Recap of NCDD April Webinar - Bridging and Advocating in Divided Times: Navigating the Tension for Stronger Civic Practice

On April 21, 2025, over 100 participants from across the civic ecosystem joined NCDD for a timely and thought-provoking conversation: “Bridging and Advocating in Divided Times: Navigating the Tension for Stronger Civic Practice.” This webinar explored how dialogue and deliberation professionals can support changemakers without compromising their integrity—and how advocacy and dialogue, far from being at odds, can be understood as complementary tools for strengthening democratic engagement.
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The session featured Julia Roig and Jarvis Williams of The Horizons Project and Dr. Martin Carcasson of the Center for Public Deliberation, who brought decades of experience to a shared inquiry: how can we navigate the tension between impartiality and action in today’s polarized environment? Our panelists ​offered frameworks, tools, and deep reflections on how civic professionals can hold space for multiple truths, foster connection, and support justice-driven work without falling into partisanship or paralysis.

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Framing and Understanding the Challenge

​Facilitators and civic practitioners often walk a fine line—holding space for diverse perspectives while also being called to take a stand. Martin Carcasson introduced the concept of polarity management--a practical framework to understanding this tension not as a binary to solve, but as a dynamic to manage. He offered insights into how this framework can move beyond either/or thinking and toward navigating tension related to the dualities we face, such as:

• Dialogue and advocacy
• Neutrality and principled commitments
• Clarity and flexibility
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He urged practitioners to avoid overcorrecting toward one side of a polarity and instead co-create space for nuance. His model of principled impartiality emphasizes that impartiality is not passive neutrality—it’s an intentional, professional, and pragmatic stance rooted in democratic values.

Polarity Management in Action

Building on the framework introduced earlier, participants were guided through how to apply polarity management as a tool for navigating complex civic tensions. This approach is particularly useful when practitioners are caught between equally valuable but competing priorities—such as balancing structure with flexibility or impartiality with advocacy.

Using the Polarity Map, participants learned how to:

• How to identify persistent tensions that show up in civic life and leadership
  
• The upsides and risks of leaning too far into one side of a polarity
  
• How to develop action steps and early warning signs to maintain balance and avoid burnout or overcorrection​
  

​This framework doesn’t aim to “solve” problems by choosing sides—instead, it invites a dynamic practice of intentional navigation, recognizing that sustainable civic work often lives in the tension between multiple truths. As Martin reminded participants, these are not problems to fix, but polarities to manage with care and awareness.

Tools from The Horizons Project: Block–Bridge–Build

Julia and Jarvis introduced the Build-Block-Bridge framework, a practical toolset for understanding diverse roles that civic actors may take in social change:

• Block – Disrupting harm and injustice through solidarity and nonviolent resistance
• Bridge – Fostering connection, understanding, and trust across lines of difference
• Build – Creating long-term systems and solutions that embody democratic values
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They emphasized that practitioners often move between all three roles, and that tensions among them are natural and necessary. Jarvis shared powerful stories from faith-based organizing and international solidarity work, illustrating how this framework helps communities act with clarity and care.

Key Takeaways

• Dialogue and advocacy are not mutually exclusive. They can inform and enrich each other when used responsibly.
• Principled impartiality is not passive neutrality. It’s a professional stance grounded in a commitment to democratic values, access to quality information, and inclusive engagement.
  
• Polarity management helps civic leaders avoid burnout, binary thinking, and performative neutrality—instead encouraging them to act with courage, curiosity, and humility.
• Tensions within DEI conversations mirror broader civic polarities. Whether navigating equity vs. equality or identity vs. universality, applying polarity thinking can deepen how we approach these critical conversations.
  
• Managing polarities requires cultural and emotional fluency. Understanding how different communities experience advocacy and dialogue—especially across lines of race, geography, and ideology—is necessary for inclusive civic practice.
  
• We need to name the shadow sides of our approaches. For example, overemphasizing dialogue can lead to inaction; overemphasizing advocacy can lead to polarization or exclusion.
• Bridging, blocking, and building are all legitimate modes of civic action. Practitioners may move between roles depending on the context, and understanding when to shift strategies is critical for sustaining impact.
  
• Storytelling and lived experience are essential tools for navigating civic tension. Panelists highlighted how personal and community stories foster empathy, reflection, and motivation for change.
  
• Strong civic practice requires emotional intelligence and strategic self-awareness, not just tools and techniques.

Stay Connected

If you're interested in continuing these conversations, we invite you to join NCDD and connect with a national network of practitioners, researchers, and changemakers. Join the coalition as a member at ncdd.org/join!

Let’s continue building a more connected, collaborative, and democratic society—together.

Want to Watch the Webinar or Explore More?

• Watch the recording below!
• Explore the PowerPoint slide deck: linked here
• Check out the curated resources from the webinar: linked here
• Find the chat transcript: linked here 
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