6 Sessions • Live Zoom Cohort • Small Group Learning
Convene with Courage. Build Trust.
Build an Abundant Community.
For civic leaders, organizers, and dialogue facilitators, the Art of Convening® offers tools to foster trust and momentum across differences—helping communities shift from fear and fragmentation to belonging and abundance.
6 Sessions • Live Zoom Cohort • Small Group Learning
Your Cohort Guides
Certified Convening Leader, Faith & Spiritual Leaders
Kim Kristensen-Lee
Hart Edmonds
Certified Art of Convening Trainer for the Art of Convening
The AoC Civic & Community Leaders Cohort
A six-session online cohort for civic leaders, community organizers, facilitators, and public servants who seek to guide meaningful conversations within their communities.
Across towns, cities, and organizations, leaders are being asked to host conversations across difference—about community priorities, shared challenges, and collective possibilities.
The Art of Convening offers practices for designing gatherings where people can listen deeply, engage thoughtfully, and explore complex issues together.
This cohort invites civic and community leaders into a shared exploration of how gatherings can become spaces of trust, collaboration, and collective insight.
The Challenge
Community life today is too often marked by division, fear, and “not enough” thinking. And, too often, public forums surface problems but fail to spark solutions. Participation is low, conversations feel repetitive, and trust across differences feels harder than ever to build. Many convenors of local groups aren’t equipped with the tools they need to guide dialogue that heals divides and strengthens the fabric of civic life.
The Shift We Imagine
Now imagine gatherings where hospitality and generosity shape the tone of every conversation. Instead of being framed by scarcity, dialogues focus on gifts, strengths, and shared possibilities. Community members show up not as passive consumers—waiting for someone else to solve problems—but as citizens, offering their contributions and confronting one another with their gifts.
Picture what becomes possible when:
Every gathering helps heal divides and spark connection
Trust isn’t left to chance but is cultivated as a practiced outcome
Leadership is seen as a capacity available to many, not just the few
Conversations inspire collective action to build well-being where people live and work
How AoC Helps
The Art of Convening equips civic and community leaders to:
Design meeting norms and spaces that invite inclusive, generous dialogue
Foster trust across political, social, and generational divides
Shift narratives from scarcity to abundance
Move communities from listening sessions to aligned, collaborative action
With AoC, conveners rediscover themselves not as managers of conflict, but as builders of belonging and community well-being.
What Leaders Are Saying
“AoC showed me how to invite real participation—not just check the box.”
An Invitation to Join the Cohort
Convening meaningful civic conversations is both an art and a practice.
This cohort offers a supportive space for leaders to explore how gatherings in their communities can become places of thoughtful dialogue, shared learning,
and collaborative possibility.
Join a community of leaders exploring how intentional gatherings
can strengthen civic life.
6 Sessions • Live Zoom Cohort • Small Group Learning
