On March 27th, 2024, PBS NewsHour aired a segment with Judy Woodruff featuring cross-partisan participants, the TN11, of a project Convergence worked on with Starts with Us, Citizen Solutions. Convergence and Starts with Us convened the TN11 to address solutions on gun rights and safety in the state of Tennessee following the Covenant school shooting. PBS NewHour included some clips from the convenings including some of Convergence’s CEO and President, Mariah Levison facilitating the session.

In the segment, Judy Woodroof spoke with participants from both sides of the issue and uncovered the challenges they face around the consensus solutions they came up when interacting with state legislators and their own communities. Participant Tim Carroll noted that,

“I know that, if I start speaking out about this session and what I did, then I know that all of this could go away, right? If somebody says Tim Carroll is working with the anti-gun folks to try to come up with new laws, that’s all they will hear. And they will say, you know what, Tim Carroll, don’t go take classes with him, don’t listen to anything he says.

I think that’s why I fought so hard during the solutions sessions to come up with things that didn’t infringe on our rights. But I know that will be misconstrued in the gun rights community.”

Convergence applauds the efforts and courage of the TN11 who approached the conversations with empathy, thoughtfulness, and determination to make things better.