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We offer expert facilitation and program design enabling courageous dialogue and deliberation that directly addresses fault-line issues within and across communities and institutions.
Our offerings range in scope and scale from year-long cohorts to day-long workshops to 90-minute film screenings accompanied by skill-building. In all of our programs, we work to transform political disagreement into a source of strengthened relationship, collective insight, and creative problem-solving.
An opportunity for community members to exchange views and experiences, surface differences, and build skills for investigating differences honestly and constructively.
A forum for a community or institution to engage in meaningful conversation on charged issues in facilitated, small group conversations.
A fun and social way to bring groups together to see each other beyond boxes and labels, often full of levity and laughter as well as gravity.
A structure for stakeholders and community members to deliberate and give input into proposed policy shifts or other contentious decision-making.
We treat strong differences as signs of something essential we need to work through and learn together as a community to harness our collective wisdom and create innovative and lasting solutions to the problems we face.
We support opposing parties to see themselves as partners in exploration, in collaborative pursuit of the best course of action that takes the widest diversity of needs and concerns into account.
In the wake of identity-based and political violence in Greater Buffalo, RTT is equipping directly impacted, unlikely partners—including strongly conservative community leaders, Black and Brown community leaders, and progressive activists—to disarm tension, forge bonds and trust across stark differences, and collaborate for the betterment of their community.
Initially, many community leaders not only distrusted one another, they distrusted the very idea of “bridge-building.” Now—after a robust Listening Campaign, extensive intra-group training and dialogue, and trust-building across lines of difference—these leaders are bringing their communities together and working together to prevent violence and solve shared problems. As one leader put it, “We know we can’t do what we need to do without each other.”
I didn't even realize how much tension our team was feeling—how much we were avoiding talking to each other—until I felt all that tension melt away at the end of the program.”
It felt good to be in a place that wasn’t just an echo chamber, and made me think about how echo chambers can actually be silencing of our whole selves—including our deepest fears and truths and questions.”
When we were first told to engage with people across difference, I realized that I had already anticipated another leader’s stance. But once we actually started, it turns out their opinion was as nuanced as mine and we grew not only in our understanding of the issue, but in our relationship to one another.”
Without RTT, we wouldn’t have felt we had the power or capacity to change the status quo. This will have a lasting impact. Every time I enter the building, I see people who say we have done something great here.”
I saw people opening up and relaxing in a way I'd never seen them around this topic before. It gave me courage to share my ideas and gave me hope for the possibility of more open conversations like these in the future.”
