NIFI Summer School is now in session! Join Verdis LeVar Robinson, NIFI Interim Executive Director in a series of training sessions. The Moderating Deliberative Forums series includes Introduction to Deliberation & National Issues Forums, Practicum: Experiential Moderator Trainings, and Train the Trainers Workshops. 

Click on the links below to reserve your seat at the table. 

Check out the events page for the full SCHEDULE.

From August to November, NIFI’s Interim Executive Director will facilitate Virtual National Issue Forums on the first Fridays of the month from 12-2 PM ET. Deliberate national issues virtual with the people from across the nation as we engage the 2024 Elections. Register by the deadline to reserve your seat at the table. Limited capacity- 75 participants per forum.

This year for Constitution Day, September 17, 2024, NIFI will sponsor regional virtual forums. Those interested, contact NIFI’s Interim Executive Director, or attend one of the informational meetings.

Informational Meetings:

Even before the official launch of the With the People initiative we knew that some of you were already making plans to bring deliberative discussion of public issues to your classrooms and communities. And we know the excitement is going to increase as the word spreads about this initiative. We applaud your valuable work and would love to share with others around the country, what you are doing or planning to do.

Please send us your plans, stories about your deliberative projects, audio or video clips, or photos (with permission of those in the photos) about your deliberative forums work. Also, if you, or students you are working with, are interested in writing about some aspect of deliberative forums work (such as the experiences of planning, moderating, reporting on, or participating in a deliberative forum), we’d love to hear from you for the possibility of featuring your writing as a guest post on the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) website.

Please send your submissions to info@nifi.org

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Here are just a couple of examples of what some With the People partners are planning:

Click here to read about what Academic and Student Affairs at Minnesota State has done. 

...Recognizing the power of voting and civic learning as tools in bringing about a more equity-minded society, Minnesota State is offering several opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to engage in practices designed to improve the functioning of our democracy during today’s polarized times.

Click here to read about what the SUNY Center for Professional Development has done.

Constitution Day is an opportunity for students from across the SUNY system to participate in an open dialogue on voting.  Faculty and staff moderators will help guide the discussion and facilitate open and honest conversation...This event will be delivered online, in real-time. 

Cick here to read about A Students' National Forum on Racial Justice.

"We included students from Sinte Gleska University, Adams State University, Alcorn State
University, Tougaloo College and West Virginia University at Parkersburg. The students talked
to each other. The current generation of educational leaders listened, and the resulting
conversation was transformational."