Amanda Ripley’s article on the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress featured a post-January 6 bipartisan convening that Convergence organized with the Committee Co-Chairs; it is a good example of our broader work strengthening bipartisan collaboration in Congress. Here’s an excerpt:

Article Excerpt:
These radically simple changes helped lawmakers actually get things done.

…When people in intractable conflict sit down and listen to each other under the right conditions, they make surprising discoveries. “There were several cases when one party said something, and the other side’s jaw dropped,” said David Eisner, head of the nonprofit Convergence, which helped organize the retreat. “Both sides believed the other side had been acting politically. And something happened where they realized they were all people — people who had been through something traumatic.”

…Even as they continued to bitterly disagree about many things, the simple experience of being heard was cathartic. “It felt like someone turned the air conditioner on,” Eisner says. “You saw people starting to be curious about each other again.”…