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Thoughts and Inspiration for Connecting Across Differences

We are Crossing Party Lines

What we do is get regular people together to talk about real issues with curious minds and open hearts.

How we do it is by teaching and modeling the skills that allow us to…

CPL Moderator Training Syllabus

CPL Moderator Training is a science-based training that teaches you to design, moderate, and participate in respectful and productive discussions on controversial topics. Past graduates 

Why Choose Hope

“Delhi Burning” screamed the headlines of a major newspaper. It was November 2nd 1984, and riots plagued Delhi, after the then Indian Prime Minister Mrs.

Bringing It Home

Ask any of your friends or family members why America is polarized these days and they’re likely to give you answers ranging from social media or

America’s Most Wicked Problem

Toxic polarization is wreaking havoc with our democracy, driving wedges between elected officials, alienating co-workers, and tearing friendships and families apart.  It fuels the divisiveness

Facebook Heartache

I Went to Facebook Seeking Connection. Instead, I found Heartache. I used Facebook for nearly ten years for personal and business use. What started out

The Root of The Political Divide

The Root of The Political Divide The cause of the current oppositional style of political talk is not a problem with the people we’re talking

How We Talk Across Differences

We begin every meeting by letting participants know how we keep our conversations civil, respectful and fun.  Before COVID, we would display posters with this

Why Talking Politics is So Difficult

One of the primary reasons talking politics with someone who has differing views is so challenging is we assume talking politics should be as easy as making sure they have all the facts we have. So we share our facts. But when our facts don’t change their mind, we’re likely to walk away complaining that “they just won’t listen!” or “they’re duped by the fake news they watch.”

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    WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

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    Learn why talking with friends and family members whose political views are different from your is so difficult.

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    CPL Workshop Image: Moderator Training -- connect, unite, bridge

    CPL 300: Moderator Training

    Learn to moderate conversations that cross differences through our 16-lesson online training.  This class is a mixture of self-paced lessons, virtual class discussions, one-on-one meetings with the instructor, and virtual practice sessions. Click here for Syllabus.

    You will learn how to create a safe and welcoming environment, how to ask open-ended and probing questions, how to manage emotions and conflicts, how to listen actively and empathically, and how to foster mutual learning and collaboration.

    Our goal in offering this professionally designed training for free is to meet our ever-increasing demand for CPL services.  Because of this, we ask that every student moderate a minimum of 3 meetups upon completion of this course.

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    CPL 300: Moderator's Training

    Please email me with information about upcoming sessions.