What We're All About
The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) is a network of innovators who bring people together across divides to discuss, decide, and take action effectively on today’s toughest issues. We serve as a gathering place, resource center, news source, and facilitative leader for this vital community of practice.
Dialogue and deliberation are powerful processes that help people come together across differences to tackle our most challenging problems. In a time when we are increasingly told how divided we are—as a nation and as a world—teaching, spreading, and supporting the skills of dialogue and deliberation are essential.
The NCDD website is a clearinghouse for literally thousands of resources and best practices. Our highly participatory national and regional conferences have brought together nearly 3,000 practitioners, community leaders, public administrators, researchers, activists, teachers, and students since 2002. We stay in monthly contact with 28,000 people involved in public engagement and conflict resolution work.
Above all, NCDD creates opportunities for members of the broadly defined dialogue and deliberation (“D&D”) community to share knowledge, inspire one another, build collaborative relationships, and achieve greater collective impact.
Below you’ll find our contact information, mission, membership details, and more. You can also read the full story of NCDD’s beginnings and learn about the NCDD team. If this work resonates with you, please consider becoming a member or making a donation to NCDD!
Dialogue and deliberation are powerful processes that help people come together across differences to tackle our most challenging problems. In a time when we are increasingly told how divided we are—as a nation and as a world—teaching, spreading, and supporting the skills of dialogue and deliberation are essential.
The NCDD website is a clearinghouse for literally thousands of resources and best practices. Our highly participatory national and regional conferences have brought together nearly 3,000 practitioners, community leaders, public administrators, researchers, activists, teachers, and students since 2002. We stay in monthly contact with 28,000 people involved in public engagement and conflict resolution work.
Above all, NCDD creates opportunities for members of the broadly defined dialogue and deliberation (“D&D”) community to share knowledge, inspire one another, build collaborative relationships, and achieve greater collective impact.
Below you’ll find our contact information, mission, membership details, and more. You can also read the full story of NCDD’s beginnings and learn about the NCDD team. If this work resonates with you, please consider becoming a member or making a donation to NCDD!
Why Did the Coalition Form?
NCDD exists to support the growing “dialogue and deliberation community”—a broadly defined community of practice that includes practitioners, scholars, activists, public officials, nonprofit leaders, process geeks, students, and others who engage and mobilize people. Together they strengthen understanding of one another and of complex issues in ways that support community-building and collaborative problem-solving.
NCDD was formed in 2002 in response to a clear need for infrastructure that would enable learning and collaboration among those who approach D&D from a variety of disciplines, including public policy, social work, communication, education, social justice, social activism, and organizational development. The Coalition grew out of the first National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, held near Washington, DC, in October 2002.
NCDD is both an educational organization and a community of practice. Communities of practice form when people engage in collective learning around a shared domain. In other words, they are groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better through regular interaction.
Our members form the core of this community of practice. As of January 2021, the Coalition’s membership had grown to include 700 organizations and individuals. Website visitors, social media group members, conference attendees, and more than 28,000 newsletter subscribers are also part of this ever-growing community.
NCDD was formed in 2002 in response to a clear need for infrastructure that would enable learning and collaboration among those who approach D&D from a variety of disciplines, including public policy, social work, communication, education, social justice, social activism, and organizational development. The Coalition grew out of the first National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, held near Washington, DC, in October 2002.
NCDD is both an educational organization and a community of practice. Communities of practice form when people engage in collective learning around a shared domain. In other words, they are groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better through regular interaction.
Our members form the core of this community of practice. As of January 2021, the Coalition’s membership had grown to include 700 organizations and individuals. Website visitors, social media group members, conference attendees, and more than 28,000 newsletter subscribers are also part of this ever-growing community.
NCDD’s Mission, Vision, and Values
NCDD creates a community for those committed to exploring dialogue and deliberation as ways to improve lives, enhance public and organizational life, and strengthen democracy.
We model and champion what our members seek to shape in the world—demonstrating what becomes possible when we come together in ways that honor every voice, experience, and perspective. We support and learn from our members’ work to help people gather with purpose across divides and differences, uncover constructive paths forward, positively impact lives, improve communities, and transform challenges into possibilities.
Our community embraces and practices these core values and principles:
We model and champion what our members seek to shape in the world—demonstrating what becomes possible when we come together in ways that honor every voice, experience, and perspective. We support and learn from our members’ work to help people gather with purpose across divides and differences, uncover constructive paths forward, positively impact lives, improve communities, and transform challenges into possibilities.
Our community embraces and practices these core values and principles:
- Collaboration We foster and prioritize a collaborative approach to inquiry, practice, engagement, and the governance of our organization.
- Inclusivity We value the contributions of every individual and see our diversity as a source of strength. We challenge ourselves to ensure that our organization, programs, and resources reflect our shared equal humanity.
- Continuous Learning We continually curate and create information and knowledge about new programs, ideas, methods, and scholarship. The resources on our website and the people in our network continue to grow.
What Does the Coalition Do?
Most of NCDD’s work falls into four broad categories: