Linking San Diego with the World—One Exchange at a Time


About Us

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The Global Neighborhood Project (GNP) creates opportunities for personal connection between San Diego and communities around the world.



We began in 2007, when a visit from Azerbaijani teachers inspired a simple question: what if one neighborhood in San Diego linked directly with one overseas? That idea grew into a series of modest but meaningful collaborations—from photo books and cultural visits to student trips and civic introductions.

GNP follows a citizen diplomacy model rooted in one-on-one relationships. Our efforts have included helping a Latvian teacher spend time in a San Diego school, supporting Mongolian educators visiting SDSU, and sending San Diegans abroad to photograph daily life in places like Uruguay, Mongolia, and Romania.


Each project is shaped by the interests of our partners and the creative connections we can help facilitate. We work informally, often alongside universities, libraries, and civic organizations, believing that individuals—not institutions—are the key to cross-cultural understanding.

Support Us

Your gift helps make meaningful projects possible—like cross-cultural photo collaborations and educational exchanges.


It brings people together through storytelling and shared experiences—person to person, community to community.

A group of people are standing in a field holding an eagle.
A woman is shaking hands with a family in a living room.

Host Hospitality Fund

$50/Month helps cover meals, transportation, or materials for hosting an international visitor in San Diego. Every visit builds understanding, one home at a time.

The GNP Team

A man in a blue shirt is smiling with his eyes closed.

Founder Martin Kruming

San Diego, California
A close up of a woman 's face wearing a blue shirt and smiling.

Martha Deichler

Borrego Springs, California
A man with long hair and a beard is sitting on a couch.

Barry Carlton

San Diego, California
A man with a beard and gray hair is wearing a gray shirt.

Frank Wagner

San Diego, California
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Our mission

To link San Diego with communities around the world at a personal level, and to help communities around the world to become visible to each other.