Established in 1971, Close Up is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic education organization dedicated to helping students develop the knowledge and skills they need to become informed, active, and engaged citizens. Close Up’s resources, programs, and professional development offer a balanced and multi-partisan approach to facilitating controversial issue discussions. Each year, Close Up helps thousands of students and teachers across the nation engage in civil discourse and take informed action in their communities. 

Founded in 2017 in Bentonville, Arkansas, Thaden School is a co-educational independent day school dedicated to providing a balanced and challenging education that inspires students to lead lives of integrity, purpose, and responsible global citizenship. Central to the school’s mission is its commitment to fostering the civil exchange of ideas in the center of the country. By inviting and engaging many perspectives, Thaden enlarges their students’ capacity for understanding and prepares them for responsible citizenship and leadership in our pluralistic and multicultural republic. Thaden is committed to actively engaging with the ever-unfinished and essential work of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.

Rebecca Hong, PhD., is the Director Institutional Equity for the Spence School, a K-12 girls school in Manhattan, where she where she supports the community through careful strategic planning for equity and structural systemic change. Her dedication to civic dialogue and educational equity has been the driving motivation for her life and work, and she is enjoying supporting schools around the country as a national consultant for equity, intergroup dialogue, social justice pedagogy, diversity, education reform, and emotional intelligence in K-12 school settings.

The Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University is housed in the Department of Communication. The CDD is devoted to research about democracy and public opinion obtained through Deliberative Polling. The method of Deliberative Polling has been used in 30 countries around the world through over 110 projects, at varying levels of government and society.