Common Ground Committee Inc

Common Ground Committee is focused on “Bringing Light Not Heat To Public Discourse". It is our intent that this light will stimulate progress toward finding the common ground on which citizens can make informed decisions, inspire citizens to raise the level of their own discourse and motivate both citizens and leaders take intelligent action.

At the heart of our work is demonstration. Because it has been so long since many have seen civil discourse leading to results, we consider it fundamentally vital to demonstrate to target audiences what good public discourse looks like and to consistently curate and illuminate for citizens and leaders shining examples to emulate and behavior to model.

To that end, since 2010 Common Ground Committee (CGC) we have been successfully producing public forums in New York City and New England. These have mostly been for general audiences.

But in 2017, CGC began to focus on addressing the significant challenges of discourse at college campuses, starting with a very successful forum at Middlebury College in Vermont, the site of the nationally publicized March 2, 2017 Charles Murray incident.

Our forums have attracted thousands of thoughtful, influential citizens and media. These are political debates – but with a twist. Panelist performance is judged not on clever talking points that support one's own views, but on the degree to which one can work with other panelists to find common ground. CGC forums feature nationally known panelists from all sides of the political spectrum and prominent voices in public policy work, national media, private sector, etc. They may have opposing views but during the course of the forum they share how common ground is attainable on some of the most difficult issues of the day.

By demonstrating “what good looks like" we are inspiring those that view our events in person or on-line to (a) step-up their own discourse to a level where they actively listen, engage respectfully and contribute positively to a problem's solution; (b) demand that their political leaders do and (c) vote for candidates they believe will do so.

We support and augment our forums through our own blogs and using social media to promote, highlight and curate situations where opposite sides have worked together to solve difficult problems. These serve to further the demonstrate how effective discourse and debate can take place and make a difference.

We have developed a robust methodology for our forums that creates an environment where panelists of opposite views work together and find common ground.
We have very strong event production skill. We have a professional television show producer with decades of experience who leads the creation of programs of outstanding content and the finest production quality. The result is a superior, inspiring experience for our audiences.
We can attract very strong panelists (e.g., Barney Frank, Art Laffer) who appreciate what we are working to accomplish.
We know how to partner. Our strongest partnership is with the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) who not only works with us to develop the content of the forum but also provides an associate to moderate a given forum. All CGC forums have been moderated by someone from the CSM, including the CSM Editor.

As of the end of 2023, CGC has held 17 forum events, as well as several online events promoting the work of others. These events were promoted in coordination with other Bridging partners and have been uploaded on the organization's YouTube site with over 500 subscribers.

CGC also broadcast one hundred podcasts by the end of 2023 with over 550,000 downloads and 260,000 subscribers. The podcast series, entitled Let's Find Common Ground utilizes the broadcasting experience of other members of the community and highlights the works of other community members as well.

Our faculty liaison reported:
Students were impressed to see two people who they mostly knew from their history books actually come to Middlebury to debate. They liked the format, and the opportunity to ask questions. perhaps the most memorable part of the night for many students was (former Massachusetts Congressman) Barney Frank talking about what it was like to be in the vanguard of the gay rights movements in an era when many people didn't want to talk about it that really resonated with students still struggling with our own experience in shutting down views with which we disagreed." We secured foundation funding in 2017 that allows us to produce more frequent events and build staff. We believe our 2018 fundraising efforts will yield record results.

We have built strong partnerships. The (former) Editor of the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) said this:
Common Ground Committee promotes a bridge-building spirit in our public life. That same spirit animates The Christian Science Monitor. As a news organization, we have no policy program or agenda to promote. But we seek to cover issues in a way that illuminates shared views and explains differences more clearly across divides, on the theory that a difference made more clear is often a difference made smaller. In a different way, but with very similar motives, Common Ground Committee literally brings people otherwise at odds together. It's a noble effort to create a constructive public life in a fractured and polarized political landscape. The Christian Science Monitor is pleased to share this common cause with Common Ground Committee." - Marshall Ingwerson

Besides the CSM, we partner with Living Room Conversations, the Bridge Alliance and The Nantucket Project. We will finalize more partnerships in 2018.
We have developed a stronger cadence in our blogger social networking efforts, attracting new social media followers. In 2018, marketing strategy and execution, including social media, will become our highest priority next to forum execution.