We Train People to Build Civity
We all have the power to initiate change.
Creating civity – a cultural infrastructure of positive relationships across difference – consists of concrete, do-able, everyday actions in which everyone can engage. As with meditation and yoga, civity invites participants to make intentional relationship-building a personal practice – accessible to people in their everyday personal and professional lives.
Civity trainings build participants’ capacity and skills to reach out intentionally and authentically to people who are different from themselves. Participants practice respect and empathy by becoming both story-tellers and story-listeners. By sharing personal stories, they put difference on the table so they can more clearly see and understand each other.
Training topics include:
➤ Being Intentional about Relationality in Conversation
➤ Bringing Authenticity to Story-Sharing
➤ Making the Invisible Visible by Putting Difference on the Table
Civity’s in-person and online trainings range from introductory workshops that give participants a “taste” of civity practice to in-depth coaching sessions that prepare participants to facilitate civity experiences for others. Trainings vary from a couple of hours to a half-day to a series of meetings with “homework” in-between. Civity supports workshop participants with post-workshop coaching (via phone, video conference, and/or email) as they practice civity in their own work.
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We Seed Civity in Communities
The essence of leadership is empowering others.
Relational infrastructure is the “social muscle” communities build for justice and resilience.
Civity partners with national, regional, and community organizations that are already working to connect disparate groups, dismantle injustices, and tap into the power of a broader range of people. Being intentional and strategic about bridging relationships focuses and strengthens their work.
If you are interested learning more about Seeding Civity, contact us.
Here are some examples of Seeding Civity in communities:
Redwood City, CA
Civity partnered with the Redwood City Public Library to conduct Human Library events, which allow community members to have respectful, empathetic conversations across and through difference. Civity’s relational skill-building helped human “Books” and “Readers” build Civity.
Louisville, KY
Civity reinforced the Partnership for a Compassionate Louisville in strengthening foundations for relational connections across Louisville communities. Civity’s workshops supported dozens of leaders in building community resilience.
Gillette, WY
Civity opened the annual conference of the Wyoming Association of County Officers with a training. Civity’s framing and exercises highlighted the value of relationships for local government officials.
Dover-Foxcroft, ME
Civity responded to non-profit convener Central Hall Commons’ call for support in connecting community members across political and economic differences. Civity’s virtual trainings helped lay the foundation for continuing work to address rural poverty.
Allegheny County, PA
Civity worked alongside the Allegheny County Department of Human Services as it deepened equity work within the organization. Civity’s relational approach added an important dimension to ongoing initiatives tackling racism, sexism, and other power dynamics.
Champaign-Urbana, IL
Civity helped The University YMCA – New American Welcome Center expand programming to build a widespread sense of belonging. Civity’s training and coaching brought the practice of relationality across difference to the Champaign County Welcoming Collaborative.
Salt Lake County, UT
Civity workshops and coaching enhanced a collaboration between the Mayor’s Office for New Americans and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to build a welcoming community. Civity’s emphasis on relationality provided common ground for diversity, equity, and solidarity.
San Jose, CA
Civity supported a partnership between the City of San José’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and local nonprofit Veggielution. Civity’s skill-building helped community organizations integrate connections between people across difference into existing collaborations.
Harrisonburg, VA
Civity provided training for Eastern Mennonite University’s President’s Council and Board of Trustees in being intentional and authentic and putting difference on the table. Civity’s relationality supported EMU in expanding the reach and depth of its diversity and equity work.
Washington, DC
Civity conducted a workshop with The Aspen Institute’s “Weave the People” initiative staff. Civity’s explicit lifting up of the value of connecting across difference spotlighted an important dimension of Weave’s support of community stewards – “leaders without titles.”
Our Common Purpose Initiative
Civity set a relational tone for OCP’s inaugural on-line conference for local leaders committed to democracy-building. Civity’s virtual workshop provided attendees the opportunity to connect with each other as well as language and skills for civity practice.
Strengthening Democracy Conference
Civity presented an 8-minute Civity Storytelling: Expanding the Pool of People Who Matter interactive intervention to Stanford University’s mega-study to test interventions to reduce political polarization. Civity’s intervention was found to be #1 among the 25 tested at increasing social trust, an essential quality for a healthy democracy.
We Tell the Civity Story
Stories help us imagine other people and other ways of being with each other.
Telling civity stories grows our understanding of what civity is and shows us the power of civity that already exists. Hearing civity stories and naming civity focuses our attention on the humanity of people who are different and on bridging relationships. Attention leads to intention, and intention leads to action.
Though civity is already alive and a vibrant part of our social culture, it is often hidden or overlooked. We lack language for describing the civic “fellow member of my community” relationships that weave communities together. We shy away from talking about differences of race, country of origin, and economic class or status due to lack of practice or fear of either giving offense or of not being heard.
Civity shares the stories of those creating civity and acting with a civity mindset on our blog, This Is Civity podcast, the Civity Facebook page, @ThisIsCivity on Twitter, @ThisIsCivity on Instagram, and the Civity newsletter. Naming civity where it is already thriving makes the civity relationship-building enterprise clearer and more intentional.
Our Partners
Everyone has a role in creating a “We All Belong” culture.
Our partners – cities, nonprofits, businesses, and foundations – recognize the importance of people sharing a “We’re All In This Together” view of their community. We collaborate with organizations that share our vision of weaving the relational infrastructure necessary for building communities of inclusion, belonging, and justice. Learn more about these organizations, below.
Hover over each logo to see what we did and how we helped bring communities together.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion at the Allegheny County Department of Human Services works with staff, contracted providers, and community partners to maintain and uphold the county’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The Center for Nonprofit Excellence elevates, aligns, and grows Greater Louisville’s nonprofit landscape through professional development, consultation, community events and more.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion at the Allegheny County Department of Human Services works with staff, contracted providers, and community partners to maintain and uphold the county’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Compassionate Louisville unites individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and government partners to fight for the education, interfaith, and social equality of each and every person in Louisville.
Lean Into Louisville is a series of presentations, conversations, activities and art exhibits that will explore and confront the history and legacy of all forms of discrimination and inequality in the city and the country.
The Legal Aid Society is a non-profit organization that provides civil legal assistance to families and individuals in poverty in 15 counties in Kentucky.
The Mayor’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion supports and promotes an inclusive community and government for all through dialogue, respect, action, and celebration and bring about meaningful and sustainable change that unites and strengthens Salt Lake County.
The Mayor’s Office of New Americans focuses on making Utah the most welcoming state by maximizing the economic potentials of New Americans and ensuring that all residents of Salt Lake County live in safe, healthy, and connected communities.
The New American Welcome Center at the University Y works to make our community a place where all immigrants can thrive and flourish, by engaging local institutions and mobilizing community resources to ensure equitable access to services, economic opportunity, and meaningful belonging.
Veggielution connects people from diverse backgrounds through food and farming to build community in East San José.