Friends Place offers opportunities for experiential education and civic engagement programs with a focus on how people-power creates justice, peace, a healthy planet, and a stronger democracy.
This is a place for young people—from middle school to college—who are discovering how they will be active in their communities and their country to build a better world.
Friends Place programs complement and extend the civic education students receive in school. The programs include community engagement, organizing social movements for grassroots change, influencing the media narrative, and advocacy with congressional offices.
Our nation’s capital is the ideal place to experience how government works, or doesn’t always work, for all people. In addition to the opportunities to see the national monuments and the tourist sites, Friends Place can provide a historical and current analysis of how decisions by our government can make peoples’ lives better, create a just society, build a more peaceful world, and make our planet healthier.
Civic Engagement Programs
Friends Place’s civic education and engagement programs are grounded in Quaker values and practice. Our programming is immersive, actionable, and always tied to effecting systemic change. We offer:
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Advocacy: Learn how to lobby Congress on important issues like climate change, immigration, police and prison reform, and ending endless wars. Staff from our sister organization, the Friends Committee on National Legislation Education Fund, will show you how.
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Organizing: Friends Place partners with organizations that are organizing movements for change at the local, state, and federal levels.
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Community Connections: Engage in community-based learning connected to social justice issues.
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Housing and hospitality: Our Capitol Hill location is ideally situated for groups who come to Washington, D.C., to engage in nonviolent direct action, demonstrations, or other people’s movements.
Friends Place is committed to programming that centers social justice and antiracism to help everyone find their role in civic engagement.
Ready to Get Started?
Contact us to start planning a program for your group. We will customize a learning experience for your Meeting, classroom, or youth group.
Explore the Neighborhood
We are located in the heart of Capitol Hill, just steps from Congress, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the National Mall.
Experience Washington, D.C.
Bring your youth or school group to Washington, D.C. and stay at Friends House on Capitol Hill. Experience all that our nation’s capital has to offer—from museums to monuments; from the halls of Congress to the hidden history of the city that has been home to presidents and people struggling with poverty.
We can assist you in planning your itinerary, navigating public transportation, and reserving group tickets to Smithsonian museums and government buildings that require them, such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture or the Library of Congress.
Upcoming Events
There are currently no upcoming events.
Quaker Advocacy Institutes
Starting in 2022, Friends Place will regularly host three-day Quaker Advocacy Institutes. These will be open to all people who want to go deeper in learning and advocacy on vital issues such as climate change, immigration, gun violence prevention, and peacebuilding.
Get Updates about Events & Programming
Sign up for emails about upcoming events and opportunities at the Friends Place on Capitol Hill.