ABOUT THE NIF

National Issues Forums (NIF) is a network of civic, educational, and other organizations, and individuals,
whose common interest is to promote public deliberation in America. It includes civic clubs, religious
organizations, libraries, schools, and many other groups that meet to discuss critical public issues. Forum
participants range from teenagers to retirees, prison inmates to community leaders, and literacy students to
university students.

NIF does not advocate specific solutions or points of view but provides citizens the opportunity to consider
a broad range of choices, weigh the pros and cons of those choices, and meet with each other in a public
dialogue to identify the concerns they hold in common

he Kettering Foundation is a nonprofit operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of cooperative
research. Kettering’s primary research question is, what does it take to make democracy work as it should?
Kettering’s research is distinctive because it is conducted from the perspective of citizens and focuses on
what people can do collectively to address problems affecting their lives, their communities, and their
nation.

We should all have a voice in the decisions that affect us. We can also do our part to
help solve public problems. Unfortunately, the traditional “3-minutes at the
microphone” type of public meeting does not tap into a community’s potential to
help make decisions and solve problems. In fact, research suggests that these kinds
of conventional engagement are eroding our trust in government.

Public Agenda is working hard to change this dynamic by helping cities, states and
countries integrate the principles, practices and tools of sound public engagement.
Meaningful engagement can produce smarter policies, increase public trust,
encourage volunteerism and build stronger networks in communities.

Public Agenda's Yankelovich Center takes our public engagement work a step
further, developing and spreading innovations that make productive engagement –
and democracy – more inclusive, scalable and sustainable.