One of my favorite things about the 10 Days of Connection is the focus on understanding where someone else is coming from rather than trying to change anyone’s point of view. In our current world, where loneliness is growing, political divisions strain families and friends, and collaboration across sectors and neighborhoods feels harder to achieve. In this climate, choosing to listen deeply, honor another's perspective, and still engage in brave civic dialogue to challenge what is not just, becomes a radical act of courage. This is what 10 Days of Connection is all about.

For 9 years, we have witnessed how thousands of people believe in a world where we can coexist because we bring different perspectives for a common purpose: Living in a just world, created for humans and by each of us. The state of the world can feel concerning. At the same time, I find hope that more of us are willing to work together and create more safe spaces for conversation. These spaces allow us to talk openly about politics, religion, income or the shared places we inhabit. They remind us that we all live in the same city and that we can come together, whether it’s by celebrating new public spaces, connecting as neighbors, or challenging practices that don’t serve us all. At the heart of it, we share the same rights by living in this community, OUR community.

At the end whether you follow one political party or another, have different belief systems, were born in 1965, 1995 or 2005, live with different abilities, embrace gender diversity and sexual orientation, come from different income backgrounds, or were born in the United States or immigrated, we all want the same: spaces where we all can thrive,have access to opportunities, and belong. Too often, we stop listening to each other and lose sight of the truth that unites us. We all want the same thing: to enjoy the place(s) we call home, and to live in it with fullness and joy, not just to survive within it. A world where no human is in despair.

Will you join us in having respectful conversations, building together and challenging what does not serve us, all while embracing human dignity, diversity, and safety?

I know that it might sound huge and daunting, but it all can start with a meaningful conversation with a friend, classmate, family member, or coworker. Here we leave you some tips that our friends at Share Our America offered us this year:

When Listening

Listen with resilience, “staying present” when you hear something that is hard to hear.
Assume others bring good intentions.

When Asking Questions

Is there something someone said that you are curious about, or would like to understand better?

Ask questions of curiosity to better understand someone else’s perspectives.
Examples can be: Can you tell us more about...? What made you want to...? What experiences in your life caused you to believe that? How did this change the way you see the world? What did you learn? What was it like?

Avoid questions seeking to persuade someone to change their mind.

Such as: Don’t you think you should...? Why do you even care about that? But isn’t it true that...? Framing questions like this could be read as an attack and encourage a defensive response.

Our world is changing so fast, I know. But I’d like to invite you to pause when you feel overwhelmed by the constant influx of information. Have that one “uncomfortable conversation” with someone whose point of view is different from yours. The goal isn’t to convince, but to understand. If you try it, let us know how it went in the comments of this post, we’d love to read your story and inspire others to do the same!

Finally, if you’re curious about this year’s moves during the 10 Days of Connection 2025, we encourage you to check out our 2025 Impact Report.

How to build connected, safer and more united communities in a period of time where divisiveness is very present?