We are seeing a growing interest among funders to invest in early relational health. Our Bonding Strategy Lead Ira Hillman — alongside some of our partners, including Nurture Connection, Pediatrics Supporting Parents, the Overdeck Family Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation — shares his inspiration for the work and the importance of emotional connection in the first years of life.

In an interview with The Chronicle of Philanthropy on the New Pluralists’ Healing Starts Here initiative, our Executive Director Jenn Hoos Rothberg discusses the necessary and continuous process of building trust and empathy to bridge our divides.

A new poll, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago on behalf of Starts With Us, found that about 9 in 10 Republicans and Democrats strongly agree on six fundamental values, yet we are skeptical that the “other side” shares these values.

Judy Woodruff and New Pluralists Field Builder Ted Johnson discuss the foundational contradiction of the United States and how it affects race relations in the nation today. The segment explores the story of national progress and the ability to show love for the country while critiquing it at the same time.

Human beings are capable of so much more than cynics would like to believe. The 100 stories of Humankind demonstrate this by telling the stories of regular people who did extraordinary things to heal our world and all the people in it.

Hélène Biandudi Hofer, co-founder of Good Conflict, shares how a good looping technique and a commitment to respectful engagement can reduce polarization in communities and in journalism. “Opinion can and should be more than a page in a newspaper or a comment below a story.” The secret is in understanding that there is a story behind every opinion.