Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

This bill offers a tipping point in civic bridge-building

A bridge under construcdtion
Retina Charmer Productions/Getty Images

Taylor is a mediator, developmental psychologist, civic dialogue trainer and member of Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

Last summer, as I taught a conflict resolution skills workshop at a faith-based university conference, I did not hesitate to seize the moment when two class participants publicly conflicted with each other. An older woman had taken offense at being called a “Karen” by a younger participant who had privately shared with me that she was neurodivergent and struggled reading social cues. Rather than shy away from the tension, I carefully listened and helped guide the two parties towards a reconciliation in front of the class using the bridge-building principles we had just discussed.

In a very real way, I link this type of public but personal reconciliation to bolstering the great American experiment of democracy. Whether at church, in our schools, at work, in our neighborhoods or at home, bridges are built one human connection at a time.


Paralleling my faith-based conflict experience, Rep. Derek Kilmer of (D-Wash.) witnessed polarization in his own community when fights began to break out at the local YMCA over political disagreements. To address widespread need for civic bridge-building throughout the country, Kilmer and a bipartisan group lawmakers are supporting the Building Civic Bridges Act to support training and research on civic bridge-building throughout our country. This bill explicitly focuses on bridging divides through community-focused projects, relationship building and sustaining, or addressing the root causes of polarization through ready channels such as AmeriCorps, which is already active throughout communities across the United States.

We have reached a tipping point and find ourselves with an opportunity for constructive action.

Given this national source of positive momentum, I believe this is the very time to take deliberate action to join this effort to renew hope, reinvigorate dialogue and reconcile our differences through civic engagement. There is so much we can do to change the course of our national trajectory if we choose to support constructive steps currently in the making.

From my perspective as a mediator, I am heartened every time I train another person to approach difficult conversations with curiosity, humility and skill. I get to watch the magic come alive when someone not only listens to a political rival but then has the opportunity to share their own views without fear of reprisal. Since 2013, I have been teaching, training, and researching about peace and conflict resolution because I know that peace is woven into the fabric of our lives one constructive interaction at a time rather than willed into existence on a whim or coerced from above.

Through my doctoral research of families who experience religious and political differences, I have learned firsthand that certain types of families thrive despite their differences. They manage to maintain strong social cohesion amidst difference. When family members demonstrate warmth, empathy and respect for each other’s autonomy, members tend to thrive. At heart, I believe that most Americans want peace with each other but don’t know where to begin. We must start at the very foundations for connecting our lives with others. We learn to listen to someone, share our personal views without attacking, and seek common ground because that is the foundation of our democratic society.

Rather than surrender to fear and negativity from within and without, we can reposition ourselves as the America that sets an example for other countries to follow around the world. Over many decades, the United States has spent tens of millions of dollars through the National Endowment for Democracy to support civic bridge-building and foster social cohesion in other countries, recognizing its foundational importance to strengthening democracy. It is time for some of that work to be done here at home.

Let us turn from our skepticism toward constructive action to create the very societal conditions we desire. May we each do our part to support efforts to preserve, promote, restore, and enhance the freedom and societal connection that lie at the foundation of American society. I support the BCBA because I know that actively creating the conditions that facilitate peaceful processes, social relationships, and even critical national outcomes requires effort and engagement at every level of society, beginning one human interaction at a time.

Read More

It’s Time for a New American Agenda
blue and white star print textile

It’s Time for a New American Agenda

America is once again gripped by multiple political and societal crises. Most days in our local communities and in our wider public lives it can feel like we’re living through dizzying confusion, chaos, and division.

Acrimonious partisanship only deepens in Washington, DC, and our state capitols. Renewed calls for a third party are heating up, while Democrats plan to spend tens of millions of dollars to understand voters better, as if they had just discovered some new civilization. It’s like we’re collectively stuck in the Tower of Babel, unable to understand one another and what we share in common.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hope, Champagne, and the Courage To Celebrate in Turbulent Times
Getty Images, wilatlak villette

Hope, Champagne, and the Courage To Celebrate in Turbulent Times

“There is hope, a way forward, however unpredictable. We can dance around the petulant games of powerful men. But, as ever, we are at the mercy of the seasons.” - Widow Clicquot

“Widow Clicquot,” adapted from a book by Tilar J. Mazzeo, is the story of Barbe Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, widowed in 1805 at the age of 27, who inherited her husband’s debt-ridden vineyards. Against all odds, particularly as women had virtually no economic “value” or power in the early 19th century, she, and her vineyards, eventually prospered. It was she who created the Veuve Clicquot champagne dynasty.

Keep ReadingShow less
Defining The Democracy Movement: Ben Bain
- YouTube

Defining The Democracy Movement: Ben Bain

The Fulcrum presents The Path Forward: Defining the Democracy Reform Movement. Scott Warren's interview series engages diverse thought leaders to elevate the conversation about building a thriving and healthy democratic republic that fulfills its potential as a national social and political game-changer. This initiative is the start of focused collaborations and dialogue led by The Bridge Alliance and The Fulcrum teams to help the movement find a path forward.

The latest interview in this series features Ben Bain, Director of State Capacity at the Niskanen Institute and Volunteer Coordinator in Washington, DC, for More Perfect Union, a bridging organization—where we originally met.

Keep ReadingShow less

Angelica Salas’s Journey From Undocumented Immigrant to Community Leader at CHIRLA

Angelica Salas has long been a leading advocate for immigrant rights in Los Angeles. Since becoming Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) in 1999, she has transformed the organization into one of the most powerful immigrant-led advocacy groups in the country. Her leadership has redefined what grassroots organizing can look like, mobilizing communities around issues ranging from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to voter outreach and legal services.

Salas’s journey into activism is deeply personal. Born in Durango, Mexico, she arrived in the United States at the age of five, undocumented, to reunite with her parents who had migrated for work. Growing up in Pasadena, California, her family lived in the shadows of deportation until they were able to legalize their status. In 2008, Salas became a U.S. citizen, adding a powerful chapter to a story she shares with many of the people CHIRLA serves. Her own experience navigating the U.S. immigration system informs her commitment to building dignity, not dependency, in the immigrant rights movement. After graduating from Occidental College with a degree in history and sociology, Salas joined CHIRLA in 1995 and became its executive director just four years later.

Keep ReadingShow less