LBB strengthens the emotional and relational capacities people need to belong across difference, take responsibility for one another, and act together for the common good.
Vision
We envision communities where no one has to disappear to belong: places where people can be fully seen and heard, difference can deepen rather than divide, and relationships can foster compassion, courage, understanding, and repair.
Why this work is needed
Democratic institutions depend on people who can listen, recognize emotionally charged reactions, remain present through disagreement, repair harm, and share responsibility. These capacities are learned and practiced in relationship. When fear, shame, grief, or inherited narratives remain unexamined, they can distort how people interpret difference and make exclusion or scapegoating feel justified.
How we grow responsibly
LBB will grow this work through learning before expansion. The initiative builds on established Universal Connections practice while developing new civic applications and a facilitator-preparation pathway. Rather than treating the model as finished, LBB will use pilots to learn what works, what needs to change, and what conditions participants and facilitators need to engage across difference with care and confidence.
Pilots will be designed with partners and informed by participant experience, facilitator learning, documentation, and evaluation. Particular attention will be given to appropriate participation, confidentiality, boundaries, participant care, facilitator preparation, and mechanisms for addressing concerns or harm.
We will expand only as evidence, learning, and readiness warrant. As the work grows, LBB will refine the curriculum, strengthen facilitator preparation and support, and adapt the approach to different communities without losing the practices and principles that give the work its integrity.
