We give people the means to strengthen relationships, deepen belonging, and renew hope in their communities.
Our Impact
Undergraduate StudentThe professor was able to engage every student. She encouraged them to present new ideas. Dialogue helped create an environment that really deepened the understanding of the material.
Southern Methodist University, Texas
-
Lauren Cobb, Task Force MemberI now lead teams with a different language, using different processes, and with a different awareness of team dynamics. [I’ve seen] relationships grow and deepen, unity and commitment remain high, and mutual respect established and fostered.
Glendale Presbyterian Church, California
-
Janele Nelson, Mission DirectorIn these divisive times, Essential Partners has given my local YMCA and now the national YMCA a means to build bridges through dialogue, re-establishing foundations for constructive change to occur.
YMCA of Pierce & Kitsap Counties (WA)
Resisting Polarization in an Election Season: A Free Resource
Partisan polarization (Democrats versus Republicans) turns our huge, complicated, diverse democracy into a political sport where everyone has to pick a side and only one side can win. In this four-part, scaffolded, self-paced curriculum, we will help you develop the internal capacities, skills, and confidence you need to become a positive force in conversations around the election where you live, work, worship, and learn.
Related Resources
News: Blaming faculty when protests erupt ignores how we teach
“In a polarized climate where adherence to one side of an issue can seem to demand the complete rejection of opposing views or the people who hold them, complexity can be an unwelcome reality. University classrooms are precisely the places where students encounter and meet such complex challenges.”
Jill DeTemple, EP Academic Associate and faculty member at Southern Methodist University, highlights the role that college professors play in fostering open-mindedness and critical thinking in their students in the Dallas Morning News.
Recent Partners
