Celebrating Our CDP Community in 2024!
And Looking Ahead to 2025
Dear collaborative discussion friends,
This week we are excited to celebrate the Collaborative Discussion Program (CDP) community and all of our accomplishments in 2024. It has been a great year! Please read about our amazing training team, coaches, and partners below.
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2024 Highlights
1. Welcomed 70+ New CDP Coaches!
We hosted five coach trainings and added over 70 coaches to our community of 150+ coaches in total! We are so grateful for our amazing training team members: Jessica Friedrichs, Don Waisanen, John Igwebuike, Sovi Herring, Cuda Zmuda, Lori Britt, Kara Dillard, Lydia Smith, Timothy J. Shaffer, and Nick Longo.
2. University of Chicago, Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse
Working with the incomparable Leila Brammer, the CDP team trained higher ed faculty and high school teachers in foundations of collaborative discussion. Read more here!
3. University of Delaware, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Ithaca Initiative
Organized by Jane Case and Timothy Shaffer, we were honored to facilitate a workshop with the University of Delaware faculty and staff to introduce collaborative discussion skills and mindsets. Read more here!
4. National Communication Association’s 110th Annual Convention
We celebrate the wonderful members of our CDP training team, Sovi Herring, Lori Britt, Kirsten Isgro, and Kara Dillard for facilitating this pre-conference coach training in New Orleans.
5. Harrisonburg, VA Community Workshops
Shout out to Eric Schmucker, Co-Manager of the CDP, for leading two place-based professional development workshops for public school administrators and civic leaders of local nonprofits. Read more here!
6. Student Facilitation Training and Dialogue Series in Haiti
We are honored to spotlight the amazing work of Kim Allonce, a CDP Coach, and his Inclusive Dialogue IF Facilitation Certificate Program. He trained students in Haiti to facilitate community discussions. We are proud to have supported this program in partnership with Kallispolis Haiti and the Coalition of Inclusive Dialogue (KODYA).
7. Five Practices for Better College Discussions Workshop Series
Cuda Zmuda, Collaborative Learning Visiting Fellow, and Yordanos Lemma, IF Apprentice, offered this workshop series to empower college students to take responsibility for their own participation in classroom discussions. Read more here!
Looking Ahead to 2025
We are excited to continue working with our Collaborative Discussion Community members like you in 2025. Please reach out to schedule workshops for your community. If we haven’t seen you in a while, next year is a great time to re-engage. Consider joining us for:
Free Intro to the CDP Toolkit Webinars
Foundations of Collaborative Discussion Workshops
Tuesday, February 18th from 6 pm - 8 pm ET. Register by January 31st to get the early bird price of $25!
Saturday, March 1st from 10 am - 12 pm ET. Register by February 12th to get the early bird price of $25!
We wish everyone a happy new year and look forward to collaborating in the new year!
Shannon, Ritu, & the Collaborative Discussion Team