Connection Hub2023-04-14T14:41:35+00:00

Connection Hub

Connection Hub

Resources, tools, and reflections on human connection.

A Call to Connection

This groundbreaking primer on the state of connection in our nation is now available. Combining scientific research, stories of impact, and recommended practices to help foster deeper connections in our lives, this new primer seeks to ignite a national conversation about why we need each other.

Welcome

There’s an active and committed ecosystem of actors — community organizers, educators, researchers, policy makers, thought leaders, cultural influencers, and funders — working hard to address America’s crisis of connection. Einhorn Collaborative created this hub to lift up their stories, insights, and reflections. We hope they serve you and the organizations you work in partnership with to bring the power and possibility of human connection into our everyday lives.

Reflections

Stories, insights, and reflections from our team, peers, and partners
  • Photo of Margot Stern Strom speaking in a classroom filled with adults.

Going Toward Freedom

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The week before Passover, I learned about the passing of Margot Stern Strom. It struck me how much of Margot’s life and teachings echoed the traditions of Passover, asking us to remember our shared history, pass down the knowledge to the next generation, and learn in community so we gain compassion and empathy for all others who are persecuted.

  • Our Future is In Our Hands

A Call to Think Big and Bold About Our Future

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It is easy to see how a gloomy outlook on the country and a cynical view of humanity conspire to stifle our collective imagination. Yet that capacity to envision and work toward better futures is most needed in times of upheaval and rapid change; that is, now.

Philanthropy in Action: Local to Global

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Our Building Strategy Lead Jonathan Gruber spoke on a panel with New Pluralists' Executive Director Uma Viswanathan and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Senior Program Officer Sharon Roerty at the Foundation for Social Connection's 2022 End Social Isolation and Loneliness Action Forum.

  • Group of diverse students studying together

Civic Education Moves Forward By Working Together

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Civic Learning Week is an opportunity to energize this movement and highlight the important role civic education plays in sustaining and strengthening our constitutional democracy by ensuring that each new generation gains the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to become informed and engaged members of our self-governing society.

  • Photo of Margot Stern Strom speaking in a classroom filled with adults.

Going Toward Freedom

By |

The week before Passover, I learned about the passing of Margot Stern Strom. It struck me how much of Margot’s life and teachings echoed the traditions of Passover, asking us to remember our shared history, pass down the knowledge to the next generation, and learn in community so we gain compassion and empathy for all others who are persecuted.

Learn more about the three pillars of Einhorn Collaborative’s strategy: Bonding, Bridging, and Building

Through the Prism

By asking human beings the same five questions, we remind ourselves that everyone has a powerful story that deserves to be heard.
  • Headshot of Elizabeth Clay Roy

Through the Prism with Elizabeth Clay Roy

Elizabeth Clay Roy is a lifelong leader of civic engagement and social change initiatives, and the new Chief Executive Officer of Generation Citizen, a national nonprofit committed to providing youth with the knowledge and skills they need to actively participate in our democracy.

  • Robert Waldinger

Through the Prism with Robert Waldinger

Robert Waldinger, MD, is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and Zen priest. He is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he directs the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest scientific study of happiness ever conducted. Dr. Waldinger is the author of The Good Life, which examines the central role of relationships in shaping our health and well-being.

This Month’s Resources

Our monthly roundup of the latest tools, research, and reporting from across the fields in which we work

Six prominent philanthropy leaders across the ideological spectrum call on foundation partners to engage across lines of difference, avoid destructive disagreements, and practice pluralism in their philanthropic approach.

Through a collection of essays, poetry, videos, visual arts, audio, dance, and more, CoGenerate and On Being invite participants to reflect on how we can draw on co-generational wisdom and advance social healing in our communities.

Whose job is it to provide readers with hope? In her opinion piece, Amanda Ripley shares a definition of hope (“more like a muscle than an emotion”) and why hope is important for news reporting.

The Greater Good Science Center offers a starting point to help your kid connect with another child they may not know and deepen an existing friendship.

Building a culture of belonging may feel like a nice-to-have for some, but this line of thinking can contribute to the crisis of connection that ails our culture and country today. In his essay, CEO of The Conrad Prebys Foundation Grant Oliphant wrote, “A culture of belonging dignifies everyone in it through the immense power of connection. It invests in institutions, policies, and actions that build connectivity and strengthen the circle.”

In this Hidden Brain episode, psychologist Jer Clifton discusses how our core beliefs shape our perception of the world and how we can use this knowledge to live happier and connect with people whose viewpoints differ from our own.

Peter Coleman of Columbia University and Pearce Godwin of Listen First Project share the lessons they have gained from practicing constructive disagreement and dissent and finding the courage and care needed to complicate in-group’s thinking.

There is compelling evidence that early relational health has positive effects on a child’s development, long-term health, and well-being. Yet the implementation research is not well developed. Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Reach Out and Read are partnering to bridge this gap.

Research

The science behind how human connection shapes our lives

Americans Deserve the Full Story

A new study conducted by Starts With Us, the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, and Common Ground Committee found that hyper-partisan politicians received more than four times the news coverage bipartisan problem solvers did around the 2022 midterm elections.

  • The Belonging Barometer: The State of Belonging in America

The Belonging Barometer: The State of Belonging in America

Belonging is vital to our individual and societal health, but it can be notoriously difficult to measure. The Belonging Barometer report, recently released by Over Zero and the Center for Inclusion and Belonging at the American Immigration Council, provides a first-of-its-kind measure of belonging that is robust, accessible, and readily deployable in efforts to strengthen community resilience and social cohesion. It also shares findings from a national survey to give a baseline snapshot of the state of belonging in our country.

  • Cover of Social Connection Report: The Ties That Bind and Nurture

Social Connection Report: The Ties That Bind and Nurture

For parents, the nature and strength of their social connections are key determinants of their health and well-being, and in turn, their children’s development. New research, commissioned by Capita with support from Reach Out and Read Carolinas, draws attention to important issues facing parents of young children in North Carolina, including loneliness, social isolation, and lack of parental support. The findings aim to guide approaches to strengthen social connectedness for parents across age cohorts and around the country.

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Tools

Here are some ways to put human connection into action

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No matter who we are, how we live, or what we believe, we all share a deep need and capacity for human connection and belonging. It’s at the core of our shared humanity — and baked into every human’s DNA.

No matter who we are, how we live, or what we believe, we all share a deep need and capacity for human connection and belonging. It’s at the core of our shared humanity — and baked into every human’s DNA.

Authors & Guest Contributors

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