You will be far more effective if you know how complicated this terrain has become, and what may come your way if you say you want to be a bridger.ĭuring the decades that the two of us have done this 'bridging' work, around the country and around the world, we have learned how difficult and rewarding it can be. So before you rush into the battlefield in between the armies of the 'right' and 'left,' stop, look and listen. 'Collaborative problem solving,' 'hearing all sides,' 'working together,' 'finding common ground.' What could possibly be controversial about any of that? Yet one such phrase 'bridging divides,' which seems at first glance like an obviously positive intention, has itself become controversial and sometimes even divisive.
There are some phrases that just feel good to say.
Gates and Gerzon are co-directors of Philanthropy Bridging Divides, a transpartisan conversation among America's philanthropic leaders.
