The Interactivity Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of our inaugural CDP Cohort Awards. We will be working with these awardees to deliver in-person and online coach trainings to help institutionalize collaborative discussion skills in their classrooms, communities, and workplaces.
The 2026/27 Awardees:
- Allegheny Family Network in Pittsburgh, PA
- Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA
- Ayiti Civique Lab Inc., Cap-Haïtien, Haïti
- Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA
- University of Delaware in Newark, DE
- University of Hawaii in Hilo, HI
- University of Louisville in Louisville, KY
- University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN
- Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC
- Winona State University in Winona, MN
At each institution, we will offer approximately 12 hours of hands-on training. We will demonstrate how to facilitate activities from the Collaborative Discussion Toolkit, an open-access resource with 50+ agendas that can be used in classrooms, communities, and workplaces.
University cohorts from across the U.S. will include groups of faculty from a wide range of disciplines and staff from centers for community-based engagement, teaching excellence and democracy-building. In addition, three of the university cohorts will focus on training students, creating the next generation of leaders equipped with collaborative intelligence. Beyond the university setting, two community-based cohorts have been awarded – with one advancing democracy through inclusive dialogue in Haiti and another developing skills in social workers supporting families and children with behavioral health challenges in Pittsburgh.
Participants in each cohort training will be certified by the Interactivity Foundation as coaches with the ability to offer certificates in collaborative discussion. Institutions were selected based on the unique vision they shared for their coaches to take the skills learned in the training forward whether through navigating contentious conversations in classrooms (and dorm rooms!), learning from communities impacted by structural inequality or implementing new approaches to exploring enduring questions of civic responsibility and justice in today’s polarized society.
Training will be conducted primarily in-person during day and half long workshops with virtual follow-up. Each participant who successfully completes the training will receive a certificate and digital badge in collaborative discussion. These freshly minted coaches will then be supported by the Interactivity Foundation as they design and tailor certificate programs to their communities, ensuring that the skills they’ve learned reach an ever widening circle.
Congratulations to each of the 2026 Collaborative Discussion Coach Training cohorts! We can’t wait to see the ripples you create in your communities and we are proud to be a part of the work you do to strengthen democracy wherever you are.
