Common Ground Institute (CGI) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 to help people bridge interpersonal, social, and political divides, and work toward creating a more unified and compassionate society. We teach individuals, couples, organizations, schools, and communities learn to solve problems collaboratively.
We are committed to resolving conflicts, promoting dialogue, and building stronger, more resilient communities through education, mediation, and advocacy. Our mission is to foster relational understanding of human existence that nurtures moral interconnection, promotes collaborative problem-solving, and recognizes our mutual dependence.
We aim to transcend divisions of radical individualism and collectivism for a more unified and compassionate society. CGI emphasizes the importance of active listening, perspective-taking, and collaborative problem-solving to move beyond conflict and foster social cohesion. This approach helps prevent marginalization and promotes social integration.
Our award-winning publications, educational resources, strategic services and expert leadership help our members create common ground and build and manage better relationships.
We help individuals, couples, organizations and communities manage conflict, transform relationships and create shared values. We not only help people resolve conflict, but we also help them use conflict as an opportunity for personal and organizational development. Treated properly, any conflict is an opportunity for people to learn to understand each other better, improve their relationships, solve problems between them, and meet their individual and collective goals.
Most of our success in life comes from our capacity to work effectively with others. We often think of working well with others as the absence of conflict. But that’s not true. Conflict is an inherent part of all relationships. Whether we are talking about a relationship, organization or a community, what matters is not the presence of conflict, but instead how conflict is handled.
Learning to manage conflict effectively transforms lives. Most people experience conflict as something to be avoided. Imagine not having to fear conflict. Imagine what it would be like if you felt that you could turn any disagreement into an occasion of mutual understanding and problem-solving.
Learning how to solve problems collaboratively can change your life, organization or community. We show you how.
The Common Ground Institute (CGI) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 to help others bridge interpersonal, social, and political divides, and work toward creating a more unified and compassionate society.
We are educators, mediators, moderators and organizers. We offer:
Keep current with conflict resolution strategies and collaborative problem-solving techniques for our day and age by exploring our publications-and inspire your mind, heart and community
Here’s a sneak peek at the new 2026 book, Bridging Political Divides: “Collaboration requires that we simultaneously connect to the other while protecting the self. It simultaneously says, ‘I am open to finding ways to meet your needs and my needs, but I will not let you hurt me.’ In this way, collaborative engagement is strong: it brings together power, self- assertion and compassion for the other.”
Here’s a sneak peek at the Transformation of a White Supremacist: It is a compelling account of a self- identified White Supremacist who came to renounce his racist ideology and belief that African Americans were inherently inferior through a series of relational encounters with a variety of African Americans over time as a product of many discrepant experiences that contradicted and disconfirmed his ideology. The author experienced the successive dismantling of his heart-felt ideology and the construction of a new one.
Learn ways to improve relationships, foster compassionate communities, and change lives. Subscribe to our transformational communications.
