Poligon Education Fund

Poligon Education Fund (Poligon) is a national, non-profit organization that launched in January 2017 to increase American Muslim participation on Capitol Hill.

At the time, anti-Muslim sentiment in the public and private spheres had reached its highest levels since 9/11. Children were being bullied in schools by both teachers and peers, American Muslims' faced daily public harassment, and anti-shariah legislation, passed and pending in states around the country, threatened to eliminate fundamental rights of Muslims to pray, fast, and give charity as prescribed by their faith. To make matters worse, after a contentious Presidential election that vilified Islam and Muslims, President Trump issued travel ban barring Muslims from entering the U.S. ​

Only 17% of American Muslims had contacted their Members of Congress in the last year*, the lowest of all faith groups. This lack of participation creates missed opportunities that not only negatively affect our community, but also impedes pluralism and limits our individual and collective power.  At Poligon, we seek to create an America where Muslims and allies feel empowered to make their voices heard in the halls of Congress, and their representatives actively seek their input in the policy making process.

​Poligon seeks to amplify Muslim voices in Congress in two ways:

1. training the community on how to engage with their elected officials and educating them about the policies that impact them
2. educating and advocating with policymakers to promote positive policy change on issues such as civil rights, Islamophobia, and social, racial, and economic justice.

*According to a 2019 ISPU study commissioned by Poligon and other Muslim civic engagement groups