After 14 years of demonstrating what good looks like, Common Ground Committee is closing its doors.
Bruce and I, along with several friends in the Fairfield County area of Connecticut, began meeting to discuss the idea of common ground in 2009 when we noticed that the tenor of public discourse had grown more vitriolic. We soon came up with the idea of putting together an event with two panelists on opposite sides of a topic with a moderator, not to argue about the issue but to determine where they agree on the issue.
Over the years, we built an organization with seven employees and over half a dozen contractors to build CGC. We did over twenty-five live events, released 114 podcasts with a subscription base of over 280,000 subscribers, and met with over 50 members of Congress to discuss The Common Ground Scorecard.
Unfortunately, by the end of 2023, we lost our primary funding source and were forced to drastically reduce our programs. Since then, we have managed to continue the podcast until July, and at the beginning of 2025, the Let’s Find Common Ground podcast will be produced by the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future. We are very excited to see our work continued and grateful to USC, particularly Bob Shrum and Kamy Akhavan, for carrying on.
Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, Common Ground Committee will no longer be able to continue operations. We are grateful to all our supporters who have helped us over the years. We know that work such as ours is ongoing through the organizations of the Bridge Alliance. Through Braver Angels, Living Room Conversations, L1sten First Project, The Village Square, All Sides, and our media partner, The Christian Science Monitor. Since its founding, the Monitor’s mission of “To injure no man, to bless all mankind” has inspired our motto, “Bringing light, not heat, to public discourse.
Sincerely,
Erik L. Olsen
Co-Founder and CEO
