Don Waisanen Joins the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation Board of Directors

The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation welcomes Don Waisanen, a communication scholar and practitioner, to its board. He’s a Professor at Baruch College’s Marxe School, adjunct faculty at Columbia and NYU, and founder of Communication Upward. Waisanen’s seven books include Improv for Democracy, Leadership Standpoints, and States of Confusion. He’s also published extensively in journals like Rhetoric & Public Affairs and Communication Monographs. His work emphasizes thoughtful communication practices that normalize conflict, establish peer-to-peer discussion agreements, check silences for authentic participation, and develop facilitative leadership. Waisanen’s addition strengthens NCDD’s capacity to connect scholarly research with practitioner needs, bridge academic and applied perspectives, and advance dialogue and deliberation as essential democratic infrastructure.

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The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation has welcomed Don Waisanen to its board of directors, bringing extensive expertise as a communication scholar, facilitator, and practitioner committed to bridging differences and developing collaborative skills for democratic engagement. Waisanen is a Professor at Baruch College's Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at the City University of New York, adjunct faculty at Columbia and NYU, and founder of Communication Upward, which provides professional development workshops, coaching, and expert facilitation for organizational retreats and meetings. His scholarship and practice focus on how communication can elevate leadership, strengthen democracy, and create thriving communities through deliberative dialogue, improvisational methods, and collaborative frameworks that move beyond tired stories and unproductive patterns of relating.

Waisanen has authored seven books addressing the intersection of communication, democracy, and civic engagement, including Improv for Democracy: How to Bridge Differences and Develop the Communication and Leadership Skills Our World Needs (SUNY Press), which explores improvisation as a tool for navigating conflict and fostering inclusive dialogue; Leadership Standpoints: A Practical Framework for the Next Generation of Nonprofit Professionals (Cambridge University Press), offering evidence-based guidance for organizational leadership; and States of Confusion: How Our Voter ID Laws Fail Democracy and What to Do About It (with Sonia Jarvis and Nicole Gordon; NYU Press), examining barriers to democratic participation. His extensive publication record includes peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Communication Monographs, and Quarterly Journal of Speech, alongside book chapters on topics ranging from deliberative discourse and civic argumentation to political communication and social media.

As a keynote speaker and consultant, Waisanen addresses audiences on strategic communication, conflict transformation, and democratic engagement, drawing on decades of research into how thoughtful communication practices can replace reactive patterns with proactive approaches that normalize conflict as a natural phenomenon requiring management rather than avoidance. His work emphasizes establishing discussion agreements rather than top-down ground rules, checking silences to ensure authentic participation, and developing facilitative leadership that creates shared power through deep listening. He also serves on the board of the CMM Institute and maintains a blog and monthly newsletter providing insights, tools, and practices for communication that elevates leadership and creates thriving communities. Waisanen's addition to NCDD's board strengthens the organization's capacity to connect scholarly research with practitioner needs, bridge academic and applied perspectives, and advance dialogue and deliberation as essential infrastructure for democratic participation.
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To learn more about Don Waisanen's work, visit www.donwaisanen.com