As we announced last week, NCDD is organizing a 20th Anniversary Event on November 17th, celebrating this wonderful network and it's contributions since its founding in 2022. 

We are inviting our network members to participate in a project that will be featured as part of this event. Inspired by the photo project we did for our national conference in 2012, we are creating a video comprised of photos submitted by our members that include a statement of how you are recommitting to this work and/or this community as we celebrate 20 years together. We have such a broad range of backgrounds, approaches, and perspectives amongst our members, so this is an opportunity to capture this diversity and passion and put it on display! The video will be used in the anniversary event and on the website.
 
How to Get Involved 
​
We are asking for submissions from network members through November 5th. Take a picture of yourself holding a sign or next to one that expresses (briefly!) what you would like to recommit yourself to.  For example, your sign might say:  " I recommit to helping students learn the practices of dialogue & deliberation," or " I recommit to helping my community engage with one another respectfully." 

We have created a template you are welcome to use - download that here.

But, feel free to be creative about your sign — you can use paper, flip chart easels, iPads, or other tools.  The photo should be bright and feature you clearly–we want to see all of your wonderful faces! The statement should be legible and in large enough text that it can be read from a distance. An example is included on the right.  

Don't forget to also include your first name, city and/or state, and country. It will be wonderful to see you all and where you are joining in from when we show the video during the event!

To submit your photo, please upload it using this form, or email [email protected]. ​

As practitioners of dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement, it is important that we continue to improve our facilitation practice by learning new skills, understandings, and considerations for designing and facilitating conversations.

In the below sessions at this year's Summer Learning Springboard, participants will learn how to be self-reflective and intuitive. Register today to widen your skillset. 

Let’s think together about the work of dialogue and deliberation – how to we approach this work? How can we harness it for further good?

Register for the NCDD Summer Learning Springboard & participate in the sessions below that feature discussions about the important implications of deliberative practices. 

A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action?
Reframing Dialogue & Deliberation as Formational Practices
Monday July 25
1:00-2:30 PM Eastern/10:00-11:30 AM Pacific
Hosts: Brad Rourke - Program Officer, Kettering Foundation; Elizabeth Gish - Program Officer, Kettering Foundation Pastor, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Katya Lukianova - Program Officer, Kettering Foundation; Michael Nygren - President, Live Your Best Life, Inc.

When we frame dialogue or deliberation as something other than action, we run the risk of missing the potential that D&D has to shape people, communities, and institutions. Taking part in deliberation and dialogue is an essential form of action that involves talking, listening, weighing, feeling, imagining, connecting, being seen and heard, and so on. When we take part in these practices, they shape who we are and have potential to shape the communities where we live. This 90 minute session engages participants in reframing the distinction between talk/action, suggests activities that can help explore this, and provides examples of the way that D&D has been a meaningful formational practice for individuals, communities, and institutions.

Can Deliberation Contribute to New Democratic Revival Movement?
Wednesday July 27
12:00-2:00 PM Eastern/9:00-11:00 AM Pacific
Hosts: Daniel Kemmis - Citizens Uniting to Restore Our Democracy & Wendy Willis - Founder and Director, Oregon's Kitchen Table Executive Director, Deliberative Democracy Consortium

Drawing on Daniel Kemmis' most recent book, Citizens Uniting to Restore Our Democracy, and Wendy Willis' recent thinking about how to bring grass-roots deliberation to constitutional reform, Kemmis and Willis will lead a highly interactive session on how practitioners and theorists of democratic deliberation might contribute to a 21st century movement of democratic renewal. Rather than thinking about deliberation as an end in itself, the session will examine how deliberative democrats might join forces with other democratic activists to address real barriers to reform and build a more just and functional democracy. 

Reframing Democracy Through the Wicked Problems Lens
Tuesday July 26
1:00-2:30 PM Eastern/10:00-11:30 AM Pacific
Host: Martin Carcasson - Director, Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University

​This workshop is focused on elevating our local conversations about shared problems by building local capacity to engage issues more collaboratively and productively through the use of deliberative engagement processes. Deliberative engagement involves interactive, often facilitated, small group discussions utilizing materials and processes designed to spark collaborative learning rather than merely the collection of individual opinions. An opening session will examine the concept of “wicked problems” as a framework to reframe difficult issues and review recent research on social psychology to help explain why traditional engagement processes are often counterproductive to sparking the high quality communication democracy requires.

Learn a new method for dialogue and deliberation – the Summer Learning Springboard is an opportunity to learn new approaches you might not be familiar with! 

This year's program includes several sessions which highlight practices that may be new to you. Check them out below and be sure to register to join us. 

20 years ago this month, NCDD was founded in response to a clear need for an infrastructure for 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. Without you, our journey would never have been possible. Thank you for nurturing us and helping us grow into a network of innovators who bring people together across divides to discuss, decide, and take action together effectively on today’s toughest issues.

​We continue to exist to support the growing “dialogue and deliberation community” — a broadly-defined diverse community of practice who engage and mobilize people to come together and strengthen understanding of each other and issues in ways that supports community-building and collaborative problem-solving. Our dialogue and deliberation practices have matured over those 20 years. We look forward to building upon those foundations. As part of this effort the NCDD board of directors has taken time to refine NCDD’s mission and values to recommit ourselves to our purpose:

NCDD is thrilled to be involved in the April Promising Practices webinar from the National Civic League! Next Tuesday, April 26th at 2:00pm Eastern/11:00am Pacific, NCDD's Executive Director Courtney Breese will join Samantha Oakley from the American Library Association and Kellee Forkenbrock from North Liberty Library to speak about the Libraries Transforming Communities initiative and NCDD's support of these efforts. The webinar will also talk about the work libraries are doing to serve as centers for dialogue and engagement. 

​Check out the webinar description and speak bios below. And don't forget to register at this link to join us!

Webinar Description: 
Libraries are far more than repositories for books, often serving as hubs for community life and civic engagement. As one of the last remaining accessible public spaces, libraries serve as centers of education and literacy, academic and professional development, engagement and dialogue. During this webinar, attendees will learn about the American Library Association’s initiative, “Libraries Transforming Communities," which has provided libraries opportunities to learn the skills of facilitating community conversations with help from the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation. We will then hear how two libraries are engaging their communities and centering public discourse.

Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC) — an initiative of the American Library Association — seeks to strengthen libraries’ role as core community leaders and change-agents. The initiative addresses a critical need within the library field by developing and distributing new tools, resources and support for librarians to engage with their communities in new ways.

North Liberty Library in Iowa – Lighthouse in the Library is a conversation series giving North Liberty residents an opportunity to speak on important community issues in a town-hall style setting.

Speakers
Courtney Breese, Executive Director of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD)
As the executive director of NCDD, Breese leads a network of 700 individuals and organizations who bring people together across divides to discuss, decide, and take action together effectively on today’s toughest issues. She directs ongoing programs including NCDD’s work with the ALA.

Breese is also an experienced mediation and public engagement practitioner. She has a passion for helping people make connections, communicate more effectively, and make decisions collaboratively. She enjoys examining systems and structures and working to improve society on a macro level.

Kellee Forkenbrock, Public Services Librarian, North Liberty Library
After two decades of work in the private sector, Kellee Forkenbrock joined North Liberty Library in June 2019 as a library assistant. She was promoted to her current role as Public Services Librarian in October of the same year, serving as the community engagement liaison for the library and assisting with the management of the library’s part-time staff.

Kellee holds a Bachelor’s in Marketing and is pursuing a Masters in LIS from the University of Iowa. Her professional background includes a decade of project management with a skills assessment firm and seven years in multimedia advertising for a Gannett newspaper. Kellee is active in her community as a board member, having served for the Iowa City Public Library and Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa. Read more about Kellee on her LinkedIn profile.

Samantha Oakley, Project Director, American Library Association
Samantha Oakley is an experienced project director with a demonstrated history of working in the library field. She is a project director with the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office; in this position she directs the following efforts: Libraries Transforming Communities, Let's Talk About It: Women's Suffrage, Media Literacy Education in Libraries for Adult Audiences, Community Connect, ALA PPO's annual grant opportunities, online learning, evaluation, and partnership inquiries.

She has a BA in English from Western Illinois University, an MA in Gender Studies from Minnesota State University – Mankato, and a Master of Library & Information Science (MLIS) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

NCDD is excited to announce our continued partnership with the American Library Association to support library workers through the Libraries Transforming Communities project. This latest effort will provide small and rural libraries with grants to facilitate community conversations which will identify services or facility improvements the library can take on to better address accessibility needs in their communities. 

NCDD will support grantees by providing materials and guidance for facilitating accessible community conversations. Over the next three years of this initiative, NCDD will provide coaching to libraries and support to the project. NCDD will be reaching out to our network to help support this effort with co-creation of facilitation materials which identify best practices and models for accessible conversations. 

Starting this November, ALA will begin accepting applications for the grants, which will be distributed in several rounds over the next three years. Grants will range from $10,000 to $20,000. Libraries will identify the audience they are hoping to reach (e.g., homebound seniors, children with autism, Deaf community members) and facilitate a community conversation with the impacted populations.  Grantees will then use the funds to create services or improve their facilities based on the needs identified by their audience.

Please share this opportunity with your local library! Have you designed and/or facilitated accessible conversations? Let NCDD know about it! Email [email protected] to share your experience and explore whether you might be able to help support the libraries in this next endeavor.

This initiative is funded through a private grant to ALA. Review the recent ALA press release here. 

The NCDD Summer Learning Springboard is back! Save the date for our second annual virtual event, taking place July 25-29, 2022. Join us this summer for a variety of skill building and learning exchange events. 

Last year, more than 125 attendees from across the globe joined us for thirteen engaging sessions, including workshops on Bohm Dialogue, Ripple Effects Mapping, and sessions discussing equity, neutrality, and using technology for engagement. You can check out the 2021 offerings on our Springboard page.

Call for Session Proposals Now Open: Are you interested in leading a session at the 2022 Springboard? Now is the time to submit your session proposal! Go to https://forms.gle/BFvez3YCRtXBPRBaA to review the questions and criteria and submit your proposal. Deadline for submissions is Friday, April 8th. If you have any questions about proposing a session, email [email protected]. 

As a reminder, NCDD Members will receive discounted registration rates for most or all sessions, so now is a good time to join or renew your membership!
We look forward to seeing you in July!

We are committed to better conversations, collaboration, and decision-making. Join our vibrant community as we explore these practices, share stories and resources, and continue to demonstrate the valuable work of dialogue and deliberation. 

As NCDD enters its 20th year, we have much to reflect on and look forward to in 2022. Your support helps us:

• Elevate NCDD’s status as a starting point for those looking for new ways to build connection and collaboration
• Continue to nourish connections among members and provide opportunities to explore the next big steps forward in practice, initiate new collaborations, and further strengthen local and regional networks
• Strive to lift up the stories of dialogue and deliberation, and show the impacts of these practices and of this coalition

Our shiny new website is one big step in this direction!
 
We invite you to support the efforts of this vibrant community of practice with a donation today and to join us in this journey in 2022 by renewing or officially joining as a member. Come help us shape the future together!