A data-driven organization, SDCN attracts diverse participants and produces measurable results

SDCN is working to build the next generation of leaders who engage difference as a strength. Students on campuses use dialogue and action to build more cohesive, engaged, and diverse campus communities. Following graduation, these students bring their leadership and facilitation skills with them to every sector, and continue to impact their communities and workplaces.

To hear about SDCN's impact directly from participants, watch our student or alumni videos below.

SDCN by the numbers
    •    600 students participating in SD across the country
    •    12 campuses with active SD programs
    •    2 campuses working to initiate
    •    110 students attended Moderator Workshops this year
    •    150 students, administrators, and alumni attended SDCN National

Summit

• 3,500 SD alumni across the globe

SD impacts student leadership and engagement
Highlights from our 2009 spring surveys include:

In an evaluation report prepared as part of a W. K. Kellogg Foundation grant, survey results indicated positive shifts in students’ civic values, knowledge, priorities, and skills. Furthermore, these positive student outcomes were present in students of diverse backgrounds.
Learn more about why students value SD:

SD leads to community-building action
Campus administrators attribute improved policies and safety precautions to SD participants and groups. In addition, a key campus impact of SD is an increase in social capital and diverse relationships formed by students. Over 88% of students indicate that dialogue groups improved the quality of relationships amongst participants.

Some SD groups choose to organize a social action project that impacts the broader campus community. Examples of this include:
• Saint John Fisher College students raised over $800 for Alternatives for

Battered Women, after focusing much of their dialogue on abusive relationships on campus.

• A Princeton University SD group organized for the graduating class to

grant an honorary membership to New York Supreme Court justice Bruce M. Wright, who, after having been admitted in 1936, was turned away from Princeton because he was black.

SD has perceived lasting effects on alumni, and SDCN alumni infuse their leadership skills in every sector of society
Participation in Sustained Dialogue has long-term perceived effects on civic behaviors and community engagement, such as:
• Increased critical thinking and knowledge about intergroup relations;
• Increased interest in diversity issues and empathy regarding

cultural differences;

    •    Implementing skills in facilitation and consensus building;
   •    Engaging in volunteerism, service, philanthropy, or advocacy;
    •    Becoming involved in one's local community, such as joining a civic

association; and

• Initiating a dialogue or diversity initiative in the workplace or in local

elementary schools.

(Source: Diaz, Andrea N. "Composing a Civic Life: influences of Sustained Dialogue on Post-Graduate Civic Engagement and Civic Life." Fielding Graduate University, Doctoral Dissertation, 2009.)

Hear from alumni and administrators about the power of SD: