Category Archives: youth & student engagement

Jefferson Center Launches New Series on Citizen Juries

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Our friends at The Jefferson Center, an NCDD Sponsoring member organization, recently shared an article on their site which offers a fantastic overview of Citizen Juries, that we wanted to repost here. The piece by Annie Pottroff answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the public engagement method, which was started in 1971 by Jefferson Center founder Ned Crosby. This is the initial post in the new blog series by The Jefferson Center to continue to dive into the Citizen Jury process – so stay tuned for more! You can read the article below and find the original piece here.

What exactly is a Citizens Jury, anyway?

We talk a lot about Citizens Juries at the Jefferson Center. After all, they were invented by our founder, Ned Crosby, in 1971. We believe they can help restore trust in democracy around the world. And they give everyday people the knowledge, resources, and time they need to create powerful solutions to our biggest challenges.

But what is a Citizens Jury? How do they work? Who’s involved? In this blog series, we’ll explore some of our most frequently asked questions, starting with Citizens Jury basics.

What is a Citizens Jury?

A Citizens Jury is a public engagement method that provides individuals with the opportunity to learn about an issue, deliberate together with a diverse group of their peers, and develop well-informed solutions to the given issue.

Juries also allows decision makers and the broader public to know what people really think once they have the opportunity to study an issue closely and weigh different options and perspectives.

Citizens Juries are typically composed of around 18-24 citizens who have been randomly selected to represent the demographics of the larger community.

Over a number of weekends, one week, or a few days, we provide the group with background information from expert speakers and stakeholders to inform their conversations. With this information in mind, Jurors deliberate and craft recommendations through dialogue and voting, which are then published and delivered to the public and decision makers.

Who are the “citizens?”

Citizen Jury participants are randomly selected to represent a specific population. For example, in the Willmar Community Assembly, participants represented their community of Willmar, Minnesota.

We invite citizens to apply to participate in the Jury via postcards, posters, direct community outreach, social media, local employment websites, and more. Citizens are selected to participate through stratified random sampling, often based on the age, race, gender, education, and socioeconomic background statistics of the target population. These criteria can slightly vary depending on the Jury. The population a Citizens Jury represents can range anywhere from a small town to an entire country.

Why might a Citizens Jury be used on an issue?

Citizens Juries are an important tool for decision-makers, organizations, and communities to use when faced with a particularly challenging issue. Often these issues are complex, technical, divisive, and can’t be resolved in a short amount of time, such as nuclear storage or climate change adaptation. Most individuals don’t have the opportunity, time, or energy in their daily lives to study these tough issues, understand the nuances, and form a strong opinion, making it difficult for decision-makers to know how the public really thinks. As a result, officials often make decisions based on their own assessment and the loudest voices in the room.

But at a Citizens Jury, participants learn more about the issue from experts and stakeholders, discuss different perspectives and considerations with their peers, and work together to create recommendations. This gives individuals the chance to confront the big challenges usually left to decision makers. Their conversations surface new ideas and overlooked problems, leading to more representative, informed, and powerful solutions.

How do you evaluate the success of a Citizens Jury?

Are Citizens Juries all the same?

Juries are specifically designed for the issue or problem at hand, and they can vary according to:

  • Number of Jury participants
  • Number of actual Juries per project
  • Jury topic
  • Target Jury community
  • Final report audience

Want to learn more about how to conduct a Citizens Jury and how to collaborate with us? Let us know below or contact us!

You can find the original version of this article on The Jefferson Center blog at www.jefferson-center.org/2019/05/what-exactly-is-a-citizens-jury-anyway/.

National Civic League Publishes New Edition of Civic Index

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One of the nation’s oldest civic engagement organizations, The National Civic League – also an NCDD member org, recently released the fourth edition of The Civic Index, a set of guidelines developed over the last 30 years to measure the civic capital of a community. Civic capital measures, “the formal and informal relationships, networks and capacities that communities use to make decisions collaboratively and solve problems” and The Civic Index offers the framework for assessing these factors and relationships to determine a community’s civic strength. You can download a free version of the NCL Civic Index by clicking here. Read more in the announcement below and find the original version on the NCL site here.

The League’s Civic Index: Measuring Your Community’s Capacity to Solve Problems and Thrive

What makes some communities better able than others to solve the tough social, political, economic or physical challenges they face? This was a question the National Civic League set out to answer over 30 years ago. On-the-ground research revealed a set of factors that we call civic capital — the formal and informal relationships, networks and capacities that communities use to make decisions collaboratively and solve problems.

Somewhat like social capital, but not to be confused with financial capital, civic capital can be found in all sorts of communities, not just the most affluent, educated or advantaged. While myriad other factors contribute to community progress, civic capital is the core factor identified by the National Civic League as the primary explanation for long-term community success.

At the National Civic League, we know of many communities with an abundant supply of civic capital. The All-America City program has recognized over 500 of these communities during the past 69 years. All have varying degrees of civic engagement, collaboration and leadership, and have been able to tackle tough issues in a sustainable manner–by bringing everyone to the table and creating equity.

Earlier this year the National Civic League released the fourth edition of the Civic Index, a self-assessment tool consisting of a set of questions that provide a framework for discussing and measuring a community’s civic capital. Since it was first developed in 1986, many communities have used the Civic Index to better understand their civic strengths and to identify gaps or areas in need of further attention, soliciting community input to create a baseline measure of their civic capital and monitor progress over time as they work to enhance their internal capacity.

The Seven Components of Civic Capital

The Civic Index describes the seven components of civic capital, provides examples of each, lists the 32 questions that are used to gauge each component and provides ideas on how to use the index. Here’s a synopsis of these seven components.

  1. Engaged Residents: Residents play an active role in making decisions and civic affairs.
  2. Inclusive Community Leadership: The community actively cultivates and supports leaders from diverse backgrounds and with diverse perspectives
  3. Collaborative Institutions: Communities with good civic capital have regular collaboration among the government, business, nonprofit and other sectors, as well as structures in place that facilitate such collaboration.
  4. Embracing Diversity and Equity: Communities with healthy civic capital recognize and celebrate their diversity. They strive for equity in services, support and engagement.
  5. Authentic Communication: Healthy communities need credible, civic-minded sources of information presented in a way that residents can use.
  6. Culture of Engagement: Involvement by residents, businesses, nonprofits and other stakeholders in every aspect of civic affairs should be part of local culture—an expectation, not an afterthought.
  7. Shared Vision and Values: Communities with shared values and civic pride have a common foundation for addressing public matters.

Summary 

Nearly a hundred years ago, Justice Louis Brandeis, a one-time member of the League’s executive committee, called states “laboratories of democracy.” That mantle has now been passed to the local level, as cities, counties, towns and other local communities create innovations and regional or national networks to tackle such issues as climate change, health, education and economic prosperity.

At the same time, local governments cannot solve problems on their own. As Bruce Katz points out in The New Localism, community problem-solving depends on “multi-sectoral relationships,” with government often serving as a convener or catalyst. What happens next depends on the civic capacity of the particular locality. It is the communities with civic capital — the full engagement and collaboration of its residents, businesses, nonprofits and other stakeholders–that have the resources and persistence to successfully address difficult issues and build a sustainable future.

For a free copy of the National Civic League’s Civic Index, please visit www.nationalcivicleague.org/resource-center.

You can find the original version of this announcement on the National Civic League site at www.nationalcivicleague.org/the-leagues-civic-index-measuring-your-communitys-capacity-to-solve-problems-and-thrive/.

Ethics and Benefits of Digital Tech in Engagement

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As technology rapidly continues to grow, organizations are working to understand the many impacts of tech on the shape and future of our democracy. NCDD member organization Public Agenda explores these impacts in their new report, Rewiring Democracy: Subconscious Technologies, Conscious Engagement and the Future of Politics. In the article below, they share some of their findings on the complicated nature of tech, ethical use of geo-location, and the capacity for deeper community engagement. You can read the article below and find the original version on the Public Agenda blog here.

Geo-locating Protest: The Changing Role of Tech in Social Movements – Part 1

New from Public Agenda, Rewiring Democracy: Subconscious Technologies, Conscious Engagement and the Future of Politics, explores how the latest technological trends may reshape our democracy, our politics, and our daily lives. In a series of blog posts, we are sharing some of the stories from the paper to illustrate some of the impacts on journalism, political advocacy, city planning, and other fields.

In this latest installment of the Rewiring Democracy blog series, we explore technology’s role in mobilizing movements, while highlighting an example of how micro-targeting and messaging is being used in troubling ways.

GEO-LOCATING PROTEST: THE REVOLUTION COMES TO YOUR DOORSTEP

In 2016, women in several cities began receiving pop-up ads on their smartphones whenever they went near or inside a clinic providing abortions. The ads, which had been sent by anti-choice/ pro-life organizers, offered advice to women who were contemplating abortion. These particular women had been targeted because they had previously looked for Planned Parenthood information online. This practice was ruled an illegal infringement of personal health care data by the attorney general of Massachusetts, but it is one of a number of examples that signal a new phase in the use of technology by activists.

From the Arab Spring to the Tea Party to Black Lives Matter to #MeToo, protesters, organizers, and mobilizers of all political stripes and ideologies have been using the internet to connect and coordinate their movements. Their values and goals are obviously very different, but they all face new tactical opportunities for reaching supporters and achieving their political objectives. One major opportunity arises from the way in which the internet has become increasingly tied to geographic location. In addition to the geographic information system (GIS) capacity of smartphones, the number of people who have joined hyperlocal online spaces has risen exponentially. By connecting to people where they are and where they live, activists, officials and other leaders can advance their causes in ways that are more direct and “in your face” – and in ways that leverage political power because they fit the geography of political jurisdictions.

MOVEMENT CONSCIOUSNESS

There are multiple factors that affect whether people are willing to join a protest or movement, but across many different societies and situations, the psychological reasons often seem to be the most influential. The mere fact that people are oppressed or discriminated against doesn’t necessarily mean that they will mobilize, rebel, or just speak up. They are more likely to act when they begin to feel that they are not alone, that their voices will be heard, and that their cause can achieve critical mass.

Some existing, widely-used digital technologies have helped organizers build a broader movement consciousness:

  • Photo-sharing, which is a core component of almost every major social media platform, allows people to see their movement in action. For example, many of the students who participated in “Text, Talk, Act” during the National Dialogue on Mental Health tweeted photos of their groups. By uploading, sharing, and tagging pictures and videos, people can provide visual evidence that they are part of something larger than themselves.
  • Participatory mapping, one of the first uses of geo-locating capacities of our devices, enabled people to see themselves in relation to a physical space. Protesters during the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the anti-austerity demonstrations in Spain were able to map their locations, producing visual proof that they could peacefully dominate the streets and plazas of their cities.
  • Posting and commenting through social media, in itself, has allowed people to contribute to or even dominate the narrative on a particular issue or cause. Recognizing this new threat, many governments and corporations have created “troll farms” and other sophisticated operations to try to retake control of the narrative, amplify their own messages, and even to target, harass, and intimidate protesters.
  • Instant polling, which can be accomplished through a wide array of tools, apps, and platforms, can also be used to gauge support for particular actions and to show that large numbers of people stand behind a given cause or movement.

Organizers are using these and other tools to compel people to consciously step forward and join causes and movements. Protesters used social media posts to rapidly gather and heckle Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about immigration policies as they dined in public restaurants. Increasingly, organizers have the capacity to use subconscious technologies, like the anti-abortion/pro-life protesters in Massachusetts, to target potential recruits and people they are trying to influence.

By bringing the revolution(s) to our doorstep, the capacity to make protest and mobilization hyperlocal and geo-locatable has the potential to make political conflict more extreme and more personal. It raises new questions about the rules of the game, the role of tech corporations in the public square, and whether these new conditions also present possibilities for bridge-building and compromise.

As notions of space and place change, can technology create new opportunities for people to connect and work together? We’ll explore this as well as who owns the public square in “Geo-locating Protest: Tech’s Role in Advancing Movements” Part 2 in the next installment of this blog series on Rewiring Democracy.

You can find the original version of this article on the Public Agenda blog at www.publicagenda.org/blogs/geolocating-protests-and-techs-role-in-advancing-movements-part-i.

PBP Releases New Data Map on Participatory Budgeting

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The Participatory Budgeting Project, an NCDD member org, has developed a new map of the participatory budgeting (PB) processes happening across the US and Canada, both current and past efforts. PB is a process in which community members democratically vote on a portion of the public budget, and as the map shows, the process has been growing rapidly across the country. We encourage you to learn more in the article below, view the live map here, and find the original version of this piece on PBP’s site here.

Speaking of cool tech tools, make sure you register for our FREE April Tech Tuesday happening in just a few hours (from 2-3pm Eastern, 11am-12pm Pacific), where we will explore the new participatory decision-making platform, Ethelo. You won’t want to miss it – register ASAP!

New Data-Driven Map Shows Spread of Participation in Democracy

As we celebrate the first 30 years of participatory budgeting (PB) in the world and the first 10 years of the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP), we reflect on how far and wide PB has spread–and how it continues to grow! We’re thrilled to introduce a new tool to help us look back as we plan for the next 30+ years of PB. And so we’re introducing a map of PB across the U.S. and Canada. Each dot on the map represents a place where democracy has been deepened by bringing people together to decide together how to invest public resources in their community. (Below is a screenshot of the map, but make sure you view the real interactive map here!)

How can you get the most data out of this map?

Try playing with the “widgets” located to the right of the map that visualize different classes of data.

  • By default all of the processes show up first but you can select any particular year you are interested in.
  • You can also view a count of how many PB processes of a particular sort took place within the portion of the map you are viewing. For example, you can find out that in 2018 there were 56 PB city-wide, county-wide, and district-level processes in the US and Canada–our biggest year for PB yet!
  • Or, try selecting one year and zooming in to your own neighborhood to find active or pending PB processes in your community. If you click on a dot you can get more info about the process, such as how large the budget was, how many voters turned out, and where to find its website.

The map is linked to the database that PBP maintains to try to track every PB process in the U.S. and Canada. Inevitably some PB processes aren’t on our radar.

If you know that PB exists somewhere not seen on our map, or you have additional data about a PB process, please fill out this form to let us know!

If we listen closely, we hear messages from this data.

This data sheds light on larger questions, such as what is the relationship between the size of PB budgets and the number of people who participate? Looking at PBP data on processes in counties, cities, and urban districts, we find a positive correlation between the size of the PB budget per person and the number of people who take part in a PB vote (r=.22, n=245). In other words, where officials make a stronger commitment to funding PB, more people take part in the process–all the more reason to continue growing PB!

This year, as we reflect on the first 30 years of PB and the first ten years of PBP, we also look ahead to filling out more of this map. Will you join us as we celebrate and vision – by joining us at our Anniversary Benefit on May 23rd or becoming a PB Amplifier?

You can find the original version of this article on The Participatory Budgeting Project site at www.participatorybudgeting.org/pb-map/.

New Jobs & Internships in the Dialogue & Deliberation Field

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Did you know that every week we compile the hottest jobs and internships related to dialogue, deliberation, civic tech, and public engagement work?! We work to stay up on the most recent opportunities and send them out at the beginning of the week on our Making-A-Living listserv.

While the Making-A-Living listserv is a benefit of being an NCDD member, we have been finding such a robust line-up of jobs and internships that we wanted to lift these up here on the blog. If you’d like to receive these weekly updates and are an NCDD member, sign up for the Making-A-Living listserv here. If you are not a member of NCDD, then we strongly encourage you to join! Learn more about the additional benefits of being a member by clicking here.

Remember if your org is hiring or seeking interns, to let us know by sending the postings to keiva[at]ncdd[dot]org. Good luck to all applicants!

Your Weekly D&D Jobs & Internship List: April 8, 2019

*NEW – The City of Fort Collins (Colorado) is hiring for two D&D related positions.

  • Public Engagement Specialist – read more
  • Public Engagement Specialist (resource development and fundraising) – read more

*NEW – CD&P looking to hire a Public Engagement Specialist. Read more here.

*NEW – The Center for Election Science is seeking a Director of Campaigns and Advocacy (Entirely Remote/Virtual Position). Read more: https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit-job/8e3c2895a8544153861abc34a268f0e2-director-of-campaigns-and-advocacy-entirely-remotevirtual-position-the-center-for-election-science-redding

Democracy Fund is hiring for several positions below (in DC) – read more: https://www.democracyfund.org/page/jobs

  • *NEW Accounting Manager
  • Director of People
  • Team Coordinator, Public Square Program
  • Senior Advisor Government Accountability
  • Senior Associate, Cybersecurity Policy
  • Senior Associate, Public Square Program
  • Staff Accountant
  • Communications and Network Internship (Summer 2019)
  • Elections Program Internship (Summer 2019)
  • Governance Program Internship (Summer 2019)
  • Public Square Program Internship (Summer 2019)
  • Strategy, Impact, and Learning Internship (Summer 2019)

Knight Foundation looking to hire for several positions… Read more: https://knightfoundation.org/about/employment/

  • *NEW Executive Assistant to the VP of Journalism
  • Assistant to the Vice President/Communities and Impact

*NEW – The University System of New Hampshire is seeking a Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Assistant. Read more: https://jobs.usnh.edu/postings/32202

**ICYMI – below are the positions we shared recently!

SFU Public Square is recruiting for Spring 2019 Event Volunteers (Vancouver, BC). There are opportunities between April 10-18th! Read more: http://www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/students/volunteer-program.html

Change Research is seeking a part-time Operations and Sales Support Specialist in their Berkeley, CA office. Read more here.

RepresentUS is hiring for several positions – read more: https://represent.us/careers/

  • Associate Administrative Director
  • Digital Content Producer
  • National Media Strategist
  • Online Campaigner
  • VP of Development
  • Communications Intern (Summer 2019)
  • Digital Campaigns Intern (Summer 2019)
  • Law Clerk (Summer 2019)
  • Organizing Intern (Summer 2019)
  • Political Intern (Summer 2019)
  • Statewide Campaign Manager
  • Statewide Field Director
  • Unrig 2019 Local Consultant

Democracy Works has several positions and internships available (various locations). Read more: https://www.democracy.works/current-openings

  • Chief Development Officer

Generation Citizen is hiring for several positions – read more: https://generationcitizen.org/join-us/careers-internships/

  • Senior Director of Development Strategy (in either San Francisco, New York, or Boston)
  • Program Associate (in NYC)
  • Development OneStar VISTA (in Austin, TX)
  • The FAO Schwarz Fellowship (in Boston, MA)

Race Forward looking to hire for several positions (various locations). Read more: https://www.raceforward.org/about/employment

  • GARE West Project Manager

Net Impact runs a jobs-internship board, find it: https://www.netimpact.org/jobs.

Democracy Fund’s electiononline has LOTS of positions in various cities across the country. Read more: https://electionline.org/jobs-marketplace/

Careers in Government has several engagement & communication-related opportunities. Use the keyword search at https://www.careersingovernment.com/.

Finalists Announced for 2019 All-America City Award

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Is your city on the path to becoming an awarded All-America City? The National Civic League, one of our partner organizations, recently announced the finalists for the prestigious All-America City Award! This year’s award theme seeks to recognize the communities working to improve health equity in their cities. These finalists exemplify some of the most impactful and innovative civic engagement efforts happening in our cities, who are working to address local community issues around health equity. Winners will be announced the 70th Annual All-America City Awards and Conference at the end of June. You can read the announcement below and find the original version of this on the NCL site here.

2019 All-America City Award Finalists

Announcing This Years’ Finalists! These 20 communities get the chance to be named an All-America City

The All-America City awards are an awards ceremony and networking event unlike any other! Through concrete examples, interactive discussions, and finalist presentations – you will walk away with the knowledge, skills, contacts, and inspiration you need to better strengthen your community.

The award, given to 10 communities each year, celebrates and recognizes neighborhoods, villages, towns, cities, counties, tribes and regions that engage residents in innovative, inclusive and effective efforts to tackle critical challenges.

2019 All-America City Award Finalists

in alphabetical order by city:

Battle Creek, Michigan

Clinton, North Carolina

Cornelius, Oregon

Doral, Florida

Dubuque, Iowa

Edinburg, Texas

El Paso, Texas

Gothenburg, Nebraska

Hallandale Beach, Florida

Livingston County, New York

Millcreek, Utah

Mission, Texas

Ontario, California

Pasco, Washington

Rancho Cordova, California

Rock Hill, South Carolina

San Antonio, Texas

Sumter, South Carolina

West Hollywood, California

Wichita, Kansas

“These finalist communities are building local capacity to solve problems and improve their quality of life. The National Civic League is honored to recognize these communities, and views their efforts as critical in addressing the challenge to communities issued by the 1968 Kerner Commission, ‘to make good the promises of American democracy to all citizens – urban and rural, white, black, Spanish surname, American Indians, and every minority group.’” – The National Civic League’s President, Doug Linkhart

You can find the original version of this announcement on the NCL site at www.nationalcivicleague.org/2019-finalists/.

NIFI Events Happening During Next Week’s NWOC

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In case you haven’t heard, next week kicks off the second annual National Week on Conversation (NWOC), an intentional week dedicated to elevating conversations across the nation to build deeper connections and relationships within our society. Our friends at the National Issues Forums Institute – an NCDD member organization, shared several opportunities happening during NWOC that we want to encourage our network to participate in! During NWOC, there will be a full week of Common Ground for Action (CGA) deliberative online forums specifically for college students and on April 10th will be Deliberation Day, which will include 4 CGA forums back to back to encourage people to get talking together. You can read the announcement below and explore the upcoming events on NIFI’s site here.

NWOC Deliberation Day and NWOC College-student CGA Forums

College student CGA forum series
Like the idea of having your students deliberate but want to expose them to views and voices beyond your campus? Join us for a week of Common Ground for Action (CGA) online forums with students across the country deliberating on the new NIF issue guide “A House Divided: What Would We Have to Give Up to Get the Political System We Want?”  Forums will be organized to maximize geographic and campus diversity.

Dates and times: Monday April 8th @ 5p ET/2p PST; Tuesday April 9th @ 10a ET/7a PST; Thursday April 11th @ 7p ET/4p PST; Friday April 12th @ 12:30p ET/9:30a PST; Saturday April 13th @ 4p ET/1p PST:

For more information and to register: https://www.nifi.org/en/events/college-student-house-divided-cga-national-week-conversation

Deliberation Day
Join us on Deliberation Day, Wednesday April 10th for four back-to-back Common Ground for Action (CGA) online deliberative forums during the National Week of Conversation.  In each forum, we’ll be talking about the new NIFI issue guide “A House Divided: What Would We Have to Give Up to Get the Political System We Want?”. Forums start at: 10am ET, 12:30p ET, 4p ET, 9p ET.

If you’re new to online deliberation, Common Ground for Action is a simple, but sophisticated platform for deliberation that allows small groups to learn more about an issue, examine different options for action, weigh tradeoffs, and identify common ground, all with beautiful visuals that let participants see their conversation evolve in real time. It’s free to use.

For more information and to register:

April 10th @ 10a ET/7a PST: https://www.nifi.org/en/events/deliberation-day-cga-forum-1-house-divided

April 10th @ 12:30p ET/9:30a PST: https://www.nifi.org/en/events/deliberation-day-cga-forum-2-house-divided

April 10th @ 4p ET/1p PST: https://www.nifi.org/en/events/deliberation-day-cga-forum-3-house-divided

April 10th @ 9p ET/6p PST: https://www.nifi.org/en/events/deliberation-day-cga-forum-4-house-divided

Find all the upcoming NIFI events at www.nifi.org/en/events.

What You Missed on the March Confab Call – Listen Now!

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NCDD was thrilled to co-host our March Confab call last week with the National Conversation Project, featuring Net Impact and The National Issues Forums Institute! We were joined by 40 participants for this dynamic call to learn more about Net Impact’s youth engagement programs and their recent work with NIFI on a newly-revised national debt issue guide, the paid opportunity to host forums on this guide and how this can be part of the upcoming National Week of Conversation happening April 5-13.

Confab bubble imageOn the call, we were joined by Net Impact’s Program Manager Christy Stanker who gave us an overview of Net Impact’s work and how the nonprofit works to inspire and equip emerging leaders to build a more just and sustainable world. Net Impact’s programs help new leaders broaden their thinking, build their networks, and scale their impact beyond just individual actions. Christy highlighted one of their particularly stand-out programs, Up to Us – a partnership between Net Impact, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and the Clinton Global Initiative University. Up to Us, is a rapidly growing, nonpartisan movement of young people who recognize that when it comes to securing their future opportunities, they have no better advocates than themselves. Amid high-profile debates over jobs and the economy, social mobility, healthcare, and tax reform, Up to Us is the only nationwide, campus-based campaign focused on building a sustainable economic and fiscal future for America’s next generation. 

Christy shared more about the funding opportunity to host forums on the “A Nation in Debt” issue guide that Net Impact recently co-produced with NIFI. If you are a student, faculty, or administrator at an accredited U.S.-based college or university, then you are eligible to receive a $150 microgrant for hosting a deliberative dialogue forum using this newly updated national debt issue guide. All you have to do to receive the funding and free guide is fill out this form by May 15, 2019 and host a forum using the “A Nation in Debt” issue guide before June 31, 2019. Once you fill out the form, staff at Net Impact will follow-up with resources including a moderating training and the moderator “cheat sheet.” Don’t miss out on the opportunity to contribute to this meaningful dialogue! Reach out to Christy at cstanker[at]netimpact[dot]org with any questions. Apply for the microgrant here!

Pearce Godwin, Executive Director of our Confab co-hosting organization, The National Conversation Project, discussed the exciting application of this opportunity during the second annual National Week of Conversation (NWOC) happening Friday, April 5th to Saturday, April 13th. NWOC will be a week of intentional conversation, where folks around the country will be hosting or joining conversations, in hopes to better address the intense divisions in our society through dialogue, deepening understanding, and building relationships. Learn more here!

Here are some of our favorite snippets from the Confab:

  • On hosting NIFI forums “maybe you start with people with different opinions but through structured conversation can find common ground” – Christy Stanker
  • “The feedback we get from teachers who use NIFI forums ID 3 benefits: helps students develop critical thinking skills, communication skills, & collaboration skills.” – Bill Muse
  • Resources available to support moderating forums on NIFI’s National Debt issue guide at https://www.nifi.org/en/announcing-micro-grant-program-nation-debt-how-can-we-pay-bills
  • “Everyone has an opportunity to intentional convene and host or join a conversation from April 5-13 during the National Week of Conversation” – Pearce Godwin

We recorded the whole presentation in case you weren’t able to join us, which you can access on the archives page by clicking here. Access to the archives is a benefit of being an NCDD member, so make sure your membership is up-to-date (or click here to join). We saved the transcript of the chat discussion and it can be found here.

Confab bubble image

We want to thank Christy, Darla and Bill at NIFI, and Pearce and Jaclyn at NCP, for making this call happen! And an equally large thank you to all the Confab participants for contributing to this conversation! To learn more about NCDD’s Confab Calls and hear recordings of others, visit www.ncdd.org/events/confabs.

Finally, we love holding these events and we want to continue to elevate the work of our field with Confab Calls and Tech Tuesdays. It is through your generous contributions to NCDD that we can keep doing this work! That’s why we want to encourage you to support NCDD by making a donation or becoming an NCDD member today (you can also renew your membership by clicking here). Thank you!

NCDD March Confab This Weds Featuring Net Impact, NIFI, and Nat’l Conversation Project!

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In case you missed our announcement last week, we have an exciting March Confab call happening tomorrow Wednesday, March 13th, in coordination with Net Impact, National Issues Forums Institute, and the National Conversation Project! On the call, we will learn more about Net Impact’s youth engagement work, their collaboration with NIFI on a new National Debt issue guide, a paid opportunity to host forums with the guide, and how this all plays into the upcoming National Week of Conversation (NWOC). Join us for this dynamic call tomorrow from 3-4 pm Eastern, 12-1 pm Pacific.

This free one-hour webinar will be a great opportunity for anyone passionate about cultivating the next generation of leaders, those interested in learning how to apply for the microgrant, and/or hosting a conversation during NWOC. You won’t want to miss out on this discussion – register today!

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On this call, we will be joined by Net Impact’s Program Manager Christy Stanker who will share about Net Impact’s work to nurture youth into emerging leaders, their stand-out program Up to Us, and how to apply for the microgrant to host forums on the national debt.

The issue guide, A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills? was published by the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) in partnership with Up to Us. Up to Us, an initiative of Net Impact and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, is a rapidly growing, nonpartisan movement of young people who recognize that when it comes to securing their economic and fiscal future, they have no better advocates than themselves.

Amid high-profile debates over jobs and the economy, social mobility, healthcare, and tax reform, Up to Us is the only nationwide, campus-based campaign focused on building a sustainable economic and fiscal future for America’s next generation. Net Impact’s programs help new leaders broaden their thinking, build their networks, and scale their impact beyond just individual actions.

Net Impact is excited to offer a microgrant of $150 to moderators* who host a forum using the newly updated A Nation in Debt issue guide and NIFI’s Chief Administrative Officer Darla Minnich will join the call to share details on the offer. *Moderators must be affiliated with an accredited US-based college or university to be considered eligible for the microgrant.

This microgrant opportunity also coincides with the upcoming National Week of Conversation, happening April 5-13. Our co-hosts at the National Conversation Project, Jaclyn Inglis, Partnerships Director, and Pearce Godwin, Executive Director, will share more about this upcoming initiative to get people engaged in conversations and how you can get involved. We hope many of you will consider combining the microgrant opportunity and contributing to the National Week of Conversation!

Make sure you register today to secure your spot!

About Our Confab Co-Hosts

Net Impact is a nonprofit that inspires and equips emerging leaders to build a more just and sustainable world. Net Impact’s programs help new leaders broaden their thinking, build their networks, and scale their impact beyond just individual actions.

National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that serves to promote public deliberation about difficult public issues. Its activities include publishing the issue guides and other materials used by local forum groups, encouraging collaboration among forum sponsors, and sharing information about current activities in the network.

National Conversation Project is an overarching, collaborative platform that aggregates, aligns, and amplifies the efforts of more than 175 partners to mainstream conversations in which we #ListenFirst to understand. NCP promotes National Weeks of Conversation, #ListenFirst Fridays, and any conversation inviting people of all stripes to revitalize America together.

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. Confabs are free and open to all. Register today if you’d like to join us!

National Week of Conversation Happening April 5th-13th

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The next National Week of Conversation (NWOC) is April 5th – 13th! For the second year in a row, NWOC will be a week of intentional conversation, where folks around the country will be hosting or joining conversations, in hopes to better address the intense divisions in our society through dialogue, deepening understanding, and building relationships. We have a special Confab call happening this Weds where you can learn more about NWOC, how to join a conversation already going on and/or start your own. This free call will be on Wednesday, March 13th from 3-4 pm Eastern, 12-1 pm Pacific and we encourage you to register ASAP to save your spot on the call. (Spoiler: we will also be sharing about a paid opportunity to host discussions around the new national debt issue guide, so you won’t want to miss out!) You can read more about NWOC in the post below and on the NCP site here.

National Week of Conversation: April 5th – 13th

Today, seemingly more than ever before, it is important that we as American citizens of all stripes, take a step back followed by a step forward. Step back from our comfort zone and routine, step away from our smartphone screens and social media scrolling and step forward towards someone new, engaging and connecting with genuine curiosity. This is how we grow both as individuals and as a society. This is how we better understand the hurt we might actually be able to help heal. This is how we understand American struggles beyond simply those we experience within invisible border walls of our own communities or those we learn about in the echo chambers of our like-minded social media connections. This is the only way we understand our best way forward, together.

These uncommon steps are far from easy. So an entire movement has formed where we, hand-in-hand, walk each other into greater connection and understanding. Republicans and Democrats. Jews and Muslims. Majority and minority. In the middle of the chaos, we enter into difficult yet rewarding conversations where we #ListenFirst to understand each other. And somewhere within that, we see behind the angry social media posts and opposing votes and comments taken out of context and realize we are all human. We realize we all have stories worth open ears and struggles worth another helping hand.

This year, April 5th – 13th, this #ListenFirst movement is joining together during National Week of Conversation to rally Americans to take these steps together.

National Week of Conversation is a bold annual occasion when people with diverse perspectives #ListenFirst to understand. Through in-person and virtual conversations exploring any topic of interest, people of all stripes intentionally convene with the goal of mending our frayed social fabric and revitalizing America together. We are encouraging everyone and anyone to reach out to neighbors, family and friends, and form your own conversations.

To connect with this sweeping cross country movement, you can host or join a conversation during NWOC 2019, April 5-13. Use the #ListenFirst hashtag to invite others!

One week. One week to step back from routine work schedules and routine interactions. One week to step away from excuses and prioritize your concerns about our future. One week when we can step forward – towards each other, with each other and for each other. What is your excuse for standing back or standing still? Please join us for National Week of Conversation and practice what it means to #ListenFirst.

You can learn more about the National Week of Conversation at www.nationalconversationproject.org/.