Bridging Differences: A Virtual Summit for Dialogue and Understanding

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  Rev. Jennifer Bailey

  Named one of 15 Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress, Rev. Jennifer Bailey is an ordained minister, public theologian, and emerging national leader in multi-faith movement for justice.

  She is the founder and executive director of the Faith Matters Network, a Womanist-led organization equipping community organizers, faith leaders, and activists with resources for connection, spiritual sustainability, and accompaniment. Reverend Bailey comes to this work with nearly a decade of experience at nonprofits combatting intergenerational poverty.

  She is the co-founder of The People’s Supper. Since January 2017, The People’s Supper has hosted over 1,400 suppers in 121 communities nationwide focusing on bringing people together to engage constructively on issues affecting their communities. Along the way, the project has teamed up with ordinary citizens, schools, workplaces, faith communities, and neighborhood organizations to create space of collective healing over nourishing meals and conversation.

  An Ashoka Fellow, On Being Fellow and Truman Scholar, Reverend Bailey is an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church—the first historically black Protestant denomination in the world.

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  Joan Blades

  Joan Blades is a co-founder of LivingRoomConversations.org an open source effort to build respectful connections across ideological, cultural and party lines while embracing our core-shared values. When we care about each other we work to find ways to meet each other’s needs. Also a co-founder of MomsRising.org and MoveOn.org, she is a co-author of The Custom-Fit Workplace and The Motherhood Manifesto. A mediator (attorney) by training and inclination, she is a true believer in the power of citizens and our need for respectful discourse while embracing our core shared values.

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  Allison Briscoe-Smith

  Dr. Briscoe-Smith earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard University.  She then received her clinical psychology Ph.D. from University of California Berkeley. She then went on to continue her specialization in trauma and ethnic minority mental health through internship and postdoctoral work at  University of California San Francisco/San Francisco General Hospital.  She has combined her love of teaching and advocacy by serving as a professor and by directing mental health programs for children experiencing trauma, homelessness or foster care.  Much of her work has been with schools, as a clinician, consultant and trainer.  Currently she is an professor at the Wright Institute where she is also the director of the office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She provides consultation and training to bay area non profits and schools on how to support trauma informed practices and cultural accountability. 

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  Emile Bruneau

  Dr. Emile Bruneau is director of the Peace and Conflict Neuroscience Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on characterizing the psychological and cognitive processes that drive intergroup conflict and hostility, and building interventions that circumvent these processes and promote peace.

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  Andrew Hanauer

  Andrew Hanauer is the President and CEO of the One America Movement, an organization founded by faith and community leaders in the aftermath of the 2016 election to fight polarization. Under Andrew’s leadership, One America has launched projects that bring Americans together across divides to address race relations, opioids, poverty and religious differences across the country, from Utah, to Oklahoma, to California, to West Virginia, to some of our nation’s largest cities. In addition to running projects that unite Americans across divides, One America trains religious leaders on the dynamics of polarization and division.

  Under Andrew’s leadership, One America has built from scratch a board and leadership that spans the political, racial and religious spectrum, including senior leaders from national Muslim, Jewish and Evangelical Christian institutions, including the Southern Baptist Convention, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Wheaton College, Repair the World, American Jewish World Service, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and from the Cato Institute, Black Lives Matter, the George W. Bush Administration, Silicon Valley and more.

  Andrew is a frequent public speaker at houses of worship of all kinds, and has spoken at the United Nations, the National Press Club and Congressional briefings. His work has been published or featured by The Washington Post, National Public Radio, Salon, The Times of Israel, Voice of America, the Christian Citizen and media outlets across the US and abroad.

  Andrew holds a B.A. in History from Dartmouth College and a Master’s in International Studies from the University of San Francisco. He is a Deacon at his church, served on his Mayor’s transition team and on the Steering Committee of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition and is a proud husband and proud father of three.

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  Jacob Hess

  Jacob Hess is on the board of the National Coalition of Dialogue & Deliberation and co-director of the Respect + Rebellion Unorthodox Friendship Project. With his leftist atheist friend he wrote, "You’re Not as Crazy as I Thought, But You’re Still Wrong" and led the creation of the Red Blue Dictionary. He teaches Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction and founded the Council for Sustainable Healing – helping create support apps to promote deeper, more sustainable healing from depression-anxiety and compulsive pornography use. 

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  Katie Hyten

  Katie is the Co-Executive Director of Essential Partners, an organization that equips people to live and work better together in community by building trust and understanding across differences. She has also been a Visiting Fellow and Lecturer at Tufts University where she developed and co-taught a course entitled “Dialogue, Identity, and Civic Action. Prior to joining Essential Partners, Katie helped develop and manage the first university-wide interreligious institute at Pepperdine University and served as a mediator and independent consultant in conflict resolution processes. She was awarded Harvard’s Program on Negotiation (PON) Summer Fellowship to support her research and work with Search for Common Ground in Lebanon. Katie completed her master's degree in international negotiation and conflict resolution at Tufts University's Fletcher School, where her research addressed foreign policy in religious conflicts.

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  Lilliana Mason

  Lilliana Mason is associate professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, and author of Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity (University of Chicago Press).

  She received her PhD in Political Psychology from Stony Brook University and her BA in Politics from Princeton University. Her research on partisan identity, partisan bias, social sorting, and American social polarization has been published in journals such as American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Political Behavior, and featured in media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and National Public Radio.

  Mason received the 2017 Emerging Scholar Award from the Political Organizations and Parties Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA). Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, the Facebook Research Integrity Group, and the Democracy Fund.

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  Jenan Mohajir

  Inspired by faith and family to work for change at the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and religion, Jenan has served in a leadership position at Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) for thirteen years. She currently directs overall strategy, design, and implementation of the organization’s programs focused on alumni and student leaders, including the annual Interfaith Leadership Institute. For over a decade, Jenan has trained hundreds of young people from both religious and secular backgrounds to foster a vision and practice of civically engaged interfaith leadership. She also volunteers with Sirat Chicago, a neighborhood space that fosters a healthy community by supporting initiatives centered upon service and worship, education and arts, and family life. Living on the south side of Chicago with her husband and three children, Jenan is an enthusiastic collector of old children’s books.

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  Steven Olikara

  Steven Olikara (@StevenOlikara) is a political entrepreneur, and Founder & President of Millennial Action Project (MAP), the largest nonpartisan organization of millennial lawmakers in the U.S. Working with over 800 elected leaders in Congress and state legislatures, MAP is building a new generation of leadership to transcend the partisan divide and strengthen our democracy. A nationally-recognized political commentator, Steven has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NBC News, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, and other national outlets. An avid musician, he is also co-author of the new book, JFK: The Last Speech, on the role of artists in democracy.
  
  Previously, Steven advised two multi-platinum recording artists on youth empowerment and sustainable energy initiatives, including Akon Lighting Africa which electrified over 1 million homes in Africa with solar power. Steven also served as Truman Fellow at the World Bank where he focused on environmental protection. He has been a featured speaker at venues such as the Aspen Ideas Festival, the White House, Harvard’s Institute of Politics, SXSW, and the United Nations. He serves on numerous Boards and Commissions focused on advancing human rights, democracy, and national service.
  
  Steven has been named a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum, a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Law & Policy, an Aspen Institute Ideas Scholar, and one of the Most Influential Leaders Under 40 by Washington Life magazine. A proud Wisconsinite, Steven graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a Udall and Truman Scholar, the nation’s highest undergraduate honor for public service leadership.

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  Eboo Patel

  Eboo Patel is the Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a non-profit organization that is working to make interfaith cooperation a social norm in America. He is the author of four books and dozens of articles, has spoken on more than 150 campuses, and served on President Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council.

  A key figure on issues of religious diversity and democracy, Eboo was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report in 2009. He is the author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation; Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America; Interfaith Leadership: A Primer; and Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise. He also publishes a regular blog for Inside Higher Ed, called "Conversations on Diversity."

  Eboo holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship. He has been awarded the Louisville Grawemeyer Prize in Religion, the Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize, the El Hibri Peace Education Prize, the Council of Independent Colleges Academic Leadership Award, along with honorary degrees from 15 colleges.

  Eboo lives in Chicago with his wife, Shehnaz, and two young sons. He is a die-hard fan of Notre Dame Football, Wilco, and really good coffee.

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  Eve Pearlman

  Eve Pearlman is a lifelong journalist with a deep commitment to serving and building communities. She cofounded Spaceship Media in 2016 as an experiment in journalistic innovation with a mission to reduce polarization, build communities and restore trust in media. In the three years since, she has built a track record of developing, implementing and conceiving novel journalistic projects and approaches.

  Earlier in her career, Pearlman was a reporter, blogger, columnist and social media strategist. She is the veteran of two startups: Patch, AOL's effort at serving local news markets; and State, a London-based social media platform connecting people around shared interests and views. She holds a bachelor's from Cornell University and a master's in journalism from Northwestern University. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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  john powell

  john a. powell is Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute and Professor of Law, African American, and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He was previously the Executive Director at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University, and prior to that, the founder and director of the Institute for Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. john formerly served as the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He is a co-founder of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the boards of several national and international organizations. john led the development of an “opportunity-based” model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and is well-known for his work developing the frameworks of “targeted universalism” and “othering and belonging” to effect equity-based interventions. john has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University. His latest book is Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.

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  Amanda Ripley

  Amanda Ripley is a contributing writer at the Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Emerson Collective. She is the author of The Smartest Kids in the World—and How They Got That Way, a New York Times bestseller. Her first book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—and Why, was published in 15 countries and turned into a PBS documentary.

  In her books and magazine writing, Amanda explores the gap between public policy and human behavior. For Time and the Atlantic, she has written cover stories on surviving hurricanes and plane crashes, the primacy of sports in American high schools, and the science of motivating children. She is currently working on book and magazine projects about the lure of toxic conflicts—and how some people manage to break free from their spell.

  Amanda’s work has also appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, Politico and the Times of London. Her stories helped Time win two National Magazine Awards. To discuss her writing, Amanda has appeared on ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX News and NPR. She has spoken at the Pentagon, the U.S. Senate, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as conferences on leadership, public policy and education.

  Before joining Time, Amanda covered Capitol Hill for Congressional Quarterly and courts and crime for Washington City Paper. She graduated from Cornell University. Amanda currently lives in Washington, D.C., where she spends her free time parenting, biking and coaching a boys’ soccer team.

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  Robb Willer

  Robb Willer is a professor of sociology, psychology and organizational behavior at Stanford University and the director of the Polarization and Social Change Lab. His research shows how moral values, typically a source of ideological division, can also be used to bring people together. His research has investigated various topics, including economic inequality, racial prejudice, masculine overcompensation and Americans’ views of climate change. Willer's writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Vox, including his op-ed “The Secret to Political Persuasion.”

This event will be held on the Zoom meeting platform. Links to join will be shared with registered participants via email one day prior to the event.

Attendees will be able to:

•  Identify key principles and strategies for bridging differences in daily life and work
•  Identify the biological roots of social division and polarization 
• Recognize misperceptions that can lead to partisan divides and dehumanization 
• Describe how promoting contact between members of different groups under appropriate conditions can promote understanding 
• Examine how speaking to people’s values can foster better understanding across political divides 

To be eligible for CE credits, attendees must first be registered for this event. For more information and to register, please click here.

Cosponsored by R. Cassidy Seminars, P.O. Box 14473, Santa Rosa, CA 95402

Satisfactory Completion
Participants must have paid tuition fee, signed in and out each day, attended the entire seminar, and completed an evaluation in order to receive a certificate. Failure to sign in or out each day will result in forfeiture of credit for the entire course. No exceptions will be made. Partial credit is not available. Certificates available following course completion at www.ceuregistration.com

Psychologists
R. Cassidy Seminars is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  R. Cassidy Seminars maintains responsibility for this program and its content. 6 CE hours

Psychoanalysts
NY: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychoanalysts. #P-0005. (6) clock hours. Live in-person.

Social Workers
CA: The Board of Behavioral Sciences has deferred CE course approvals to APA and other states’ licensing board approvals for its licensees. See those approvals under Psychologists and Social Workers
Other States: If your state is not specifically listed, nearly all state Social Work boards accept either APA or are reciprocal with other state licensing board approvals, such as those listed below. Check with your board to be sure. The Ohio Board includes social Workers.
IL-SWs: Illinois Dept of Professional Regulation, Approved Continuing Education Sponsor, #159.000782.  (6) hours.
NY: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider (#0006) of continuing education for licensed social workers. This program is approved for 6 contact hours Live in-person.
OH: Provider approved by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board for (6) clock hours, #RCST110701

Counselors/Marriage and Family Therapists
CA: The Board of Behavioral Sciences has deferred CE course approvals to APA and other states’ licensing board approvals for its licensees. See those approvals under Psychologists and Social Workers.
Other States: If your state is not specifically listed, nearly all state Counselor and MFT boards accept either APA or are reciprocal with other state licensing board approvals, such as those listed below. Check with your board to be sure. The Ohio Board includes MFTS and Counselors.
IL-MFTs: Illinois Dept of Professional Regulation, Approved Continuing Education Sponsor, #168-000141.  (6) hours.
NY-LMHCs: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board of Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0015. (6) contact hours. Live in-person.
NY-LMFTs: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board of Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists. #MFT-0011. (6) contact hours. Live in-person.
OH: Provider approved by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board for (6) clock hours, #RCST110701
TX: Approved CE Sponsor through the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists. Provider #151 6 CE hours.

Creative Arts Therapists
NY: R. Cassidy Seminars is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board of Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists, #CAT-0005. (6) contact hours. Live in-person.

Chemical Dependency Counselors
CA: Provider approved by CCAPP, Provider #4N-00-434-0222 for (6) CEHs. CCAPP is an ICRC member which has reciprocity with most ICRC member states
TX: Provider approved by the TCBAP Standards Committee, Provider No. 1749-06, (6) hours general. Expires 1/31/2021.  Complaints about provider or workshop content may be directed to the TCBAP Standards Committee, 1005 Congress Avenue, Ste. 460, Austin, Texas 78701, Fax Number (512) 476-7297.

Educators
TX: R. Cassidy Seminars is an approved provider with the Texas Education Agency CPE# 501456. This course is (6) CE Hours.

Nurses
CA: Provider approved by the CA Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #CeP12224, for (6) contact hours

Occupational Therapists
R. Cassidy Seminars is an American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Approved Provider No. 6782. This course is offered for (6) CE Clock Hours (1 Clock Hour = .1 AOTA CEUs). The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.

Disability Access - If you require ADA accommodations please contact our office 30 days or more before the event. We cannot ensure accommodations without adequate prior notification.
Please Note: Licensing Boards change regulations often and while we attempt to stay abreast of their most recent changes, if you have questions or concerns about this course meeting your specific board’s approval, we recommend you contact your board directly to obtain a ruling.

There is no conflict of interest or commercial support for this program.

To learn more about the presenters, click the "Speakers" tab above. 

Simple, Flexible, Free, Effective: Living Room Conversations 

Joan Blades, Living Room Conversations

While Americans are well aware of the enormity of the polarization problem fraying the fabric of our democracy, they're much less aware of simple, effective solutions accessible in their own home and neighborhood.  Living Room Conversations is an open source project that can be used in person or by video - not limited by location, geography or time zone. They are happening in churches, libraries, schools, book stores, city community centers and online. These six-person structured conversations are designed to be self-directed, easily accessible, and welcoming to a broad array of perspectives - with built-in conversation agreements supporting comfort, safety and deep listening. Consistently, LRC participants report deeper understanding, improved connection and fresh insight about surprising common ground. As a tool that anyone can use, our dream is to see thousands of these conversations taking place - with positive rippling effects in every direction. 

Bridging Differences with New Conversations

Katie Hyten, Essential Partners

For thirty years, Essential Partners has helped communities and organizations bridge differences through conversations that build trust, understanding, and new paths forward together. Our model invites a new conversation by disrupting old patterns of dysfunctional conversations and inviting reflection, curiosity, genuine questions, expansive listening, and speaking about what matters most. In this session, you’ll learn why it is so hard to disrupt old cycles and experience a taste of a conversation designed to bridge differences. You’ll walk away with a couple of tools to help you shift conversations in your context.

Applying Neuroscience to Reduce Polarization

Andrew Hanauer, One America Movement

Polarization in the United States is a societal-level phenomenon, but the problem - and the solution - rests in part on what's happening inside individual human beings' brains. Neuroscience can teach us a lot about why human beings form groups, why those groups come into conflict with each other and how those groups can resist the growing forces of division and hatred in society. But rather than use that science to manipulate the public, why not empower people to understand what's happening in their own brains? 

The One America Movement addresses growing divisions in American society by bringing religious groups together across divides to work together on pressing challenges in their local communities. As part of that work, One America teaches program participants the best available science and research behind why we're polarized - and how we can come back together. In this workshop, learn the science, and how to use it, to empower people to see the world through different eyes.

Case Study Methodology to Bridge Interfaith Divides

Jenan Mohajir, Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC)

In a time of deep societal division, navigating the complexities of religious, spiritual, and secular identities takes on particular challenges and often requires relational strategies that uphold campus/community values while empowering all involved. 

Using case study methodology, we will explore how principles of interfaith leadership can be used to navigate challenging situations where different religious, spiritual and secular identities come into direct tension with one another. 

Beyond Differences: Increasing Empathy and Improving Relationships

Lisette Ostrander, Chiqui Diaz, Geo Brizuela, Jack Jacobs, Beyond Differences

Beyond Differences Teen Board members will lead you through a series of activities from our Know Your Classmates™ Positive Prevention Initiative, designed to nurture healthy relationships and counter prejudice.  This highly interactive breakout session will encourage participants out of their comfort zone and educate them on strategies on how to create safe working spaces, communicate positively, and identify ways we unintentionally exclude.   Participants will leave with effective activities to bring back to their community (e.g., place of work, school, and home) to increase empathy, build relationships, and raise awareness about belonging and recognizing biases.