 Renew America Together is a 501 (c)(3) organization designed to promote and achieve greater common ground in America by reducing partisan division and gridlock. Our mission is to revitalize public and political discourse by teaching and promoting civics, citizenship and civility.
Renew America Together has the Civility Leadership Institute (CLI) who are focused on partisanship and impacting communities. CLI participants will begin their journey by attending the CLI Civility Summit in Little Rock, AR on July 27-29. After that, the class will virtually meet once a month for five months. During each session, they will work through an exciting curriculum, hear from dynamic nationally recognized speakers, and strengthen their relationships with each other. CLI graduates will receive a professional certification in Crucial Learning™ Crucial Conversations and TypeCoach Influence Training and participate in a six-month follow-up program allowing them to continue to build relationships with one another, measure their progress and accomplishments, and receive professional coaching from industry leaders. Upon graduation from CLI, individuals will be a part of an alumni workout that will have continuous opportunities to work together and participate in special events. Find out more here: renewamericatogether.org/cli/
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 The second National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation Summer Learning Springboard is coming up July 25-30, 2022! This week-long series of virtual skill-building and learning exchange events will bring together people passionate about the practices of dialogue and deliberation to connect and learn together.
Access the Summer Learning Springboard page here. We have increased the total sessions this year to 19, so there are even more opportunities! NCDD members get the biggest benefit to attending – discounted registration! As a member, a general registration ticket is only $25 and gives you access to the 12 included sessions. In addition, most of the sessions which charge an additional fee are offering member discounts or sliding scales. Registration Information: General registration includes access to all twelve included sessions and is set this year at three rates: $100 Individual, non-member ticket $50 Student, non-member ticket $25 NCDD Member ticket (member dues must be in good standing) The non-member ticket prices include a one-year individual or student membership to explore all that NCDD has to offer! In addition, there are seven sessions which require an additional fee to participate. Those rates have been set by the presenters and NCDD and are listed below, as well as outlined on the registration page. To register, go directly to our registration page here.  The Academy of Professional Dialogue (AofPD) will be holding its fifth Annual Conference online from Tuesday 1st November to Thursday 3rd November. This year’s theme will be ‘Dialogue as Story’.
AofPD is an International non-profit charity, developing the profession in service of the wellbeing of society. The Academy aims to:
This event will cover several questions like: How is story present in our everyday lives and identity? How can Dialogue transform those individual, organisational and community stories for the benefit of everyone? From the event description: We use stories continually to make sense of our experiences and the world around us. These stories affect what we think, feel, and do, and over time the stories that stick form and shape our identity. Every individual’s story is different, and we have a unique contribution to make to any situation as a result, bringing diversity and energy through our participation. However, our different stories can, and frequently do, lead to misunderstanding, division, and conflict – a petty disagreement in a relationship or a major difference over a strategic decision. As the misunderstanding becomes part of our story the division is perpetuated and deepened. Dialogue allows individual and collective stories to be developed in a wholesome and integrated way. Building a common story, or common sense, through Dialogue changes the present, and generates a new shared story for the future. This year’s conference explores ‘Dialogue as Story’, and its implications in experience, practice, and theory. We will be looking at ‘Dialogue as Story’ in many fields from peacebuilding to prisons, politics to poverty. Join us to:
 Citizen Connect is a non-partisan platform dedicated to helping Americans right, left and center find ways to heal our divides and strengthen this great nation. Citizen Connect puts the events and organizations working to fix our politics right at your fingertips. Our 500+ member organizations need your help to heal America now!
Citizen Connect's mission is to help your work flourish by making more Americans aware of it, and helping them engage with it. Every week they feature eight events, and every month they feature eight organizations and eight on-demand items (podcast, webcast, toolkit, etc.). A featured organization/event/on-demand item stands out on their homepage, but more importantly, they promote it to an audience of literally millions of Americans through the collective social media of Bridge Alliance plus readers of Allsides and The Fulcrum. Citizen Connect allows you the opportunities to promote your events on their page. Add your event as soon as you can. You can add them to this Google form. Check out all the events they have on their website. They always have rewarding opportunities to get your citizen game on - some interactive, some informational, some virtual, some right next door. They welcome all Americans interested in making our politics better whether you’re a Republican, Democrat or Independent. Explore the events that intrigue you most, then click to get connected!  The Participatory Budgeting project is launching the latest version of PB for Orgs toolkit. This event will be held on June 23rd at 1pm PT/4pm ET. About the event:
If you’re already familiar with participatory budgeting, chances are that it’s in the context of a city or government initiative. But the beauty of PB is that it can bring democratic decision-making to any organization—yours included. This is why PBP launched PB for Orgs—an opportunity for organizations to practice participatory democracy and reap the benefits of implementing a PB process, including shared decision-making power and more equitable and effective spending. We recently wrapped up our first-ever PB for Orgs cohort, which brought together folks from a wide range of non-profit organizations to learn about implementing PB. With their feedback, we rethought, revisited, revised, and are extremely excited to share with you Change From Within: A Guide to Running Participatory Budgeting in Your Organization. This launch event is for anyone interested in learning more about what a PB process could do for and look like in their non-profit, collective, or network. After a brief teach-in on PB for Orgs, you’ll learn from PBP staff and partners about their experiences with implementing PB processes and have the opportunity to ask questions about what PB in your organization could look like.  The National Civic League, an NCDD member organization, is hosting an event called Promising Practices Webinar: The ABCs of Inclusive and Equitable Engagement.
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2:00 pm ET (1:00 pm CT, 12:00 pm MT, 11:00 am PT) Webinar Description: The process of civic engagement ensures that the many parts of a community— residents, government, business, nonprofit agencies, faith-based organizations and others—work together to address public needs and desires. Whether it’s economic development, safety, health, environmental quality or other matters, civic engagement can lead to lasting solutions that best represent the values and desires of communities. However, if inclusivity and equity are not prioritized as a part of engagement efforts from the very beginning, then resulting information, solutions, and decisions will fail to benefit from or serve the entire community. During this webinar we will discuss the myriad of considerations–convener, time, location, language, etc.–that need to be addressed to ensure engagement efforts are inclusive and equitable. Registrants will also learn about strategies and best practices for equitable and inclusive engagement, with a few examples from communities successfully doing this work.  Women of Concern Professionals & Strategic Conscious Networking (WOCPSCN) is hosting Global Sustainability Partnerships (GSP) Summit: "Define Your Legacy" on Fri, Jun 24, 2022, 10:00 AM - 1:30 PM (EST). WOCPSCN's core is to address gender equality and equity through replicable membership initiatives that address women's health, education, and community development. From the event description: Our purpose is to maintain a global alliance that will support one another's projects and global sustainable businesses. GSP's desire is to create a level of collaborative security through solidarity, as we consider the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. We believe that Positive Support can Create Desired Outcomes. Our Global Sustainability Partnerships Summit "Define Your Legacy" convene will have the following 3 Panels: - Sustainability, Climate and Environment - Health/ Mental Health - Gender and Development WOCPSCN has monthly meetings for GSP. Join the GSP Monthly Zoom Convene, on the 4th Wednesday each month at 10:30 am EST
GSP is a safe collaborative platform for organizations and businesses that are in alliance with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to connect. Our purpose is to maintain global connections that support each other's projects and sustainable businesses. GSP creates a level of collaborative security through solidarity, during our monthly Convene that allows for informative and communal discussions. We create alliances, solidarity, and partnerships. https://www.linkedin.com/events/globalsustainabilitypartnership6884603376298979328/  About Participatory Budgeting: Participatory budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget. It gives people real power over real money. PB started in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1989, as an anti-poverty measure that helped reduce child mortality by nearly 20%. Since then PB has spread to over 7,000 cities around the world, and has been used to decide budgets from states, counties, cities, housing authorities, schools, and other institutions. The New York Times calls PB “revolutionary civics in action”— it deepens democracy, builds stronger communities, and creates a more equitable distribution of public resources. About ARPA: The American Rescue Plan (ARPA), was passed by congress to assist communities after the disastrous impacts of COVID-19. The Participatory Budgeting Project as partnered with Democracy Beyond Elections, Center for the Future of Arizona, and Voces con Poder to convene youth leaders, elected officials and school administrators working to bring community-led decision-making into budget decisions that impact young people. From PBP's blog: During our 4/27 webinar, student leaders shared inspiring presentations on their local participatory budgeting processes. This included grounding in how PB works in their local context, as well as personal reflections on how PB impacted their leadership. “It was intimidating at first when I joined as a freshman,” recalled student leader Anissa from Sunnyside’s Desert View High School. “As a sophomore a year later, [PB] really helped me follow what I want to do and put my own self out there.” This exciting event allowed for collaboration, deliberation, and understanding. Many more events like this ARPA funding event are being led by youth.
 NCDD Member, Lori Britt, was featured on Brand Story a podcast celebrating the stories of real people who are making an impact on brands, business, and the world around them. Each episode features guests from a variety of backgrounds who bring their own unique perspectives to the conversation. Brand Story is created and produced by Gravity Group and is hosted by Gravity Group President, Steve Gilman. Lori Britt is the President of the Board of Directors of NCDD along with a Professor of Communication and Co-Director of at James Madison University. As a long-time communication instructor, Lori has taught various courses on group and organizational communication with a focus on community dialogue and deliberation. She is also Co-Director of JMU’s Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue (ICAD). This episode discusses the importance of intentional conversations with the host, Steve Gilman. Britt's episode is titled Dialogue & Deliberation. From the episode description:
There’s a difference between communicating with someone and having an intentional conversation. Understanding the way you talk and how that impacts the way you think is important in helping to break down barriers and engage in civic conversations with others. It’s the heart of what Lori teaches and models for others — figuring out the why. It’s become even more important now to be able to engage with others of differing opinions without breaking down. Dialogue and deliberation are processes that can help us all understand our own way of thinking and identify the constraints we may not know exist. As Lori would say, it’s simple but complex work. In this episode, Lori challenges us to identify our personal schema and how our thinking has been conditioned. She identifies common challenges that are apparent in conversations and walks us through ways to expand our way of thinking. Whether you’re speaking to an individual or working as a group, her insights will prove valuable in helping shape your next conversation.  On Friday, June 3rd NCDD hosted an event exploring Bohm-inspired Dialogue. This event was attended by about 40 participants. During this webinar, Linda Ellinor & Glenna Gerard, co-authors of Dialogue: Rediscover the Transforming Power of Conversation (1998, John Wiley & Sons), taught about their model of Bohm-inspired Dialogue inspired by David Bohm (1917 - 1992). Their book has now been translated into 5 languages and is available as a down-loadable e-book.
The presentation aspect of the webinar was recorded and is available at this link. In addition, Linda and Glenna shared a PDF with slides and information on their future programs. In the event participants learned the interpretation of dialogue from the authors as "dia-logos", as meaning flowing through people. In other words, how we think together and make meaning. Dialogue helps everyone put the world back together so we don't see it in several different pieces. For the last 20-minutes participants engaged in a Bohm-inspired dialogue in small groups. The members were able to see the power of this discussion style. Overview of the event:
Foundational History and Skills of Dialogue Dialogue Application, Design Facilitation |
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© The National Coalition For Dialogue And Deliberation, Inc. All rights reserved.
© The National Coalition For Dialogue And Deliberation, Inc. All rights reserved.