kids4Peace Jerusalem and other American chapters), Jerusalem Peacebuilders, the American Youth Foundation and many local churches, mosques and temples.