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Tremendous thanks to everyone who contributed to making our seventh annual National Week of Conversation (NWoC) such a success. Whether you co-created an NWoC Signature Experience; hosted a film screening as part of the Better Together Film Festival; contributed to any of the dozens of articles published that highlighted NWoC (see them linked below); hosted an NWoC Affiliated Event; amplified NWoC on your social media channels; or participated as an audience member at any of our events, your engagement played a critical role in helping us collectively reach a broader audience of Americans to inspire hope and increase cohesion in our country.
Each year we have run NWoC with a slightly different format, always striving to gear the national campaign toward the timely needs of our country. This year, with the election on the horizon and the stakes of polarization at an all time high, our movement has been all about collective impact and leveraging the power of our collaborations to reach beyond the choir and generate the greatest outcomes possible.
We were thrilled to have 22 partner organizations collaborate to co-create 5 Signature Experience events that brought bridging skills and inspiration to new audiences via programs themed around music, innovative technologies, library partnerships, k-12 classrooms, and film. Thanks to our friends at Citizen Connect and their Facebook Livestream Hub, thousands more people were exposed to NWoC Signature Experiences after they occurred.
But virtual events were not the only way people participated in NWoC 2024. This year – considering the fragility of our social fabric and the cacophony of chaos dividing our communities – we felt a need for place-based activities that could bring together diverse groups of neighbors for face-to-face opportunities to listen, dialogue, and build relationships. With your help, our inaugural Better Together Film Festival was able to achieve just that!
Thanks to the collaborative spirit of 40 community-based partner organizations (many engaging with our movement for the first time!), we were able to hold 25 film screening and conversation events in 18 different towns during NWoC. Data collected using the Social Cohesion Impact Measurement (SCIM) tool developed by BMAC’s Goals & Measures Program showed that the film festival had a statistically significant positive impact on individuals’ intergroup empathy, self-efficacy to shift bridging norms, and pluralistic norms, while also decreasing their affective polarization.
NWoC 2024 is an example of the collective strength we have as a movement to shift hearts and minds away from animosity towards unity, despite our differences. So as we close out the month of April and navigate an increasingly toxic election season, take solace in knowing that the work you are doing is making a difference, and that people are hungry for more opportunities to bridge divides. It’s our responsibility to provide the exhausted majority with the hope, inspiration and skills they are yearning for to heal their communities. Thank you for all you are doing to meet that need every day. It is an honor to serve alongside you.
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