Join Us at July’s Session of our Democratic Engagement Dialogue Series

Join Us at July’s Democratic Engagement Dialogue Series Session

July 16 | 3:00 PM

You are cordially invited to join July’s session of the Democratic Engagement Dialogue Series (DEDS) on July 16 at 3:00 PM, featuring Lisa Whited, doctoral candidate in Organizational Development and Change at Fielding Graduate University, author, TEDx speaker, and practitioner whose work explores the intersection of dialogue, organizational change, and participation design.

The DEDS series and this session are facilitated through a collaborative partnership among the Excelsior University Center for Social Justice, the Democratic Engagement Rope Team, Fielding Graduate University, the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region, the Underground Railroad Education Center, the St. Petersburg Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Center, the Pinellas County Hispanic Outreach Center, and the New York State Division of Human Rights Hate & Bias Prevention Unit.

In her introductory remarks, “Showing Up and Mattering Aren’t the Same Thing: A Conversation on Participation Design, Democratic Engagement, and the Conditions for Meaningful Dialogue”, Lisa Whited will explore a central question of democratic engagement: What is the difference between having a voice and having genuine influence? Drawing on more than three decades of experience in organizational and community change, she argues that many institutions have established mechanisms for participation—meetings, surveys, public forums, and town halls—but often fail to design participation in ways that meaningfully shape decisions and outcomes.

Her presentation will examine how democratic engagement can be strengthened through intentional participation design, including thoughtful decisions about who is included, how dialogue is structured, how spaces are configured, and how community input is translated into action. Participants will be invited to consider how organizations, communities, and institutions can create conditions that foster authentic dialogue, shared understanding, and durable change rather than simply collecting input.

Lisa Whited is a doctoral candidate in Organizational Development and Change at Fielding Graduate University, author of Work Better. Save the Planet, and a TEDx speaker. With more than 35 years of professional practice, she has helped organizations and communities create environments where people can do their best work and collaboratively shape their futures. Her current doctoral research examines how participation can influence and transform the systems it is intended to serve.

Whether you are a student, educator, community leader, advocate, public servant, or simply interested in strengthening democratic practice, we invite you to join us for this timely conversation.

Register here today and be part of a dialogue about how we can design participation, engagement, and decision-making processes that help people to not only show up—but to truly matter.