"This book gives you clear, simple ways to understand how we became so divided. The authors share their own stories about changing their minds and learning from others. Then they give you exercises to try yourself. Use this book with family, friends, neighbors, or anyone you want to understand better."

— Susan Clark, coauthor of Slow Democracy

Dialogue and Bridging Workshops

Learn proven, science-based skills to navigate differences, build trust across divides, and solve problems together. From self-paced online courses to intensive facilitation training, these programs equip you with tools to bridge political, cultural, and ideological divides.

Three leading organizations offer workshops and training at every level—from 5-minute practices to multi-month fellowships.

The Democracy & Belonging Forum’s Network Catalyzers Program supports selected Forum members in launching and growing their own virtual or in-person communities related to othering, belonging, bridging, and democracy. 

These communities are entirely member-run, but are in part resourced, promoted, and supported by the Forum. In 2025, six communities (and seven catalyzers) were selected to participate, addressing topics as diverse as bridging in rural France, food insecurity in Texas, and intergenerational engagement among immigrant families. 

Save The Date:

Thursday, November 6, 2025

A celebration of gratitude and vision, Power Up: Impact of a Million brings together individual donors, corporate partners, community leaders, and alumni to mark a major moment in Compudopt’s history: reaching one million lives impacted.

The event will feature:

• Inspirational speakers and stories from community members, volunteers and staff
  
  

• A showcase of Compudopt’s journey and future vision
  
  

• Live entertainment, lunch, celebratory toast, and meaningful connection
  
  

• A giving moment to support The Next Million

Two-Day Interactive Workshop

Join us for our signature workshop in a safe, respectful, and loving atmosphere where individuals will learn new information, share their experiences, dispel fear and guilt, and get to know each other.

Restorative Justice Apprenticeship: Circle Keeping for Community Building

Learn the ancient practice of circle keeping to build stronger communities, facilitate healing conversations, and create spaces where everyone belongs.

📅Spring 2026

How to Make Your Voice Heard

• Find Your Representatives: Visit Texas Legislature Online to find who represents you

• Email the Bill Sponsors: Use the sponsor emails in each issue below to share your experience

• Contact Your Local Officials: Reach out to your state senator and representative about what matters to you

• Share This Article: Help others learn about the issues that quietly shape our lives

• Focus on Your Experience: Personal stories about how these issues affect your family, business, or community are powerful

Why This Matters

• The loudest political fights are about identity and culture

• Polling shows Texans already agree on practical issues like energy and healthcare

• These "boring" problems are where surprising alliances form

• Boring issues are where trust can be rebuilt across political divides

• This is where politics can actually make everyday life better

This groundbreaking event returns to Houston Community College for the first time since 2020, inviting you to experience the world through someone else's eyes using the power of virtual reality.

Join HCC Central for a special VR for Empathy event on Saturday, November 15. This groundbreaking initiative was first held at HCC in 2019, followed by a larger, more impactful edition in 2020, and now returns with fresh perspectives on how immersive technology can help us understand one another more deeply.

A German thinker named Friedrich Nietzsche had a word for this feeling: "nihilism" (say: NYE-ill-ism). It means believing nothing really matters. But this feeling is now so common among young Americans that experts call it "cultural nihilism."

Warning Signs

• Fewer young people trust democracy than ever before

• Young people don't trust big institutions like government

• Entire online groups are built around being super negative

• Young people have stopped believing things can get better

"More than ever, people and organizations need space to come together to discuss, imagine, and chart a path to a more just world. We hope the center helps to fulfill this need."

— Ford Foundation

Welcome to Compassion Week 2025 - Celebrating 10 years!

This year marks a special milestone—our 10th anniversary of coming together for a full week of inspiration, knowledge-sharing, dialogue, collaborations, and hands-on activities. What began as a simple idea has grown into a vibrant tradition, connecting hearts across Greater Houston by showcasing and sharing tangible examples of Houston’s compassionate culture through various partner and network offerings.

Compassion Week 2025 NOVEMBER 10-16

Save the date for Compassion Week 2025 and it’s core message of SMALL ACTS. BIG CHANGE, highlighting the aspiration that each of us can be a force for good. Our small actions rooted in care and love ripple outward to transform the world, starting right where and how we are. Our theme invites us to explore how everyday gestures—rooted in care, courage, and connection—can spark powerful transformation, rippling outward to create lasting change. And it begins with us, right here, right now.

Whether through learning, practice, service, storytelling, or other types of shared moments, Compassion Week 2025 celebrates the tools we each carry to build a more compassionate world, one act at a time.

PURPOSE OF WORLD KINDNESS DAY

Compassion Week coincides regularly with the week in which World Kindness Day falls, a global day, introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement, that promotes the importance of being kind to each other, to yourself, and to the world.

The purpose of this day, celebrated on November 13 of each year, is to help everyone understand that compassion for others is what binds us all together.