Category Archives: bridge building

NCDD Endorses NICD Standards of Conduct for Presidential Debates

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NCDD is proud to announce that we are officially endorsing the set of standards of conduct for civility during the Presidential debates that our member organization the National Institute for Civil Discourse recently released. We are standing with NICD and other organizations in calling for civility during the debates because we believe that civility demonstrated in these events can be a step toward bridging our divides nationally. We encourage you to read NICD’s announcement about the standards of conduct below and to sign their petition for moderators to adopt them by clicking here.

The National Institute for Civil Discourse Calls on Presidential Debate Moderators to Enforce Civility, Releases Debate Standards for Upcoming Presidential Debatesrevive-civility-logo

We released a set of Debate Standards today that we are asking the presidential debate moderators to adopt in order to ensure that the debates are fair, informative, and civil. More than 60 organizations, including the AARP, have already signed on to the standards, which contain guidelines for moderators, the audience, and the candidates themselves.

In addition to AARP, a wide range of organizations endorsed the standards. Types of organizations include education institutions, such as the Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, University of California Berkeley Center on Civility & Democratic Engagement and University of Virginia Center for Politics; forums, such as the City Club of Cleveland and City Club of Portland; and faith organizations, such as that Faith and Politics Institute and Interfaith Alliance. A complete list can be found on NICD’s website at: http://nicd.arizona.edu/standards-conduct-debates.

Join us in asking moderators, debaters and audience members to raise themselves to these standards and agree to use them in your own everyday interactions.

Sign our petition asking the Presidential debate moderators to adopt these standards for the upcoming debates

Revive Civility with us, our democracy depends on it.

Sincerely,
Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer

Standards of Conduct for the Presidential Debates

I want debaters to:

  • Be respectful of others in speech and behavior
  • Answer the question being asked by the moderator
  • Make ideas and feelings known without disrespecting others
  • Take responsibility for past and present behavior, speech and actions
  • Stand against incivility when faced with it

I want moderators to:

  • Address uncivil behavior by naming it and moderating the conversation to move toward a more respectful dialogue
  • Enforce debate rules equally
  • Hold candidates accountable by challenging each candidate to speak the truth and act with integrity
  • Treat all candidates equally in regards tothe complexity of questions and debate rules
  • Be respectful when interacting with candidates

I want audience members to:

  • Be respectful of other audience members, the candidates and moderators in speech and behavior
  • Refrain from creating disturbances to other audience members, candidates and moderators
  • Take responsibility for personal behavior, speech and actions
  • Speak against incivility by reminding candidates it is not acceptable
  • Practice active listening when someone else is speaking, seeking to understand them

The Bridge Alliance Presents “Moving America Forward”

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updraft_logo_borderThe Bridge Alliance, an NCDD 2016 All-Star Sponsor, is hosting a free event in Washington DC this Thursday, September 15th exploring many of the same issues we will tackle together in Boston this October.

Moving America Forward, co-sponsored by the Bridge Alliance and Updraft America (an art installation to be unveiled alongside the event featuring 10,718 paper airplanes symbolizing a desire to rise above partisan politics), will feature a panel discussion on How To Bridge the Partisan Divide. 

Moderated by author and journalist, Cokie Roberts, and featuring members of the Bridge Alliance, the panel will “present alternatives to the partisan narrative that permeates the political process and there will be presentations by organizations representing a cross-spectrum of civic engagement and collaborative problem-solving that is already present across America”.

The event is free but requires an RSVP and will be held at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center (4400 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC) beginning at 7:00 pm.  Visit the Updraft America Reception page on Eventbrite to learn more and sign up!

NICD Brings Civility to Nat’l Conf. of State Legislatures

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In case you missed it, last month was a busy one for the Reviving Civility initiative from the National Institute for Civil Discourse – one of our NCDD organizations – and we wanted to share their update. NICD has been elevating the conversation about civility in politics to new levels and even awarded several elected officials for their work to revive civility this summer. We encourage you to read their August update below or learn more about the initiative here.

Reviving Civility at the National Conference of State Legislatures

This week, we were Reviving Civility at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) 2016 Annual Legislative Summit in Chicago August 8-11th. On Tuesday, August 9th, NICD’s Ted Celeste hosted “Building Trust with Citizens: Text, Talk, Revive Civility, A National Conversation About Civility” with more than 100 participants.

This very diverse, highly engaged crowd worked in small groups of 4-8 people to discuss and brainstorm ideas about reviving civility in our nation while utilizing our innovative text-messaging platform. Many state legislators made commitments to take Text, Talk, Revive Civility back to their states.

NICD awarded Representative Stephanie Howse (D-OH), Representative Matt Pouliot (R-ME), and State Treasurer Terry Hayes (I-ME) with the NICD Award for Civility in State Governance at a reception on Tuesday, August 9th.

NICD also presented its inaugural Award for the State Most Committed to Civil Governance to the state of Maine this year. Representative Pouliot and State Treasurer Hayes, along with Maine State Representative Andrew McLean and Maine State Senators Andre Cushing, Rebecca Millette, and Roger Katz accepted the award on behalf of their state legislature.

The NICD’s National Network of State Legislators Committed to Civil Governance held it’s annual meeting on Tuesday, August 9th.

You can join in the conversation too. By texting CIVILITY to 89800 you can participate in Text, Talk, Revive Civility as well!

Join NCDD Confab Call on the Nevins Fellowship Program on Sept. 21st!

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We encourage our NCDD member organizations to register to join us for a special Confab Call on Wednesday, September 21st from 12-1pm Eastern / 9-10am Pacific that can help your organization build capacity while helping the emerging student leaders of our field gain skills and experience in D&D work!mccourtney-logo

NCDD is hosting an exciting presentation and discussion with the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, who will be sharing about the incredible opportunity for organizations to host a D&D-trained student fellow at no cost next summer through their Nevins Democracy Leaders Program! You won’t want to miss it!

This is a rare and competitive opportunity for leading organizations in our field, and this Confab Call will be one of the best ways to find out more about how your group can take advantage of this program, so make sure to register today to save your spot on the call!

The Nevins Democracy Leaders Program was founded in 2014 after a gift from David Nevins, an NCDD Sustaining Member. The program provides Penn State students with education and ­training in transpartisan leadership skills by exposing them to a variety of viewpoints and philosophies, as well as teaching critical thinking along with the tools of dialogue and deliberation.

But the flagship work of fostering the next generation of democracy leaders centers on the yearly initiative to place Nevins Program students in unique fellowship position with organizations focused on D&D, transpartisan dialogue, and civic renewal – that means organizations like yours! Stipends and living expenses are provided to the students through the program so that organizations can bring these bright, motivated students into their work for a summer at no cost to them. It’s an amazing opportunity for everyone involved! You can get a better sense of what the program experience is like by checking out this blog post from a 2016 Nevins Fellow about their summer fellowship with the Close-Up Foundation.

NCDD is proud to have partnered last year with the McCourtney Institute to help identify organizations in the field that can host Nevins fellows, and we’re continuing the partnership this year. This Confab Call is the best way to get your organization plugged into the process, so be sure to register today to learn more about the program and how to apply!

On this Confab, McCourtney’s Senior Scholar John Gastil and Managing Director Christopher Beem will provide an overview of the Nevins program and its aims, discuss the training that the future fellows are going through, and share more about how your organization can take advantage of this great chance to help cultivate the next generation of D&D leaders while getting more support for your work – all for FREE! We can’t wait to talk more with you on the call!

About NCDD’s Confab Calls…

Confab bubble imageNCDD’s Confab Calls are opportunities for members (and potential members) of NCDD to talk with and hear from innovators in our field about the work they’re doing, and to connect with fellow members around shared interests. Membership in NCDD is encouraged but not required for participation. Register today if you’d like to join us.

When Dialogue Facilitators Can’t Be Neutral

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In the wake of the week of high profile violence and killings that took place earlier this July, NCDD member Parisa Parsa of the Public Conversations Project penned a powerful piece on neutrality in situations of injustice that we thought it was important to share. Parisa highlights some pitfalls of being neutral at certain times in our field, and how “multi-partialness” can offer a way forward for dialogue in the face of power imbalances. We encourage you to read her piece below or find the original here.

Turning To Each Other

PCP new logoThe violence, grief and acrimony of the last week has been brutal. In the midst of such public anger and heated rhetoric, I was reminded of another piece of sad news: the death of Holocaust survivor and man of brilliance Elie Wiesel. Of a lifetime of wisdom, no words of his have felt more urgent than these; I have clung to them for both courage and challenge:

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” – Elie Wiesel

It seems like a forthright, straightforward – if bracing – statement. We have a duty, moral and relational, to stand with those who are suffering injustice. As an activist, I prided myself on living that commitment: to be on the side of what was right, to speak up for those who were being tormented.

Now I lead an organization that works to bring people with very different perspectives, beliefs, and backgrounds, into relationship. What we see in our work that community is not a given – it does not arise spontaneously due to our proximity in neighborhoods or workplaces. Community is a choice: an act of courage when fear and mistrust threaten to tear us asunder.

Because of our commitment to being present with the many perspectives that reside around any issue that matters, we do not take a side on the issues. Yet we are not neutral. We make an active commitment to listen, to engage, to honor each person and perspective that arrives. Our practitioners call this being multi-partial – not im-partial, or lacking a side, but multi-partial: willing to hold each part, even though they may contradict each other.

This precarious balance requires careful preparation to make sure all those “parts” meet on ground that is as level as possible. Instead of asking “What do you want to say?” we ask, “What do you need in order to feel heard?” What do you need to do to prepare yourself to really listen to others? What agreements will help to secure a space for you to tell your truth, and to listen with resilience? These are not superficial questions – they live in the very heart of power differences, and invite reflections on the assumptions we make about each other that guide most of our communication.

What we find, over and over again, in our conversations is that it is rarely so simple as to say there is a single oppressor or oppressed. When we are able to really speak and listen from the depths and complexities of who we are, we find that we are all suffering from the human systems that keep us separate, fearful, misunderstood and misunderstanding. And we find that what takes real courage is the work of turning to one another, against all the tides that would tell us to pull back, to withdraw, to point fingers and build walls, and instead to ask: where are you hurting?

The gross atrocities of humanity don’t usually begin with hard lines of good and evil. They begin with people trying to make sense of the world from their place in it, limited in what they can know and see, acting to protect and promote the life of those they care about. This is true in this particular moment for men and women who are serving in law enforcement, and it is true for black and brown people who are advocating for a change in a society that has disproportionately imprisoned them. It is true for people who advocate fiercely for the right to bear arms, and it is true for those who are outraged at the lack of gun regulation.

There are indeed systems and structures that have affected particular people disproportionately and yet those structures are not the ones whose bodies are sacrificed routinely on the altar of our misunderstanding. “We see the world not as it is but as we are,” wrote Anais Nin. I think it is safe to say we are all suffering.

Being told we are wrong rarely prompts a moment of awakening; instead, we retreat into the known, even though it may cause us greater pain. Finding a wider lens with which to view the world, situating ourselves in the midst of a bigger scene, helps us widen the circle of life we commit to promote and protect. Knowing our neighbor more fully makes connection more visible, and less optional. The more you see of that neighbor, the more you are truly seen.

We don’t take a single side, because true liberation is a choice made from seeing the whole. That whole is painful, complicated, uncertain – and it is our great responsibility, no matter what our cause, to share our truth and let go of the belief that it is the only one. I’m not sure Wiesel would disagree, and it is my great loss that I never had the chance to ask him.

You can find the original version of this Public Conversations Project blog post at www.publicconversations.org/blog/turning-each-other.

New Initiative Experiments with Collective Healing Processes

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In the lead up to our NCDD 2016 conference, we continue to lift up stories of people who are Bridging Our Divides. So we wanted to share the piece below written by NCDD member Beth Tener of New Directions Collaborative about a great collective healing initiative she’s involved in that seeks to experiment with processes that will help large groups heal from old wounds that maintain separation. We encourage you to read her piece below or find the original here.

Collective Healing: Shifting Historical Patterns that Divide Us

We live in times of extreme partisanship, increasing divisions between the rich and poor, the working class and upper class, experiences of people of color vs. whites, and disconnects of people from nature. As the US Presidential election and the Brexit vote in the UK illustrate, our current political process tends to amplify divisions and generate more discord rather than greater understanding, stronger connections, and wise solutions balancing multiple needs.

When people are divided and disconnected, it is not surprising that there is a lack of empathy, curiosity, and care for the experiences and well being of people different than us. It can be easy to label people and disdain their views versus seeing them as individuals whose stories and struggles I understand and have talked to them about.

Finding new ways

It is time to find ways we can work together that overcome these patterns of division and separation. This is already happening in many places, perhaps at the edges and not that visible yet, but real nonetheless. Global communities of practice are inventing and evolving these processes (e.g., circle process, participatory processes, participatory budgeting, networks for system change.) While these experiments may seem at the edges when all the attention is focused on the mainstream political debate, they can hold seeds of a better way.

Over the last two years, I have been part of a rich dialogue with people who are exploring ways to bring people together that can help heal these long-standing harmful patterns. This group includes facilitators and others working with the Art of Hosting from Europe and the US. A gathering called Collective Healing will take place in Florida in August to experiment with bringing together various methods in a prototype, which we will learn and share more widely. We have focused on several key themes of what is needed:

  • Engaging across difference and connecting to “we” not just “me” – Getting beyond our narrow self interest to see ourselves as an inherent part of a larger group, community, society, and earth – and acting from that awareness – is not emphasized or easy to do. How can we facilitate groups in ways that generate a sense of belonging? How can we create group experiences that help us see those who are different not through the lens of a label but as full human beings with many stories, with complex emotions, and unique gifts and aspirations?
  • Reweaving the fragments of community with positive collective experiences – The pressures and pace of work these days means many are chronically rushed, super-busy, addicted, and distracted. Fulfilling human experiences of connection, belonging, friendship, creativity, meaningful work, and the opportunity to work with others on a bigger cause are sorely lacking. Changing these patterns starts with creating spaces for meaningful conversation about things that matter. Conversation is the “connective tissue” that can reconnect the fragmented parts.
  • Trauma: the overlooked pattern affecting everything – Yet, even with these promising ways to gather people and generate ideas of how we can make things better, this is not enough. Any initiative to look forward and make positive change takes place in a community or system that has a long history, which we often overlook. The fragmented relationships, broken bonds of community, and lack of trust did not arise out of nowhere. There is a story there. Events of the past created harms and burdens that are often unacknowledged. These unhealed traumas can still be affecting the situation and the people involved… and blocking the potential to shift to a healthier pattern/outcome. Promising processes are emerging to help communities or societies explore and work with history in ways that can enable healing, for example systemic constellation, restorative justice, and truth and reconciliation commissions.
  • Community and connection: healing together – One of the key ways to heal trauma is the experience of being truly heard and seen. When trauma is pushed under the rug, mental and emotional turmoil arises. Bessel van der Kolk writes “Denial of the consequences of trauma can wreak havoc with the social fabric of society.” What can we do to create a strong fabric of community while coming together and acknowledging the traumas? How can we generate a shared understanding and commitment to change so we do not repeat these harmful patterns?
  • Accessing overlooked human capacities – In much of the work world, there are unwritten rules of being professional and successful: use your intellect and leave your emotions at the door. We can access a broader range of human capacities, such as empathy and compassion, to understand the experiences and motivations of all those within a community and society. We are only beginning to explore how mindfulness and presence can help us understand past and present dynamics and make decisions. And there is more potential to explore weaving in arts, music, movement, and creative expression, which also tend to be left at the door. What could be possible in our collective work if we did not expect people to split off their emotional, intuitive, and creative sides to “be professional?” How might we make decisions if we access the power of “collective presence?”

There is a hunger for this…

In my work with non-profits, communities, businesses, governments, and foundations in social and environmental change, I have seen that: These practices work. There is a hunger for real conversation, for connecting to our larger community to achieve greater results together, and for contributing to making the world a better place.

It starts with an invitation…

We graciously invite you to join us for this first gathering in Florida, focused on how we can create spaces for collective healing: www.collectivehealing.net.

We anticipate this is just the beginning, with intention to host other gatherings in Europe and other parts of the US. At bottom of this page is place to sign onto mailing list for future events: www.collectivehealing.net/about.

And we welcome your financial support for this new initiative, in any amount, through our crowdfunding web site: www.indiegogo.com/projects/creating-collective-healing-spaces.

You can find the original version of this New Directions Collaborative blog post at www.ndcollaborative.com/collective-healing.

Free Online Event with Mark Gerzon on Bridging Partisan Divides

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UPDATE: Did you miss the webinar? The Shift Network has posted the recording of the hour-long call, which you can listen to by clicking here.

So many Americans are disheartened by how political polarization seems to be driving a wedge between us. This polarization has become a national crisis with profound repercussions for our personal relationships, collective well-being and the future of our nation.

MarkGerzon-speakingNCDD’s upcoming national conference in October is focusing in on how the amazing people in our field are bridging political, racial, and other divides, and how we can play a major role in healing our nation after the presidential election.

Leading up to the conference, we’re also excited to support an online event that’s taking place on Wednesday, August 17 at 8:30pm Eastern / 5:30pm Pacific that features our good friend, author, and transpartisan political thought leader Mark Gerzon. As you may know, Mark has facilitated retreats for members of Congress and has a long and distinguished history of work on transpartisanship – he’s also a member and supporter of NCDD.

The event, titled “Bridging Partisan Divides: 4 Keys to Reuniting Our Families, Communities & Country,” will highlight practical solutions that have already begun healing divides all across the country, from local communities all the way to Congress. Mark will show participants how to engage in political discourse – even, and especially, potentially “charged” conversations – in a way that creates the opportunity for understanding and bridge-building.

You can register for this FREE virtual event, here: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/bpdNCDD/a16042

During this one-hour call event, you will…

  • Understand the roots of political divisiveness and how to address them in a systematic way
  • Discover how to make a crucial shift that leads to more connected discussions
  • Receive insights into how to let go of control and focus on deepening relationships
  • See how to champion the “whole truth” and move beyond position-taking to problem-solving
  • Develop more skill in opening to deeper listening and mutual understanding

It’s free to attend, but you must RSVP here: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/bpdNCDD/a16042

(Note: A recording will be provided later to all who register, whether or not you listen to the live event.)

Hope to see you on the 17th!  And please share this post with anyone you know who can benefit from this important event.

Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth [RJOY]

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In 2005, Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth [RJOY] was co-created by Fania Davis and members of the Oakland community and government. RJOY works to implement programs within schools, the community and juvenile justice system; beginning with a pilot program at West Oakland middle school in 2007. In the places where restorative justice has been implemented, there has been a noticeable decrease in youth violence, crimes and recidivism; and an increase in victim satisfaction and reconciliation of affected parties.

RJOYRestorative justice provides an alternative to our current retributive justice system, by shifting to bring in all affected parties, addressing the harms done and find ways to heal all affected parties. Our current justice system is designed to answer the questions: “Who did what and how can we punish them?” In contrast, restorative justice asks the questions:

“Who was harmed? What are the needs and responsibilities of all those affected? “How do all affected parties come together to heal?”

Restorative justice has had remarkable success in shifting the way that justice is carried out to better benefit the affected parties and community as a whole. Modern practices of restorative justice have been around for 30+ years, but are grounded in ancient, indigenous justice practices.

To learn more about restorative justice and Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth [RJOY], check out the site here.

From the site…

History
The dramatic successes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in healing the wounds of mass violence in South Africa and of restorative juvenile justice legislation in making youth incarceration virtually obsolete in New Zealand inspired civil rights attorney and community activist Fania E. Davis to explore the possibility of an Oakland initiative. In 2005, others joined the effort, including Oakland City Councilmember Nancy Nadel and community activist Aeeshah Clottey. Nancy hosted a series of meetings at her office, attended by community members, judges, educators, law students and representatives of the District Attorney’s, Public Defender’s, and Human Services offices. With a small grant from Measure Y, Oakland’s voter-approved violence prevention initiative, Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY) was born.

Mission
Disparately impacting youth of color, punitive school discipline and juvenile justice policies activate tragic cycles of youth violence, incarceration, and wasted lives. Founded in 2005, RJOY works to interrupt these cycles by promoting institutional shifts toward restorative approaches that actively engage families, communities, and systems to repair harm and prevent re-offending. RJOY focuses on reducing racial disparities and public costs associated with high rates of incarceration, suspension, and expulsion. We provide education, training, and technical assistance and collaboratively launch demonstration programs with our school, community, juvenile justice, and research partners.

Beginning in 2007, RJOY’s city-funded West Oakland Middle School pilot project eliminated violence and expulsions, and reduced suspension rates by 87%, saving the school thousands in attendance and Title I funding. Inspired by the successes of our Middle School pilot, by May 2008, nearly 20 Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) principals requested training to launch programs at their sites. We have served over 1000 youth in Oakland’s schools. UC Berkeley Law’s Henderson Center for Social Justice evaluated the Middle School pilot and released a study in February 2011. A publication on implementing restorative initiatives in schools produced in collaboration with the Alameda County Health Care Agency is forthcoming. In 2010, the OUSD Board of Directors passed a resolution adopting restorative justice as a system-wide alternative to zero tolerance discipline and as an approach to creating healthier schools.

RJOY has enjoyed similar success in the juvenile justice arena. In 2007, we gave educational presentations to the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court and others. Impressed with the restorative justice model, the judge convened a Restorative Justice Task Force. RJOY provided education and training and helped initiate a planning process which engaged approximately 60 program directors- including probation, court, school, and law enforcement officials, as well as community-based stakeholders. In 2009, the group produced a Strategic Plan that charts reform of the county’s juvenile justice system through institutionalization of restorative justice. Two innovative restorative diversion and restorative re-entry projects focused on reducing disproportionate minority contact and associated public costs. The pilots have successfully served 19 youth of color. In collaboration with several partners, we now seek funding to expand the pilots.

RJOY has had programs at three school sites- West Oakland Middle School, Ralph Bunche Continuation School, and a three-year demonstration program at East Oakland’s Castlemont Community of Small Schools funded by a grant from The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative. Goals of the demonstration program were to reduce violence, arrests, and suspensions (particularly of youth of color) while decreasing associated costs and promoting parent and community engagement.

Having trained and made presentations to more than 1500 key justice, community, school, and philanthropic stakeholders as well as youth in the Oakland metropolitan area, and having significantly influenced policy changes in our schools and juvenile justice system, RJOY has already made headway toward its strategic goal of effectuating a fundamental shift from punitive, zero tolerance approaches to youthful wrongdoing that increase harm toward more restorative approaches that heal it.

Resource Link: http://rjoyoakland.org/

NCDD Members Host 4-day Transpartisan Tele-Summit

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As you may have seen on the NCDD Discussion Listerv recently, several NCDD members are hosting a “virtual roundtable” focused on transcending partisan divides this Aug. 1-4. The American Citizens Summit event will be co-hosted by NCDD members Amanda Roman and John Steiner and will feature many more members and D&D leaders as speakers. We encourage our members to learn more in Amanda’s announcement below or visit www.americancitizenssummit.com.

Join The American Citizens Summit for 3 Days of Political Cross-Training

As you may know, the first decade of my career was dedicated to the center-right political coalition. While my values and philosophical leanings remain. I have spent the second decade getting to know and working to support amazing organizations and innovative individuals that are focused on moving beyond typical political boundaries and getting results.

Just after the RNC and DNC conventions, I will be co-hosting a tele-summit that will recognize and spotlight this transpartisan dynamic. We are anticipating 50,000+ registrants and I would love to have you join us for three days (and an extra evening) of energetic political cross-training!

Are you concerned by our nation’s current political climate? Discouraged that infighting and bitter partisanship is affecting our ability to move forward? Do you feel discouraged and without a place in the political process? Wondering if your vote really counts?

You’re not alone.

Like many Americans, you may feel like a bystander, powerless to make a difference. And while media would have us believe that bitter polarization and gridlock is the norm, that’s only one overplayed perspective of the story.

There are MANY passionate and dedicated Americans engaged in and working to reform our democratic system – citizens just like YOU! – developing bold solutions that transcend partisan politics and creating platforms where everyone’s voice CAN be heard and everyone’s vote DOES count.

You’re invited to take your place among them during the American Citizens Summit, August 1-4!

I’m honored to have served as the lead designer for this event and to be co-hosting conversations with over 45 respected political leaders, grassroots visionaries, business pioneers, change agents and advocates – including Gavin Newsom, Marianne Williamson, Grover Norquist, Jackie Salit, Eric Liu, Joan Blades, John Robbins (and so many more!) – who are committed to putting democratic principles before politics-as-usual to help reclaim the full power of our democracy.

During this unprecedented 4-day event you’ll discover opportunities to bring about the change you believe is possible, ways to navigate political conversations without polarization, and alternatives that build momentum toward a brighter future for us all.

We’ll chart the course toward more positive politics. We’ll build bridges across divides and learn about effective solutions for our communities and our country.

I hope you’ll participate in this special online gathering presented by The Shift Network.

RSVP here for The American Citizens Summit — at no charge!

The American Citizens Summitwill serve as a “virtual roundtable” where diverse thought leaders representing the full spectrum of political ideologies – each with valuable insights and contributions, and united in their desire to bring greater wisdom and compassion to our country through this process – will come together to model a respectful dialogue in an effort to shift our political paradigm.

Join us for 4 days of energetic political cross training on how to get results, respect differences and strengthen our democracy. You’ll discover:

  • Ways to navigate political conversations without polarization
  • Bold solutions that transcend partisan politics
  • How to help reclaim the full power of our democracy
  • Innovative & inspired actions you can take immediately
  • A larger community with resources & connections for you to tap into
  • Pathways to channel your energy, passion & interests
  • Ways to make your voice heard & your vote count
  • Your contribution in peacefully fulfilling our highest promise as a nation
  • Network with like-minded people who share your desire to move forward in UNITY
  • Effective solutions that are working for our communities & our country
  • Processes that allow us to see opposing sides & possibilities for common ground

RSVP here for The American Citizens Summit – at no charge!

Yours truly,

Amanda Kathryn Roman

Depolarizing Discourse by Understanding Emotion’s Role

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NCDD member Dave Biggs recently published the insightful interview below via MetroQuest – an NCDD member organization – and we wanted to share it here. Dave interviews the author of a new book, I’m Right and You’re an Idiot, on the way emotion and perceived risk contribute to polarization and toxic public discourse, and how understanding the psychology of our “emotional dialogue” can help us build bridges to understanding. We encourage you to read the piece below or find the original version here.

The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up

James Hoggan has influenced my work for two decades. I find myself quoting his work in many of my public speaking engagements and the lessons he has articulated have shaped MetroQuest and the best practices listed in our guidebook in numerous ways. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to sit down with Hoggan to discuss his new book, I’m Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up. After years of research that included interviewing some of the world’s most profound thinkers on democracy, conflict, and consensus-building, Hoggan has cleverly articulated not only what’s wrong with public discourse but also what must be done to fix it. Here’s our conversation.

Dave Biggs: You named your book ‘I’m Right and You’re an Idiot.’ What does that title mean to you?

James Hoggan: The title I’m Right and You’re an Idiot describes today’s warlike approach to public debate. It’s a style of communication that polarizes public conversations and prevents us from dealing with the serious problems stalking everyone on earth.

It is an ironic title, chosen because it epitomizes the kind of attack rhetoric we hear so often today. It reflects the opposite of the real message of the book, which was best said by peace activist and Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh who told me to: “Speak the truth not to punish.”

Dave Biggs: It’s clear that you covered a great deal of ground in researching this book. Tell me about that journey. What motivated you to go to such lengths?

James Hoggan: I was driven by curiosity about how we might create Continue reading →