Hello Friends,

It’s been a little more than a month since the Presidential election, and it’s brought much food for thought. Check out Palma’s article to get the Civity view.

The election and its aftermath have spurred lots of conversation with our friends in the democracy field – the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Our Common Purpose initiative, the Bridging Movement Collective, the Inter-Movement Impact Project, and others – to figure out next steps. But whatever specifics come out of our collective thinking, we know one thing … we at Civity will continue to play the long game.

And we will continue to support our partners doing great work on the ground. This summer and fall we’ve collaborated with Civic Nebraska, Partners in Democracy, AmeriCorps, and the Center for Rural Affairs – check out Lucy’s article on the Center to learn more about our work with this long-time partner.  We also participated in several national events, conducting Civity workshops at the Public Interest Communications Summer Institute, the Federally Employed Women’s National Training Program, and the Association of Leadership Programs’ (ALP) annual conference.

Speaking of ALP, we have big news! We’re launching a brand new, very ambitious partnership – with ALP and the National Leadership Network (NLN) –  that will bring our work to scale at an entirely new level. ALP is a national network of more than 300 leadership programs that supports professionals dedicated to making a difference in their communities. NLN connects the million-plus alumni (!) of those community leadership programs. By helping these leaders foster a relationship-across-difference mindset and practice, we can support them as well as the community members they reach in connecting across social differences that define – and also divide us.

Through this Civity-ALP-NLN partnership, Civity gains access to existing civic infrastructure and social networks. Working with these leaders who are embedded in their local communities will make a significant contribution to creating a national social ecosystem of robust and resilient communities. We are envisioning a three-year initiative to bring Civity training to 30 communities over the course of the project. Stay tuned!

In closing, we welcome our new intern, Christina Mathews! Christina is a senior at Sonoma State University and is assisting us with our social media.

Wishing you all the best in the new year,

Malka

Civity in Academia:

Civity Storytelling Intervention Highlighted in Science!

Science magazine has just published an article about a mega-study out of Stanford University exploring how to reduce anti-democratic attitudes and partisan animosity.

Civity’s intervention was tested as part of the Stanford Strengthening Democracy Challenge, which included 25 interventions chosen from more than 250 entries.

32,000 people tested the interventions, and Civity Storytelling: Expanding the Pool of People Who Matter ranked #1 at increasing social trust.

Civity’s intervention was also #2 at decreasing social distance and #4 in reducing partisan animosity.

Connected Communities:

The Partnership Between Civity & the Center for Rural Affairs

Civity Podcasts:

Listen to the Latest Civity Podcasts!

PODCAST:

Jennifer Leshnower— Bridging & Relationship-Building Through Service

In this episode, we talk with Jennifer Leshnower, Bridging & Democracy Advisor at AmeriCorps.

Jen and I discuss the importance of bringing people together — and how relationship-building through service, and looking outward from ourselves to see others, can help build meaningful relationships to tackle sticky problems and strengthen communities.

To learn more, go to americorps.gov.

PODCAST:

Ben Bain—Strengthening Communities Through Relationships

In this episode, we talk with Ben Bain, volunteer Brickyard leader of the Washington, D.C., area for the organization More Perfect Union (MPU). MPU seeks to strengthen communities through social connection, service, and civic engagement.

Ben is a veteran – and a dog lover – who wanted to find ways to grow connective tissue in his community.

To check out MPU – and take the Coffee & Courage Challenge – go to mpu.us.

PODCAST: Michael McRay—Becoming Restoried to See the Humanity in Yourself & Others

In this episode, we talk with Michael McRay,  experiential story coach and founder of Becoming Restoried.

The stories we create have the power to connect or divide.

Michael helps others find and share their own stories and see themselves and each other, connecting us across divides, differences, & unknowns.

For more, go to becomingrestoried.com.

Civity in the News:

A Recipe for Cooling Down American Politics

By John Paul Lederach

“I’ve worked in war-torn countries, and I’ve seen what works. People need to leave their bubbles,” said John Paul Lederach, long-time writer and practitioner of peacebuilding and conflict transformation, in a recent op-ed in The Washington Post. “We need to reach beyond our isolated bubbles. In other places, reaching out frequently started with a few people who had the imagination to take a small risk: They dared to open a conversation with their perceived enemies in their own community. This small step was the start of a meaningful journey.”

Lederach says there are ways to tamp down polarization and begin to forge connection. “Refuse to belittle others. Stay curious about their lives. Speak about your own deeply held convictions without blame, retreat or demonization.”

“Finally, we need to stick with it. We can’t just pull away when difficult issues emerge,” he said. "We must engage on policy but also acknowledge deep-seated fears, historic wrongs and identity differences.”

Lederach offers reflections on his own experience and perspectives for us in the U.S. today in The Pocket Guide for Facing Down a Civil War.

How You Can Support Civity’s Work

Thank you for supporting and practicing civity! To support Civity’s work with a tax-exempt donation, CLICK HERE to donate online or get instructions for sending a check.

Your donation helps fund our communications and enables us to give free workshops to small nonprofits.

Our work is more important than ever, and we can’t do it without you. Help us reach more people and provide more support to leaders across the country seeking to build civity.

Let’s grow our civity community by reaching out to “others” and bridging across divides. Together, we can create a culture where we ALL belong.

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