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The Neighbor-Love Movement
Our Story
How do you see others?
The way we see others produces the society we see. If we see others as cheap, we accept poverty. If we see others as worthless, we perpetrate violence. But if we see others as precious, we will and work for our shared wellbeing.
Since launching in November 2019, we’ve hosted over 30 events, built a network with hundreds of leaders, inspired thousands of people to sign our Covenant, and reached over twenty million people on social media. Our passion is to energize the next steps of the Neighbor-Love Movement for all people at home and across the world. Our work has been recognized by the U.S Embassy in Ethiopia, the European Institute of Peace, Bank of America, and other partners.
“This could not be more important work. You should go with full force.”
Dr. Daniel Bekele,
Chief Commissioner of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission
“This is as timely and important as it gets.”
Dr. Gedion Timothewos,
Attorney General
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
“I can’t think of anything more important in today’s Ethiopia.”
Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin,
Founder of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange and blueMoon
Our Honorary Founders
The Neighbor-Love Movement was born out of Dr. Andrew DeCort’s PhD studies in Ethics at the University of Chicago and his life-changing encounters with three vulnerable youth in Ethiopia: Wudenesh, Eyob, and Ferdosa.
With Wudenesh, we discovered the power of moving our feet toward others and building practical relationships of neighbor-love.
With Eyob, we discovered the power of seeing a boy in suffering as our neighbor rather than a stranger and fighting for his health.
With Ferdosa, we discovered the power of calling young people to love their enemies across boundaries of religion, ethnicity, and politics.
These honorary founders ensure that our movement will always focus on the poor, hated, and forgotten.
Meet Our Team
Dr. Andrew DeCortFounding Director
Andrew DeCort has been called a dissident theologian by his friends. His work is deeply inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, his writing by James Baldwin, his spirituality by Etty Hillesum.
Andrew received his PhD in religious and political ethics from the University of Chicago. In 2016, he founded the Institute for Faith and Flourishing in Chicago. In 2019, he co-founded the Neighbor-Love Movement in Ethiopia. IFF and NLM have reached over twenty million people with the invitation to nonviolent spirituality. Andrew has taught ethics, public theology, peace and conflict studies, and Ethiopian studies at Wheaton College, the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, and the University of Bonn.
Andrew is the author of Flourishing on the Edge of Faith: Seven Practices for a New We (BitterSweet Collective) and Bonhoeffer’s New Beginning: Ethics after Devastation (Fortress Academic). His words have appeared in Foreign Policy, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the BBC, The Atlantic, The Economist, Christianity Today, Comment Magazine, Sojourners, The Other Journal, Wheaton College Magazine, The Journal of Religion, Political Theology, All Africa, BitterSweet Monthly, and numerous other platforms. Andrew writes the newsletter Stop & Think at andrew-decort.com. He lives in Chicago with his wife Lily, a gentle spirit and luminous painter.
Dr. Tekalign NegaCo-Director
Dr. Tekalign Nega holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from Tilburg University (Netherlands) and was a 2019 SUSI Fellow on Religious Pluralism in the United States at the Dialogue Institute, Temple University. He holds graduate degrees in Accounting, Counseling Psychology, and Theology. Dr. Tekalign is a sought-after speaker (see his interview on the Selome Show) and serves as Assistant Professor at Addis Ababa University and lecturer at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. He is married to Tehitena Mesfin with one son and the author of My Neighbor (Rohobot, 2020) and The Prosperity Gospel: Turning a House of Prayer into a House of Merchandise (Rohobot, 2017). Email him at tekalignnega@gmail.com.
Lily DeCortCo-Founder & Strategic Adviser
Lily is NLM’s Co-Founder and serves as our Strategic Adviser on culture, communication, and hospitality. She is passionate about women’s empowerment and health. Lily is currently developing skincare products specifically designed for Black women. She is also the founder of KeshKesh Cookies which aims to create job opportunities for Ethiopian women. Visit
Eric HoskinsPartnership Developer
Eric Hoskins holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Wheaton College, where he also explored his academic interests in Environmental Justice, Race, Gender, Community Art, and Urban Studies. Eric first visited Ethiopia on a scholarship in the Summer of 2018. In November 2019, Eric returned to intern and serve as NLM's Partnership Developer. Eric is passionate about creative language, radical empathy, and hospitable pedagogy. Email him at ericj.hoskins@gmail.com.
