Rachel Mosness - Executive Director of David Mathews Center for Civic Life in Alabama. Happy to be here!

Sara calling in from Boston.I work with ActiVote.

Tara Bailey, I Vote Madison, Madison, Alabama www.ivotemadison.com

Hi everyone - I'm Joanna Kenty, I'm the curriculum designer at The Citizens Campaign in NJ

Nancy Petitto, Director of Civic Health at Civic Nebraska, Lincoln, NE

Jules Ward, Civic Nebraska.

John Kilcoyne calling in from Washington, DC. With the NCoC

Steve Smith - Director of Communications - Civic Saturday Fellow - Civic Nebraska - Lincoln, Nebraska.

This is Martha. Hello from San Diego.

Aviva Rosman, BallotReady

Harry Boyte, Institute for Public Life and Work, St. Paul,

Marlene Rebori, Reno Nevada—cough, cough…smokey

Donnan Stoicovy, State College, PA

Norma Ramos, Associate Director, Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement at University of Illinois Chicago

Patty Dineen, with the National Issues Forums Institute, Gibsonia, PA (near Pittsburgh)

Carla Michalak, Civic Engagement Coordinator at SUNY Broome Community College, Professor of Political Science

Suzanne - Public Services Librarian - Bellingham Public Library, WA

Frank & Kim Spillers, Rural Community Solutions, co- owners, Atlantic, Iowa

bob berlin

Roy Speckhardt, Development Director at VoteRiders based in DC.

Alzeta Wilson, Junior State of America, joining in from Georgia

Dave Hutchinson, State College PA Hi, Donnan!

Macon, Ga.

Julie Lester, Professor of Political Science at Middle Georgia State University

Paul Brown, Civic Innovation Center at UMD School of Public Policy, College Park, MD

Daniel Schugurensky, Director, Participatory Governance Initiative, Arizona State Unuversity

Buck RyanDirector, Citizen Kentucky ProjectSchool of Journalism and MediaUniversity of Kentuckybuck.ryan@uky.edu

Robert Richards, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service

Hi everyone! I'm Lauren Lockhart - Civic Fellow at the David Mathews Center for Civic Life joining from Athens, GA.

Senta Goudy, WVU Parkersburg

Hello! Allie Christianson (she/her), Senior Community Organizer at Civic Nebraska in Lincoln, NE

Mike Huggins, Clear Vision Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI

Amy Pason, University of Nevada, Reno. I teach courses that utilize National Issues Forums to have deliberative discussions with our campus community.

Dana Morris-Jones, SCC, Scarborough Maine

Ericka Burroughs-Girardi, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps at the University of WI Population Health Institute. I live in Deltona, FL.

Anastasia Marchese, program manager for Unite America https://www.uniteamerica.org/

Elyssa Feder, Rising Organizers, Washington, DC https://www.risingorganizers.org/

Hello Joshua V. Barr, in Des Moines, IA by way of South Carolina. Local Government Consultant with Raising the Barr LLC

Vicki Totten in Rockport/Corpus Christi Texas

Bishal Dahal, HR Innovations

Marco Rodríguez FIU student

Good afternoon! Darla Minnich, National Issues Forums Institute

Greg Schuckman, Commissioner from Maryland to the Education Commission of the States

Mike St. Louis, Atlanta, Georgia Youth Leads

ActiVote Constitution Week exercise: https://acti.vote/ConstitutionDay2022

National Civic League’s Model City Charter: https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/resources/model-city-charter-9th-edition/

Jacqueline Crucet in Lewiston, Maine, working to implement a $30 Choice HUD award to help revitalize this historically diverse river town.

Susan Clark, Common Knowledge, San Rafael CA

Zack Schuman, Hamilton College (Clinton, NY) - Levitt Center for Public Affairs

NCoC civic measurement page: https://ncoc.org/Civic-Health-Initiative-2/

All three resources Matt mentioned:

ActiVote Constitution Week exercise: https://acti.vote/ConstitutionDay2022National Civic League’s Model City Charter: https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/resources/model-city-charter-9th-edition/NCoC civic measurement page: https://ncoc.org/Civic-Health-Initiative-2/

Miles Fidelman, Formerly President, Center for Civic Networking, currently launching "civic.net"

Frank Valadez, American Bar Association, Division for Public Education

Kelsey Ensign, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Greetings from Romania, Eastern Europe! I am Iulia Georgescu, former fellow with the Kettering Foundation, working with the civic sector on Romania

Amy Neugebauer, The Giving Square

Hello everyone! I am a program manager for Earth Force, working nation-wide in the US, but I work in the Mid-Atlantic Region. We consider ourselves the home of environmental action civics. Happy to connect sjennings@earthforce.org

Reminder: as we chat, please feel free to ask any questions that you have in the chat! We will hold a Q&A towards the end of the session

Hi All, I am from Trinidad and Tobago and was the spokesperson for Canada, USA and Caribbean at the Summit of the Americas for the theme Democratic Governance.

Hello everyone! Shakira Mills here. Deputy Chief of Staff for Bridge Alliance

Good afternoon! I am zooming from Winona State University in Winona, MN, and a BIG FAN of Betty, Derek, Brad, and Matt. Excited to be here and learn with them and all of you.

Stephen Buckley, Training & Education Lead, Northeast U.S. chapter, International Assn. for Public Participation (USA) -- sbuckley@OpenGovMetrics.com

Katharine Kravetz, School of Education, American University. www.teachcommunity.org.

Good afternoon, it is an honor to be here. Gustavo Ruiz Arana from Guatemala. Myrna Mack Foundation. gruiz@myrnamack.org.gt rarana.gustavo@gmail.com

Lonnie from Central Virginia (Farmville). Interfaith Coalition, Literacy Council, and Homeless Taskforce

Please drop any questions you have in the chat!

Bilbo Baggins at his 111th birthday: "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

haha yep ^

I think one of the huge, and most important challenges right now is to make citizens be at the center of democracy again. There is a need to work from that point of view. Speccially in those places where democracy is on jeopardy. And yes, leadership is one of the most important things to have in mind to achieve this again

Do we need a new definition of democracy?

I am glad to communicate after this call with individuals interested in measurement and evaluation issues. I recently retired after several decades doing research on civic and political engagement nationally and in Europe. .

I would love to have some of you be on a civic leader and public policy panel for educators facilitating environmental civic action projects with students in the Mid-Atlantic region- email me if interested sjennings@earthforce.org

As a reminder, here are the resources Matt mentioned at the beginning of the session:ActiVote Constitution Week exercise: https://acti.vote/ConstitutionDay2022National Civic League’s Model City Charter: https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/resources/model-city-charter-9th-edition/NCoC civic measurement page: https://ncoc.org/Civic-Health-Initiative-2/

Anyone can feel free to contact me at brourke@kettering.org or find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter.

This is both a design and a capacity building question. What are all of your experiences with civic spaces/institutions that are inclusive and empowering over time (e.g. libraries, locally rooted schools)? and how to people learn to create and sustain them?

my question is how can we help connect citizens with democracy and those in power to make change? How can we help facilitate those channels for educators and students?

Sarah, that's the question that guides my organization so I'd be happy to talk to you about it—elyssa@risingorganizers.org. You can look at our website at risingorganizers.org

Emily Kavanaghh, MS SPED Social Studies Teacher, Annapolis, MD, Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Relatedly, I have a question—I run an organization that trains people who are new to civic life on community organizing skills. The idea is basically if more people can organize we have more robust civic participation. One of the things I struggle with is communicating the broad vision of democracy we have on this call to funders because it's complicated! How do you talk about your work with others that is specific and speaks to the urgency of the moment?

Q: do you have advice for citizens engaging with local government? Are there local government officials or bodies they can engage with that are more impactful or less commonly known?

Michael Steinback Detroit CARES Mentoring Movement, Mildred Madison Center for Civic Engagement, Associate of Amy Bloom and her “We The People” project in Michigan. Question to panel, Why do you think so many people are not engaged or don’t take this dilemma seriously? Suggested solutions?

yes, michael's question ^

Brad, you are my kind of researcher! 🤗

it occurs to me to note, that in these days of COVID, in a town with classic town meeting - a lot more people show up for zoom hearings, of boards and commissions, than used to show up in person, or at town meeting -

I have found that Betty's what's next West Virginia approach is a very engaging dialogue approach and have used aspects of it to do policy change in my local community

https://newpublic.org/

I LOVE THESE QUESTIONS.

With COVID, many municipalities began providing live-stream and recordings of their meetings if they weren't already doing so. This deconstructed a barier and allowed people to view meetings who may not have been able to otherwise. What are some ways our organizations can work together to push towards ensuring this level of access is available to cities large and small?

What tools are people using to capture comments on virtual dialogues?

Michael, Matt and Tina Nabatchi’s book on public participation, in chapters 1 and 2, has some useful answers to your question: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Public+Participation+for+21st+Century+Democracy-p-9781118688403

I also note that, among folks who live in condo complexes - folks just don't think like owners, or citizens. it's always somebody else's job. people are quick to complain on Facebook, or Next door, but ask people to come together to work an issue - the silence is deafening.

Yes Betty!

Question: Is anyone (else) working on an evaluation tool that captures an individual's experience with a *specific* public event? -- "How many 'stars' would you give this meeting?" -- sbuckley@opengovmetrics.com

The stereotypes and narratives that drive the type of interaction that Pastor Hammond just described are toxic. So, conversations become difficult. :-(

George Packer's essay in The Atlantic in October, "On Democracy's Front Lines," describes the resurfacing on an immense scale of a different kind of politics, focused on horizontal relations not mainly vertical ones, that generates self-organized civic work. THe "naming" of this as an old concept, Hromada, is one key to the Ukrainians self-organizing. Do you see parallels in the US in traditions in democratic movements and movements? Here's the link to Packer's essay https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/10/ukraine-invasion-civilian-volunteers-survival/671241/?preview=yxGAqc_yV9annJAA2Cze3CLxPy0

Stephen, Matt and NCoC have the Engagement Scorecard: https://ncoc.org/engagement-scorecard/

As a reminder: The chat will be available to review with the recording

currently working this now - our large condo complex is facing major infrastructure issues (shades of Champlain Towers), and an auto dealer just purchased the mall next door - but does anybody want to do more than hand wringing... nope ... I'm trying to figure out why two other neighborhoods in town have really grown their village centers, but nobody here even wants to think about neighborhood revitalization - I think it has to do with not having an active merchant's association in our corner of town

Democracy is an overused word. It means one thing on election day and another between that day and the next one.

Some links to resources I've collected from the conversation and the chat:ActiVote Constitution Week exercise: https://acti.vote/ConstitutionDay2022National Civic League’s Model City Charter: https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/resources/model-city-charter-9th-edition/NCoC civic measurement page: https://ncoc.org/Civic-Health-Initiative-2/Check out NewPublic: https://newpublic.org/NCoC’s Engagement Scorecard: https://ncoc.org/engagement-scorecard/Matt and Tina Nabatchi’s book on Public Participation: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Public+Participation+for+21st+Century+Democracy-p-9781118688403

Has there been any research among the different immigrant groups and their concept of democracy?

I'm hoping the chat can be emailed to participants because there is such great information here.

ideas of democracy, politics and power have all shriveled and shrunk, from what I remember from the civil rights movement.

we have had decades of "civic engagement" initiatives - mostly rebuffed by elected officials & paid staff (vote for me, and maybe we'll have some orchestrated "town meeting" and pro-forma hearings; leave to staff - we're the experts, maybe come and listen to presentations about staff-developed master plans).

League of Women Voters is another group that can work across party lines to address issues.

is it still possible to start a new CDC or EDC or Neighborhood Initiative, in today's climate?

Hi there, Vicki!

I've been working on some pieces about libraries about centers of civic (and other) education. How are libraries doing in your communities?

our organization has worked with citizen leaders who came up with great solutions to make their local governments more responsive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PHqy2sup9A&list=PLrvTpvjotivLASN3e3Xpj7DNJ3kji8K30&index=13

Re: Chat -- I will make sure to save all of this excellent information and send it out with today's recording!

Thanks John!

Here in Arizona we have been focusing on schools for 10 years (especially school participatory budgeting) and recently those efforts expanded to local democracy initiatives on healthcare, safety, sustainability, etc.

I feel like these questions are themselves excellent research. Each one has an idea at its core that can be built upon.

How do you address the elephant in the room, namely, the elephant that is NOT in the room…those people who do not think democracy is imperiled or who want to reframe it to suit their non democratic platform?

I am the president of the Madison (Wisconsin) Library Board and also serve on the board of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation, sponsor of statewide competition on ciivic knowledge for high school students.

Our passion for moving these ideals forward is palpable. But coming back to reality and speaking for libraries, staff are so overwhelmed and exhausted. The need for collaborative efforts is key, but stepping forward and taking that catalytic role is appealing but challenging.

The forthcoming special issue of Library Quarterly, edited by Nancy Kranich, is on the civic roles of libraries.

I recently learn that maybe we have to re-learn about what move us to act in democracy? From it, we can have beautiful reflections and renovate our believes

These civic infrastructure hubs work really well when the team starts with discovering and honoring the already occurring informal community networks. We start with unexpected “superconnectors" outside of the organizational structures.

I think it important to recognize that the "faith community" is very diverse and not all entities therein seem well qualified to promote civic virtue.

We need to rethink political leaders from being saviors, service providers to being catalysts for citizen work and deliberation. Participatory budgeting is one example. Others?

Thanks for looking to libraries! So glad my deliberative dialogue partners are recognizing our role. Many libraries, including my local public library (I'm a board member), are getting support for renovations. We need your help to make sure we incorporate the kinds of spaces we need to create that front porch for the community. Eager to review the NCOC links. Thanks so much Matt! And thanks Derrick and Betty for your acknowledgement of the roles of libraries, Harry for his passions and support, and Brad for helping librarians convene and moderate forums.

We need more Derricks in this world.

...We sure do!

And a fe more Bettys

Scroll up a bit for Susan Clark’s wisdom. I wish I had added her point to my comments, and I certainly agree wholeheartedly with it!

+1 on the Betty's!

Definitely!

one might also note that, in New England, "First Churches" were both the initial seats of town government, and the birthplace of town meetings. Unfortunately, in these days of loss of religion, and churches taking on divisive positions (anti-abortion, anti-oppression,....) that divide people rather than bringing folks together.

Harry -- you have asked THE question that I think can catalyze the culture shift we need. By working adjacent to the decision space, we amend the soil in our communities — improving trust, collaboration -- and that helps us decide together better. It would be great to have a session where we compare notes on “co-production” -- which, as you note, involves design and capacity building.

Great conversation! Thanks to each of you for all you do!

Some resources I've collected from the chat:

ActiVote Constitution Week exercise: https://acti.vote/ConstitutionDay2022National Civic League’s Model City Charter: https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/resources/model-city-charter-9th-edition/NCoC civic measurement page: https://ncoc.org/Civic-Health-Initiative-2/Check out NewPublic: https://newpublic.org/NCoC’s Engagement Scorecard: https://ncoc.org/engagement-scorecard/Matt and Tina Nabatchi’s book on Public Participation: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Public+Participation+for+21st+Century+Democracy-p-9781118688403The Citizens Campaign: You have more power than you think you have! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PHqy2sup9A&list=PLrvTpvjotivLASN3e3Xpj7DNJ3kji8K30&index=14

I served on the Madison Common Council several decades ago for almost 10 years. It is one of my favorite memories!

Thank you so much, to all . . . and to NCoC for convening us and for all the work you do. Many thanks Matt!

Susan, Your comments about networks are so essential. Particularly the invisible ones.

Hear, hear, hear thanks for this great conversation and good group wisdom!

Great conversation -- thank you!

Thank you!!

Wonderful and informative conversation and chat. Thank you all.

Great conversation, thank you!!

Thank you!

Thanks for a great program!

Thank you all your your input!

Thank you.