NCDD Celebrates 20 Years of Community

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:

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NCDD creates community for those committed to shared exploration of dialogue and deliberation as a means to improve lives, enhance public and organizational life, and strengthen democracy.
 
We model and champion what our members seek to shape in the world - demonstrating what’s possible when we come together in ways that commit to honoring voices, experiences, and perspectives. We support and learn from the work of our members to help people come together with purpose, across divides and differences, to uncover ways forward to impact lives positively, improve communities, and transform challenges into possibilities. 

Our community embraces and practices the values and principles of:
Collaboration
Our organization fosters and foregrounds a collaborative approach to inquiry, practice, engagement, and the governance of our organization.

Inclusivity
We value the contributions of every individual, and we value our diversity as a source of strength. We challenge ourselves to responsibly consider how our organization, our programs, and our resources reflect our shared humanity.
 
Continuous Learning
We constantly curate and create information and knowledge about new programs, ideas, methods, and scholarship. The resources on our website and the people involved in our network continue to multiply.

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

This is where you can contribute right now - please share with us what are some of the ways the NCDD network can continue to make sure we meet the mission and vision for our work. You can share in the comments here, or by sending an email to [email protected]. 
 
We invite you to join us in celebrating our 20th anniversary throughout the year. Come help us shape the future together by renewing or officially joining as a member in 2022.

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