Project Summary

Youth learn citizenship skills through role models and opportunities to listen and learn from others. Dialogues that allow individual citizens of various ages to be truly heard and to learn from each other are an energizing force that can improve our communities and promote civic engagement.

About me

I am a lawyer, mediator and facilitator; mother of two, and active community volunteer. As noted above, I have worked with many community groups both as a facilitator and a participant. As a mother, I have witnessed the difference that role models and access to intergenerational activities makes to teens as they struggle to find their place in the larger communities with which they interact. There are fewer and fewer informal settings in our communities where youth can informally engage with the older generations. I have also personally seen what can be accomplished when citizens are energized by productive dialogue and so I believe strongly in the power of such dialogues to improve not just our community here in Columbia, but our national community as well. For this reason I have also been working on a set of nonpartisan guides, focused on the concept of "American values," that are designed to facilitate dialogue about what it means to be a citizen, promote critical thinking, and engage citizens in shaping their own government. These can be viewed at www.americanvaluesare.com. I would like to be able to build a community based model for involving and encouraging youth in civic activities that can be replicated in other places. My full resume can be found at http://www.readadr.com (Click on "people"). I have worked with a number of others in Columbia who are interested in dialogues. I would recruit additional team members once I know if we have grant money to work with!