Interactivity Foundation Launches Summer Coach Trainings and Cohort Grants for Collaborative Discussion Skills

The Interactivity Foundation is launching summer 2026 opportunities to build collaborative discussion and facilitation skills through its Collaborative Discussion Project, including coach trainings, certifications, and five fully funded cohort grants that bring training directly to campuses or communities. The program focuses on developing “collaborative intelligence”—the ability to think constructively across differences—through hands-on, practice-based training that results in certification, facilitation tools, and entry into a broader community of practice. It also supports a train-the-trainer model, enabling participants to run their own programs and expand local capacity for dialogue. Participants gain access to a 40+ activity toolkit and ongoing resources, with applications open through April 2026 and trainings running through 2027.

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Blog Article: Interactivity Foundation Launches Summer Coach Trainings and Cohort Grants for Collaborative Discussion SkillsThe Interactivity Foundation is offering multiple summer opportunities to learn collaborative discussion skills through its Collaborative Discussion Project, including Coach Trainings and Certifications scheduled for June 1-5 and July 13-17, 2026, alongside five fully funded Collaborative Discussion Cohort training grants where trainers come to campuses or communities (virtual or in-person) to deliver 15-hour Coach Training free of charge. The Collaborative Discussion Cohort Trainings are designed to build local capacity by preparing cohorts to become skilled facilitators and champions of meaningful discussions, with applications reviewed on rolling basis through April 26, 2026, and trainings conducted between July 31, 2026, and August 31, 2027. In a time of deep polarization and search for shared purpose, the Interactivity Foundation believes that collaborative intelligence—the capacity to think together constructively across differences—is foundational to thriving organizations, communities, and democratic life, positioning collaborative intelligence not as an abstract ideal but as a practiced capacity that requires intentional investment in people and places ready to practice it together.

The highly interactive training features small-group engagement, hands-on practice, and individualized support, with successful completion resulting in participants understanding key collaborative discussion concepts and how they support democratic, inclusive inquiry; applying the Collaborative Discussion Toolkit with confidence including intentional activity design and facilitation strategies; practicing facilitating core activities with structured debriefs on method and purpose; accessing coach-only resources such as assessment tools, templates, and facilitation supports; receiving post-training consultations and invitations to workshops extending learning post-certification; earning formal recognition through certification and digital badges for facilitating collaborative discussion; and joining an expanding community of practice of educators, civic professionals, and dialogue practitioners. Certified coaches are also equipped to design and deliver their own certificate programs in collaborative discussion, expanding opportunities for others to develop these skills in their own local contexts—a train-the-trainer model that builds sustainable capacity for collaborative discussion practice across diverse settings.
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The Collaborative Discussion Toolkit at the heart of the training includes 40+ ready-to-use learning activities created by educators and practitioners, organized in five modules (intro, creative, critical, culturally responsive, civic) as a living toolkit growing, changing, and adapting with new curriculum contributors and users through intentional design and shared learning process. Interested individuals and organizations can start using the free Collaborative Discussion Toolkit immediately, join free webinars for Introduction to IF's Resources, attend Coach Training online in June or July to become Collaborative Discussion Certified Coach, apply for Collaborative Discussion Project Cohort Grant, or subscribe to the Collaborative Discussion Project Substack Newsletter for Toolkit activities and tips alongside the "What IF…Wednesday" Newsletter about topics in the discussion and dialogue field. The program responds to challenges when fragmentation and mistrust affect institutions and communities, with IF believing collaborative intelligence requires practiced capacity rather than remaining an abstract ideal, making these Coach Trainings investments in people and places ready to practice thinking together constructively across differences.