Reasons to feel hopeful

During these politically tumultuous weeks at home and abroad, and as we head into yet another bruising election cycle, it's reasonable to think that America faces even more deeply divided times ahead. As candidates jockey for votes and funding in competitive primaries, swing districts, and "purple" states, many will spew vitriol - endlessly amplified by news and social media outlets - urging us to detest their political opponents and the everyday Americans who support them.

Why then, should we feel hopeful? Because many leading indicators, not yet widely visible, suggest that Americans are more and more ready to turn the page on this era of extreme political and social division. And the 2024 election provides an opportunity to send a clear signal to dangerously divisive political and media figures that they need to turn the page, too.

So, are we out of the woods?

Not by a long shot. But it is amazing to see how much traction our grantees and the wider bridge-building field are gaining with the simple message that Americans (including our politicians) can disagree without demeaning, detesting, and demonizing each other. Read on for many inspiring examples of everyday Americans, civic leaders, and politicians who are leading this transformation. Enjoy!

Creating New American Stories of Us

Tim Shriver, Founder & CEO of UNITE and Co-Creator of The Dignity Index, speaks about the importance and transformative impact of storytellers during this time.“We can create a tipping point in this culture that turns this moment of great change, significant pain, and in many cases of painful division, we can convert this into something new. A different kind of country, a new kind of universal dignity, a new sense of what it means to belong, a new hope for how we do democracy, a new conviction about where justice lies in our future. We have got to have the storytellers help us do that. We have to have the new story of us.” Last month, Tim Shriver spoke about the role storytellers can play in shifting "us vs. them" narratives at the kick-off event of Creating New American Stories of Us from Bridge Entertainment Labs (BEL) and the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future. BEL, previously an incubated project of Civic Health Project, is now an independent nonprofit organization led by incoming president Steven Olikara. You can watch the entire event recording here. Watch the Tim Shriver Video

Meet our Newest Grantees!

Civic Health Project awarded grants to Care Lab, Civity, Essential Partners, and Living Room Conversations in recognition of their innovative models for building bridges, strengthening relationships, and fostering problem-solving in communities and institutions grappling with division.

From the halls of Congress to state legislatures, city councils, school boards, and community organizers, these teams strengthen America's civic fabric, stitch by stitch.

Civity helps leaders transform their communities by creating a culture in which everyone belongs. They support leaders across the country to build social trust. They provide support primarily through training and coaching, giving leaders energy and strategies for being more relational themselves and also for creating opportunities for others to connect across difference and build empathy. Civity extends its reach, scaling up their work, by teaching and supporting others with influence and access to community civic infrastructure.

CARE LAB works with leaders in Washington, D.C. to change the toxic climate in Congress. They convene quiet, under-the-radar gatherings that bring carefully curated bipartisan groups together to engage with tools for self-care, listening, bridging, and conflict management. Each evening in their dinners series has three components: structured conversation in groups and pairs, a presentation from an expert speaker, and an evidence-based tool selected to help them in their everyday and professional lives.

Essential Partners collaborates with civic groups, schools, faith communities, colleges, and organizations across the globe to build resilience, belonging, and trust across differences of values, beliefs, and identities.

Living Room Conversations works to heal society by connecting people across divides - politics, age, gender, race, nationality, and more – through guided conversations proven to build understanding and transform communities.

Inspiring Interview

Our grantee American Exchange Project was recently featured on on CBS Sunday Morning - watch the inspiring segment here.

Correspondent Lee Cowan talks with AEP's co-founder, David McCullough III, and with students who have crossed the boundaries of blue states and red states to find the grey areas of common ground.

Watch the Interview

Riveting Revamp

Common Ground Committee has revamped the Common Ground Scorecard, and it is gaining traction with politicians, media, and voters. The Common Ground Scorecard is a powerful lever for voters to encourage candidates and incumbents to work towards common ground. Consequently, the team at Common Ground Committee is fielding more and more inbound inquiry from politicians eager to understand what they must do to raise their score. Good news!

Try the Common Ground Scorecard

Remarkable Reading

Convergence has published a new working paper called No Greater Mission, No Greater Means on bridging in national service. In this working paper, Convergence maps out how national service can focus its unique assets and energies on helping communities bridge divides, especially divides driven by conflicting ideological, cultural, or political perspectives.

This includes recommendations such as ceritifying all Corps members in "Civic CPR," increasing viewpoint diversity, and building two-way bridges between the national service and bridgebuilding communities - read it here.

Read the Report

Provocative Podcast

Manu Meel, CEO of Civic Health Project grantee BridgeUSA, has kicked off a new podcast to build nuance and fight outrage. From Vivek Ramaswamy, 2024 GOP presidential candidate, to Tom Fishman, CEO of Starts With Us, Manu is hosting powerful conversations about how we can create a society that incentivizes curiosity, listening, and navigating our differences in search of solutions - listen here or on your favorite podcast app.

Listen to the Podcast

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) and Sullivan, Indiana Mayor Clint Lamb (D) model "Disagreeing Better" over dessert at a local diner.

America's Democratic and Republican governors hear from bridge-building leaders at a September convening in Manchester, NH.

Revealing Research

Earlier this year, Civic Health Project funded the Strengthening Democracy Challenge, led by Stanford's Polarization and Social Change Lab. The Challenge crowdsourced and tested online interventions to see whether they reduced anti-democratic attitudes, support for partisan violence or extreme levels of partisan animosity among more than 30,000 online participants.

One of the highest scored interventions for reducing affective polarization was this 2020 campaign ad Governor Spencer Cox (R-UT) filmed with his opponent. Since then, Gov Cox took inspiration from the results of the Strengthening Democracy Challenge, and in July 2023, the National Governors Association kicked off #DisagreeBetter to help address toxic polarization in America. Stanford Prof. Robb Willer, who led the Challenge, is now advising on the NGA campaign.

Learn About the Campaign

News Roundup

Summer 2023 was busy not only for Civic Health Project, but also for so many of our amazing grantees and partners in the bridge-building field. Here are just a few highlights from the field (some of which are also profiled above):

• American Exchange Project* on CBS Sunday Morning - watch the inspiring segment here.
• More Perfect Union* on News Nation - watch the interview here.
• Common Ground Committee revamped Common Ground Scorecard, now including presidential candidates - try it here.
• Braver Angels* National Convention in Gettysburg, PA - watch the highlights here.
• BridgeUSA* new podcast The Hopeful Majority, hosted by Manu Meel - download and listen here.
• Convergence published report, No Greater Mission, No Greater Means on bridging in national service - read it here.
• Millennial Action Project* Future Summit for young state legislators willing to work across the aisle - check out the agenda here.

*Civic Health Project grant recipient

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