AllSides, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping Americans engage across difference, is hosting a National Roundtable on the American Dream the week of August 10–15, 2026 — a series of free, structured online small-group conversations where participants from diverse backgrounds discuss opportunity, security, personal finances, and the futures they are working toward. Using AllSides' Roundtable format of four to six participants guided by an integrated conversation structure, the event is designed to foster genuine listening and mutual understanding across experiential and political divides, with anonymized insights contributing to a national report. Multiple session times are available daily throughout the week, accessible through any standard web browser with no special software required. This event directly advances NCDD's mission by modeling accessible, structured dialogue across difference and inviting broad public participation in a national conversation about shared aspirations and divergent realities.

Everyday Democracy is hosting "Doing Democracy: Why Deliberate in a Time of Democratic Crisis?" today, a virtual panel examining whether dialogue and collaborative decision-making still hold value amid democratic backsliding and rising polarization. The event brings together practitioners who have translated community dialogue into concrete policy shifts, including a city's move toward non-police crisis response, and a national coordinator of participatory democracy efforts, grounding the discussion in lived organizing experience rather than theory. Attendees will hear how deliberation functions in high-stakes, cross-difference settings, including interracial and interfaith conflict, offering practical insight into where collaborative decision-making succeeds and where its limits lie. The event's inquiry into deliberation's role during democratic crisis speaks directly to NCDD's mission of strengthening democratic participation and equipping the dialogue and deliberation field for this political moment.

The CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution, an NCDD member organization, has announced its inaugural Collective Learning Conference (CLC), to be held June 17–18, 2027, at the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham, UK, in collaboration with the Birmingham Systemic Training Programme. Built around the theme of Living the Questions: Navigating Complexity and Clarity, the two-day conference will bring together practitioners from across fields — including public dialogue, conflict resolution, therapy, organizational development, and systems design — to explore applications of the Coordinated Management of Meaning, a communication framework grounded in the belief that better communication creates better social worlds. The event will feature workshops, presentations, and artistic installations designed for practitioners at all levels of CMM familiarity, with registration and a call for proposals opening later in 2026. This gathering represents a meaningful opportunity for NCDD members to engage with an international community of communicators and dialogue practitioners whose work directly embodies the coalition's mission of building better social worlds through more intentional conversation.

The National Civic League's 2026 All-America City Award Event, taking place June 26–28 at the Grand Hyatt Denver, brings together twenty finalist communities to present their civic health and trust-building efforts under the theme "America at 250: Strengthening Civic Health and Building Trust." The event features jury presentations by finalist communities, keynote addresses from philanthropy, government, and nonprofit leaders, peer learning workshops, and a new It's Your America Workshop designed to deepen civic practice. Individual registration is open at $150 per person, providing full access to all programming, receptions, and the awards ceremony. This event offers NCDD members and civic practitioners a timely opportunity to witness and connect with community-level democratic engagement at a pivotal moment in American civic life.

Essential Partners is hosting an online Dialogue Experience on June 16, 2026, offering a complete three-hour introduction to its Reflective Structured Dialogue methodology through a live, facilitated dialogue on the topic of America@250, led by EP-trained facilitator Meg Griffiths. RSD is Essential Partners' signature framework for building relationships and healthier communication dynamics across big differences in identity, values, and perspective — and this event is designed to be experienced rather than observed, giving participants a direct encounter with the structures and facilitation approach that make it effective. Participants will leave with a grounded understanding of RSD's theory and practice and a clearer sense of how it might apply to their own communities and work. For NCDD members seeking to deepen their facilitation toolkit or explore a proven methodology for dialogue across difference, this event offers an accessible and high-value opportunity to engage firsthand with one of the field's most respected approaches.

​Voting should be easy, and cheating should be hard. The Trustworthy Elections initiative is a community-based effort to strengthen public trust in elections by helping people learn how elections work, engage across differences, and build relationships within and across communities. We are inviting local leaders—including civic leaders, librarians, faith leaders, facilitators, educators, election officials, and engaged community members—to help shape and support this work in ways that fit their communities. Join us for an informational call on Thursday, June 4, at 9:00 am Pacific / 12:00 pm Eastern to learn more about the initiative and opportunities to get involved - register here! The initiative is being convened by Living Room Conversations, Interfaith America, NCDD, AllSides, and Civity, alongside a growing network of civic leaders. Read more in the blog post below.

​The International Listening Association will host its 47th Annual Convention virtually September 16–19, 2026, under the theme Questioning Listening and Listening Questions, bringing together a global community of practitioners, educators, and researchers committed to deepening the theory and practice of listening. The convention introduces a new program format designed around pre-selected listening questions rather than an open call for proposals, with session times deliberately varied across four days to support participation from members in different time zones worldwide. For NCDD members, the ILA convention offers a valuable opportunity to strengthen one of the most essential and often overlooked capacities in dialogue and deliberation work — the ability to listen with genuine attention and care. The ILA's commitment to advancing listening practice aligns directly with NCDD's mission to foster meaningful civic conversation and strengthen the relational foundations of democratic life.

The Kettering Foundation will host the 2026 Summer Institute of Civic Studies at its Dayton, Ohio, campus from August 2 to 8, bringing together scholars, graduate students, and civic practitioners for an intensive interdisciplinary seminar on democracy, community, and civic engagement. The program combines structured seminar discussions with community visits in Dayton, grounded in the civic studies tradition established by leading democratic theorists. Participation is free, with need-based travel stipends available, and applications are open on a rolling basis through April 30, 2026. For an organization like NCDD whose mission centers on advancing dialogue and deliberation, the Summer Institute represents a meaningful convergence point where theory, practice, and cross-sector civic relationships are built simultaneously.

​National Civic League is partnering with Local Policy Lab and Spread the Vote to expand its democracy work, alongside programs like Civic Genius and the Center for Democracy Innovation. Local Policy Lab contributes a model for embedding resident voice into city governance as durable civic infrastructure, while Spread the Vote strengthens voter access and participation—together creating a continuum from ballot access to sustained civic engagement. This integration positions the League to scale inclusive, locally driven democracy solutions nationwide, advancing trust, equity, and institutionalized community participation.