At precisely the moment when people of goodwill need practical opportunities to reduce enmity and strengthen community, many Americans report feeling woefully ill-equipped to engage across our differences and lacking in trustworthy places and tools to do so. And yet, a majority of us across demographic, geographic, and political lines believe:

• We can work it out despite our differences

• We can have healthy disagreements

• It’s our responsibility to bridge divides

• We want less partisan, more practical, civil leaders.

More in Common calls this broad swath of Americans the “Exhausted Majority”–much more numerous but not nearly as visible as the “Conflict Entrepreneurs.” As numerous reports make clear, most Americans yearn to channel concerns into positive actions. And when people realize we’re not as divided or as extreme as it may seem, fear declines and engagement becomes viable. But often missing are the skills and opportunities to connect productively. 

Evidence-Based Tools, Proven Results

For nearly two decades, Courageous Leadership has used evolutionary, social and cognitive behavioral psychology tools to help people act with compassion, ethical courage, and ingenuity (see: TEDx Creating Ethical Cultures in Business). Our evidence-based tools support connecting and collaborating across divides–skills crucial to the success of any community, business, or social or service project. We have a proven track record with:

• Business: Salesforce, Microsoft, GE, Pfizer, Hellman & Friedman, Adobe

• Community: Rotary International, Hewlett Foundation, Center for Domestic Peace, Kaiser Permanente

• Education: Junior State of America, Santa Clara University, University of Southern California, MIT Sloan, Stanford

• Government: Australian Government, Urban Sustainability Directors Network: Cities of Boston, Providence, New Bedford

Our programs demonstrably:

• Decrease distress 

• Increase social and emotional learning

• Increase capacity, skill, and motivation to bridge divides 

• Enhance the ability to collaborate more effectively, in organizations and society.

Our evaluation partners at Jonathan Haidt’s Civil Politics reported that our programs delivered “some of the strongest–if not the strongest results–of any group we’ve assessed,” including statistically significant increases in:

• Sense of belonging

• Willingness to work to achieve common goals

• Motivation to bridge differences.

Working with partners, colleagues, and advisors (including Phil Zimbardo, Lynne Henderson, Paul Gilbert, Kim Cameron), we have created highly interactive, social science-based programs. We help people recognize invisible systemic influences and subtle social cues, manage internal reactions under stress, and override unhelpful human reactions (e.g., dehumanizing, avoiding, and lashing out). We train people to act and collaborate with compassion, ethical courage, and ingenuity.

Leveraging Expertise, Learning, and Connections

In highly interactive programs, we develop skills, built through practice with social support, and honed through collaborative work toward shared goals.

"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part that is within our reach." 

—Clarissa Pinkola Estes

We offer our basic toolkit through facilitated sessions with businesses, service organizations, education institutions, and other groups (in-person and/or online). 

Example: Business

A recent Brookings paper makes clear that “[d]emocracy is a strong driver of a healthy economy.” We have helped highly respected businesses (see above) transform conflict and improve relationships, find shared purpose, generate key insights, and increase impact.

Example: Service Organization

Rotary International’s ethos of “Service Above Self” creates a larger common identity, shared values and goals, and an influential network of community leaders–powerful tools to reclaim a sense of common purpose. Rotary (like businesses) is one of the few places where people from many backgrounds and perspectives build bonds while achieving results together. We have worked with people from more than 40 Rotary Clubs, equipping more than 500 Rotarians with the tools to have “Courageous Conversations” across differences.

Contact the project directors if you’d like to learn more.

Project Director Bios:

Brooke Deterline is the Founder & CEO of Courageous Leadership. Brooke and her colleagues use evidence-based tools to help teams act with ethical courage and ingenuity under pressure, as explained in TEDx Bridging Divides and TEDx Ethical Courage. Brooke combines social and cognitive behavioral psychology tools with neuroscience to access our natural capacity for courage, compassion, and wisdom. Brooke has worked across all sectors–nonprofits, governmental agencies, Fortune 500 companies–with human-centered approaches grounded in evidence-based practices. 

Brooke and colleagues and advisors from across the political landscape adapted and tested methodologies for making effective interventions in communities (see United States of Anxiety, These Kids Are Learning to Have Bipartisan Conversations). Brooke’s work has been featured in the New York Times and Oprah Magazine. Brooke lives in Richmond, CA with her husband, Ken. They are profoundly blessed with friends and family.

For more than 30 years Ken White has helped build “a democracy where everyone is received.” A graduate of Harvard Kennedy School and a former journalist, he blends a wide-ranging understanding of theories, practices, and people with firsthand experience on the ground, in the legislature and courts, and in boardrooms. 

Ken has served as CEO of the Junior State of America Foundation, Associate Director at Post Carbon Institute, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts, and Director of Communications for the Coalition of Essential Schools. He held similar posts with Oxfam America and the Institute for Defense & Disarmament Studies.