In a world that has become increasingly more divided and polarized, The Convergence Project is about seeking common ground. We are an international non-profit that facilitates the coming together of diverse and even opposing groups and organizations to find common ground without a giving up of what either group believes or values. Once common ground has been identified, we help the groups to identify a project that they can do together that will make their community a stronger and better place in which to live.

We are essentially a partnering organization that is international in scope, yet community based. We partner different or opposing groups and organizations together to find common ground without compromise. Nearly all groups or organizations can qualify as a partnering organization (except those whose message is hate). Social clubs, civic organizations, for-profits and non-profits can all partner in any combination as long as the project that they choose to do together benefits their greater community.

What we believe: We believe that people are more alike than different and that people of differing values, beliefs, and ideas can work more strongly together in their community than by working alone.
What we do: We facilitate and support the coming together of diverse or opposing groups to work in an ideology-free setting in order to accomplish a project that benefit the groups involved and their greater community.

We serve communities large and small, across the country and around the world.

Our approach is simple--we help groups to find their common ground. And we do this with a unique facilitation process that we've designed called "The Converged Path." This process is brought to communities, large and small by our "Path Guides." They are facilitators trained by The Convergence Project who live in and know the communities where the groups will be partnered. They know the issues, they know the factions, and they know what the community needs.

On July 17th in Aspen, Colorado, we will host our basic educational forum, "Common Ground in a Polarized World."

On July 24th in Pueblo, Colorado, President and Executive Director of The Convergence Project, Brock Oyler will, once again, present the forum "Common Ground in a Polarized World." For more information please refer to our website.

The Convergence Project was conceived of and founded by Brock Oyler, and he is also President and Executive Director of the organization. Brock has an M.A. from Purdue University in Organizational Communication and has a long background in conflict resolution and group facilitation. Early experiences caused him to realize that the world truly is an interconnected and interdependent place, and that the actions of one person can affect many. Brock believes passionately that we are more alike than different and that by working together, we can do great things. He has designed a unique facilitation process for The Convergence Project that allows the personal truth of the participants to emerge and not the personal truth of the facilitator.

Our Vice-President is the incomparable La Vonna Lathrop. La Vonna, or Bonnie is a self-described activist for many causes, foremost among them, the promotion of peace. She is also a fierce defender of the U.S. Constitution, a gardener, and a grandmother.

Our Secretary and Treasurer is Janice Wittich. When not working for The Convergence Project, Jan is a promoter of the arts and is currently working with a group to develop a world class Art Center in Salida, Colorado.

We are currently growing our Board of Directors to find people with the best talents and backgrounds to meet our growing needs. As an international organization, we may ultimately choose to draw from individuals around the country or around the world who bring a diversity of background to our Board of Directors. Individuals who might be interested in serving on a very active, working board may contact us via our website.

As a very young non-profit that only received tax exempt status in June, we have not applied for or received any grants from institutional funders at the time of this writing. This is our next step. We have, however, received several thousand dollars from private funders who absolutely love what we do! And because there are other ways to be a supporter other than a financial supporter, we literally cannot count how many people have given of their time to make our dream of creating The Convergence Project a reality. We are deeply grateful!

Typically, when a third party intervenes between two groups, it is about a compromise or a giving up of something. Each side gives a little or sometimes a lot.
But most of us are quite comfortable with our beliefs and values and don't wish to change them. So rather than asking for compromise which often has a very low level of success, we ask our participants to find "common ground", an area on which they already agree and to build from there.

We are also unique in the way we do this. The ideal facilitation is supposed to arrive at a solution or end point that the participants generate. However, it almost always happens that the facilitator's views become part of the solution. We have developed a process that we believe minimizes the chance of this happening. Our facilitation process, The Converged Path, allows participants to come to their own personal understanding and their own personal truth of the situation.

As a very young international organization, our objectives are many. But we want to grow proportionately. So for our first year, we are mainly focusing on expanding our programs within Colorado. We are also focusing on our "train the trainer" approach to bring what we do to wider and wider audiences. That being said, we would certainly not turn down an offer to bring The Convergence Project to another state or even another country this year if the need warranted.

We have currently partnered a number of groups and are in the process of partnering others. In Chaffee County, Colorado a group of Presbyterian and Methodists have partnered with a group of Humanists (primarily atheistic or agnostic folks) to create a helping organiization. They have agreed to do home maintenance projects for house bound people. Despite their many differences surrounding the area of faith, these groups found that their common ground goal was a desire to provide service to those in need in their community.