Folks We Want to Thank    

NCDD has a lot of people to thank! We rely on the generosity, dedication and cooperation of many different people and groups in order to accomplish our goals, and we are grateful to all of those who are listed on this page - as well as all of you we neglect to mention who should be on this page.

• Our Funders and Sponsors
• Our Fiscal Agents
• Extraordinary NCDD Members
• 2006 Conference Committee
• 2004 Conference Planning Team
• 2002 Conference Planners

Our Funders and Sponsors

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The Hewlett Foundation – and Terry Amsler in particular – had the vision to support the 2002 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, from which the Coalition emerged. The Hewlett Foundation took a risk when they agreed to fund the conference, which was organized by a newly-formed group and directed by someone who had never run a conference before. As if that wasn’t risky enough, they then agreed to support our continued efforts for an additional five years.

The Whitman Institute
A private foundation located in San Francisco, the Whitman Institute aspires to promote open-mindedness, cross-perspective dialogue, and engaged communication in order to improve the process and quality of public and private decision-making.  The Whitman Institute, directed by John Esterle, provided NCDD with general support in 2005 as well as support for our San Francisco conference in 2006.

The Forum Foundation
Thanks to the commitment of NCDD Steering Committee member John Spady, the Forum Foundation is the only organization to serve as Co-Sponsor of both the 2004 and 2006 National Conferences on Dialogue & Deliberation.  The Forum Foundation conducts futures research to discover the dynamics that move organizations toward solving their problems and anticipating or adapting to changes in their environment.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund
In 2004, Benjamin Shute used his discretionary funds to help NCDD provide scholarships for young people to attend the Denver NCDD conference.  Shute is the program officer for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Democratic Practice program (United States).  RBF works to promote social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world.

The Public Conversations Project and the Study Circles Resource Center
Loyal supporters and friends of NCDD, the Public Conversations Project and the Study Circles Resource Center both served as Partners for both the 2004 and 2006 National Conferences on Dialogue & Deliberation.  SCRC helps people work together for creative community change, and PCP helps people with fundamental disagreements over divisive issues develop the mutual understanding and trust essential for strong communities and positive action.

Our Fiscal Agents

Regis University’s Institute on the Common Good
Thanks to the generous support of NCDD Board member Paul Alexander, director of the Institute on the Common Good at Regis University, Regis has not only served as our fiscal agent (at no charge!) for the past few years, but they also hosted the 2004 National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation.  A huge thank you to Paul, Katie Bruen, and everyone else at Regis who has contributed time, effort, and care to NCDD!

The Paul J. Aicher Foundation and the Network of Alliances Bridging Race and Ethnicity (NABRE)
NABRE served as our fiscal agent for the first NCDD conference in 2002, and the Paul J. Aicher Foundation (formerly called the Topsfield Foundation) served as our fiscal agent for our first two-year grant with Hewlett (2002-2004). Thank you so much – especially Martha McCoy and Francine Nichols at the Aicher Foundation/Study Circles and Mike Wenger, Muriel Warren, and Neville DePass at NABRE.

Extraordinary NCDD Members

All NCDD members are strongly encouraged to become actively involved in an NCDD project, discussion or activity. Many of our members are involved in various projects and discussions. A handful of members, though, have demonstrated extraordinary commitment and dedication to NCDD and its vision.

The following individuals, especially, have gone beyond the call of duty to help NCDD in many different ways. They have led committees, done extraordinary outreach, represented NCDD on major projects, and provided NCDD with indispensible moral and material support.

• John Abbe, Sandhi Institute
• Paul Alexander, Director of Regis University’s Institute on the Common Good
• Tom Atlee, President of the Co-Intelligence Institute
• Leah Lamb, The Performance Initiative
• Tammy Lenski, Lenski Mediation LLC
• Laurie Maak, Online Dialog Producer at Internet Catalyst
• Linda Mather, President of the Forums Institute for Public Policy
• Martha McCoy, Executive Director of the Study Circles Resource Center
• Sharda Miller, University of Creation Spirituality
• Priya Parker, International Institute for Sustained Dialogue
• Steve Pyser, Professor at the University of Phoenix, Philadelphia Campus
• Brad Rourke, Independent Consultant; formerly with the Harwood Institute
• Jim Snow, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason Univ.
• Lars Hasselblad Torres, Researcher for AmericaSpeaks
• Libby and Len Traubman, Convenors of the Jewish/Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group
• And of course a huge thank-you to all the NCDD members who serve on our Steering Committee and Board of Directors!

2006 Conference Committee

Conference Director
Sandy Heierbacher, Director, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD)

Conference Manager
Katie Howard, Graduate Student, University of Maryland

Creative Director
Andy Fluke, Creative Director of NCDD

Logistics Coordinator
Polly Riddims, Managing Partner, Fusion Partnerships, Inc.

Conference M.C.
Priya Parker, Consultant, Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Other Members of the Core Conference Committee

• Michael Briand, The Institute for Democratic Dialogue and Deliberation and Regis University
• Kai Degner, Executive Director, OrangeBand Initiative
• Nancy Glock-Grueneich, President, HIGHER Edge
• Janette Hartz-Karp, Director, 21st Century Dialogue
• Ken Homer, Co-Founder, The World Café
• Leah Lamb, Founder, The Performance Initiative
• Leanne Nurse, Program Analyst, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Kenoli Oleari, Co-Founder, San Francisco Neighborhood Assemblies Network Initiative
• John Spady, Director of Research, Forum Foundation – a conference Co-Sponsor
• Len & Libby Traubman, Co-Founders, Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group
• Marc Tognotti, Co-Founder, San Francisco Neighborhood Assemblies Network Initiative

Members of the Conference Theme Team

• Janette Hartz Karp, 21st Century Dialogue
• Tom Atlee, Co-Intelligence Institute
• Ashley Boyd, AmericaSpeaks
• John Gastil, University of Washington Dept. of Communication
• Lars Hasselblad Torres, AmericaSpeaks

Members of the Conference Tech Team

• Loretta Donovan, Worksmarts
• Andy Fluke, NCDD
• Chris Heuer, BrainJams!
• Beth Kanter, Nonprofit Technology Consultant
• Kai Degner, OrangeBand Initiative

2004 Conference Planning Team

Conference Director
Sandy Heierbacher, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation

Creative Director
Andy Fluke, Creative Director of NCDD

Design Team Facilitator
Leilani Rashida Henry, Being and Living Enterprises, LTD

Logistics Facilitator
Polly Riddims, Fusion Partnerships, Inc.

Public Relations Team Facilitator
Scott Russell, HNTB Corporation

Assessment Team Facilitator
Miriam Wyman, Practicum Limited

Diversity Team Facilitator
Najeeba Syeed-Miller, Intercultural Conflict Resolution Systems

Site Liaison
Paul K. Alexander, Institute on the Common Good, Regis University

Additional Members of the Planning Team…

• Mohammed Attah, World Association of Non-governmental Organisations
• Reena Bernards, Dialogue Project
• Michael Briand, The Institute for Democratic Dialogue and Deliberation
• Susan Clark, Common Knowledge
• Tim Erickson, Politalk
• John Falchi, J.P. Falchi & Associates
• Bill Fulton, Public Education & Business Coalition
• Tagelsir Gasmelseid, King Faisal University (Saudi Arabia)
• Maribeth Goodman, On Common Ground
• Richard Graves, Wallace House Foundation
• Scott Hammond, Utah Valley State College
• Chip Hauss, Search for Common Ground – USA
• Maggie Herzig, Public Conversations Project
• Peggy Holman, Open Space Institute – US
• Katie Howard, Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center
• Irene Kao, Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, University of New Hampshire
• Miki Kashtan, Center for Nonviolent Communication
• Beth Katz, Recent Graduate of the University of Michigan
• Fleurette King, Princeton University
• Jim Knauer, Pennsylvania Center for Civic Life
• Leah Lamb, The Performance Initiative
• Theo Leverenz, Ph.D., EPPA Consulting
• Ben Levi
• Aliah MaJon, The SHAMBALLA Group
• Ernesto Mejia, Dialogues on Diversity at the University of Michigan
• Diane Miller, Envision Central Texas
• Jen Murphy, Building Collaborative Solutions, Inc.
• Phil Neisser, Department of Politics, SUNY Potsdam
• Kenoli Oleari, Horizons of Change
• William Potapchuk
• Steve Pyser, University of Phoenix, Philadelphia Campus
• Barbara Schaeffer Bacon, Americans for the Arts
• David Schoem, Michigan Community Scholars at the University of Michigan
• Attica Scott, NCCJ - Knoxville Region
• Ray Seigfried, Christiana Care Health System
• Barry Sherman, Intentional Living Institute
• Laurie Shiparski, CPM Resource Center
• Jim Snow, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason Univ.
• StrongHeart, Fusion Partnerships, Inc.
• Harris Sussman
• Marc Tognotti, San Francisco Neighborhood Assemblies Network Initiative
• Stacie Walton, Culture & Health Consulting
• Nikki Weinstein, FOCUS St. Louis
• Patricia Wilson, Graduate Program in Community and Regional Planning, School of Architecture, University of Texas
• Michele Woods Jones, C&H Publishing - Consulting Division
• Sandra Zagon, Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN)

2002 Conference Planners

Special thanks go out to all of the members of the 2002 conference Organizing Team, Coalition, Steering Committee and special consultants. In particular, we’d like to thank the 6 committee chairs, all of whom put in many more hours than they had originally expected working with Sandy Heierbacher and Andy Fluke to make the conference the success that it was.

• Eric F. Boyd, Former Executive Director of Los Angeles Days of Dialogue (Reports & Evaluation Committee)
• Paul Gorski, Assistant Director of the Office of Human Relations Programs at the University of Maryland
• Polly Riddims, Partner, Fusion Partnerships (Logistics and Amenities Committee)
• Randy Ross, Program Development Specialist at the New Jersey Office of Bias Crime and Community Relations (Content & Format Committee Co-Chair)
• Attica Scott, Executive Director of Knoxville National Conference for Community & Justice (Publicity Committee)
• Stacie Walton, M.D., Culture & Health Consulting (Resources Committee)