New Name, Same Fantastic Program!
Washington, D.C. – Next Generation has changed its name to NICD’s State Legislative Program to reflect the invaluable work that state legislators do for their constituents in every state. The program will keep bringing its innovative approach of legislator-led workshops for the over 7,000 lawmakers serving at the state level. The name change was motivated by a greater desire to align the title of the program with the work the Legislative Program team had always been doing: recognizing and supporting the essential impact of legislators from within their state capitols.
Speaking about the change, Program Director Thom Little said, “Next Generation drew its name from a belief that by working with state legislators, we would increase civility in the next generation of members of Congress. While I applaud the concept, I have always felt that focusing on members of Congress minimized the importance of state legislators and the invaluable work they do. “NICD’s State Legislative Program” makes it clear that our target audience is state legislators and recognizes the value of the work they do on a daily basis.”
NICD’s Executive Director, Keith Allred, said, “In a country with teeming diversity and powers separated between the federal and state governments, the work of state legislators is central to the heart of our grand experiment in self-governance. With our legislator-led workshops and now the program’s new title, we want to make it clear to state lawmakers that their effective public service is central to our mission.”
The change comes as the State Legislative Program moves from a productive winter session to planning for the summer and fall workshops. After great sessions with legislators in Rhode Island, Michigan, and Washington state, the spring provides the opportunity to plan an active summer and fall under a fresh name for the program.
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About NICD, the National Institute for Civil Discourse
NICD works to build the nation’s capacity to engage our differences constructively. In 2011, the University of Arizona created NICD after the Tucson shooting that killed six people and wounded another thirteen, including former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. In the weeks prior to the shooting, Congresswoman Giffords was already in discussion with the University of Arizona about creating a center that would focus on improving the quality of discourse. The galvanizing power of that event brought together founding honorary co-chairs George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton and an impressive bipartisan group of other leaders to honor Congresswoman Giffords’ vision.
The State Legislative Program is one of NICD’s most important programs that creates and strengthens bipartisan relationships through mutual, trust-based, and effective communication in state legislatures around the country.
NICD offers Americans a variety of opportunities and resources to engage differences constructively at https://civildiscourseinstitute.org/.
