Maggie Herzig is a founding associate of the Public Conversations Project. She is co-author with Laura Chasin of Fostering Dialogue Across Divides: A Nuts and Bolts Guide from the Public Conversations Project. With Mitch Chanin and the Jewish Dialogue Group of Philadelphia, she wrote a similar guide, Constructive Conversations About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Guide for Convening and Facilitating Dialogue in Jewish Communities in the US. Maggie has facilitated dialogues on a range of topics including abortion, religion and sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, intra-group conflicts in places of worship, and multi-stakeholder relations regarding controversies over forest management in Maine and child labor in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire. She also has facilitated several arts-based civic dialogues. Much of Maggie’s work has focused on interfaith dialogue. This interest is both professional and personal; her immediate family has representatives of all three Abrahamic faiths.
The Public Conversations Project (PCP) is a Boston-based nonprofit that promotes dialogue and fosters relationships between people on opposing sides of divisive public issues. PCP’s dialogue process encourages curiosity, demands genuine listening, and aims to build mutual understanding. The organization supports dialogue by facilitating groups, training others in the art of facilitation, and providing consultation to individuals and organizations engaged in conflict. The Public Conversations Project shares its practices and principles–including published dialogue guides–on its website. PCP is known for its collaborative process, which involves participants in preparing for, planning, and determining the goals of their dialogue with one another.
