Interactivity Foundation

10/05/2026

Our newest CDP newsletter just dropped this morning and is full of exciting announcements! Are you subscribed?

New trainings, meetups, coaches, grantees, and a new fellowship with open applications

09/25/2026

Hello Friends,

Our Discussion Club has been running for three weeks now, with our first topic being "We the People" and what it means to belong. Much of the feedback we have received is that participants were nervous about having real conversations with people they didn't know or thought might have different viewpoints. That's fair, but it's also the point.

Ultimately, their nervousness turned to curiosity, turned into connection. Many found connections through activities or experiences they shared with other participants.

One such experience was a multi-generational shared love of Argentinian Tango Dancing. Who knew? Nobody until they were in the same room, getting to know each other while discussing "We the People".

As everyone gets excited and gears up for next month's topic, "The Future of Childhood," we are excited to see the connections build and will hopefully start laying the foundation for deeper discussions and stronger social trust.

Not to get ahead of ourselves; we still have a week left in the "We the People" discussion. Which leads us to a hard pivot.

Our Collaborative Discussion Project (CDP) Fellow Kara Dillard gave us an interview several months ago and now seems like a good time to share it. Kara got us thinking about the "We" in "We the People"

Let us know what you think!

If you are interested in learning more about what we do or exploring our discussion clubs, we'll put the link in the comments.
JMU's Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue

09/21/2026

A short recap of our time at Eradicate Hate Global Summit 2026 in Pittsburgh, PA! Over the course of three days, we invited attendees to engage with us through thoughtful prompts, cookies, and collaboration.

Day 1 - "What trait creates positive collaboration?"
Day 2 - "Tell us a topic you'd like to discuss with your neighbors?"
Day 3 - "What feels left unsaid (at the end of the Eradicate Hate conference)?"

These prompts are influenced by content from our Collaborative Discussion Project and our national Discussion Clubs. We encourage you to visit our website and check out all that we do!

Collaborative Discussion Project - https://www.collaborativediscussionproject.com/

Discussion Clubs - https://www.interactivityfoundation.org/apply-to-become-an-if-discussion-club-host/

09/15/2026

We are at the Eradicate Hate Summit in Pittsburgh this week! Please come to our table for a cookie and collaboration! 😊

09/01/2026

We are very excited about this new toolkit from Campus Compact and American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which promotes civic reflection in higher education.

Shannon Wheatley Hartman, our President, personally endorsed this new resources: "More than a toolkit for community engagement, it is an invitation to reimagine higher education as a place where collaborative learning cultivates civic responsibility, strengthens relationships across differences, and renews the public purposes of higher education."

It has also been endorsed by Citizen University CEO Eric Liu and Timothy K. Eatman, Professor and Inaugural Dean of the Honors Living-Learning Community at Rutgers University—Newark. Learn more here:

🍎💡”Engaging Community: A Toolkit for Reciprocal Teaching and Learning Beyond the Campus,” by Nicholas Longo (Rutgers Democracy Lab), Carmine Perrotti, Ph.D. (Feinstein Institute) & Matthew Roy (Leduc Center for Civic Engagement) co-published by Campus Compact and American Association of Colleges and Universities, is a free, open-access resource that helps educators design meaningful community-engaged learning experiences!

Organized into six adaptable modules that support faculty learning communities, professional development, graduate education, and undergraduate courses, the toolkit combines foundational concepts with:

✍️ Lesson plans
▶️ Video interviews with expert community-engaged scholars, educators, and local community practitioners
📚 Curated readings
🎯 Interactive activities
💭 Civic reflection prompts

🔗 Click the link in our bio to access the publication now!

09/01/2026

Courtney Ehrlichman, Executive Director of CONNECT, recently joined us for an in-person Collaborative Discussion Coach training held in Pittsburgh, PA and shares her takeaways.

To learn more about our flagship program, the Collaborative Discussion Project (CDP), visit our website at interactivityfoundation.org/cdp or email us at [email protected]!

08/27/2026

We recently hosted an in-person coach training for community leaders in Pittsburgh, PA! Darla Cravotta, a Community Strategist who is now retired after 35 years in the local government and nonprofit sectors, gives her insights into the value of collaborative discussion.

To learn more about the Collaborative Discussion Project (CDP), visit our website at interactivityfoundation.org/cdp or email us at [email protected]!

08/24/2026

We had a blast recently hosting an in-person coach training for community leaders in Pittsburgh, PA!

Led by IF President Shannon Wheatley-Harmon and IF Director of Education Jes Friedrichs, participants engaged in a variety of activities from the Collaborative Discussion Project (CDP) Toolkit to learn how to facilitate healthy democratic dialogue. Everyone left the training charged and hungry for more!

To learn more about CDP, visit our website at interactivityfoundation.org/cdp or email us at [email protected]!

A special thanks to the The Pittsburgh Foundation for hosting us!

07/17/2026

Happy Friday, everyone,

Just a friendly Friday reminder: Discussion Club applications are still open. Maine and North Carolina just came through. We are 18 states short of our goal of all 50 states- we'd love to get all fifty states for the 250th anniversary of our Country!

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07/16/2026

Hello Friends and Colleagues,

Discussion Club host application update.

We just got an application from Maine. You know, the state with the motto "The Way Life Should Be." We like that, and we think Discussion Club life should be represented by all 50 states.

Jason, our Discussion Club Coordinator, agrees and is challenging our friends in Colorado, Arizona, North Carolina, and Tennessee to apply next.

Don't worry, we are still coming for Alabama, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Interested in helping us pull this off? Apply below or reach out to us directly if you have any questions. Application closes Sunday, July 19th.