Learning Life Marks 20th Democracy Dinner

Learning Life is pleased to announce the successful occurrence of our 20th, and 21st, Democracy Dinners on March 24 and 29. Launched in June 2019, the Dinners bring together metro Washington DC democracy sector activists, academics, professionals and elected officials to engage in deeper conversations about the challenges and possibilities for democracy at local to global levels in light of authoritarian resurgence in the USA and abroad.

Since June 2019, we have held two Democracy Dinners every two months at 6 to 8pm EST, with the exception of a break in March 2021 due to the Covid Pandemic. While the Dinners were held in person in January 2021 and prior, we resumed them in May 2021 online via Zoom, and will continue holding the Dinners online post-Covid as this allows more people to participate from the convenience of their home or office. The Dinners will remain small group affairs, with about 8-12 participants per Dinner, to help maximize each person’s participation and foster a more intimate conversation.

The Democracy Dinners are a first step in the planned development of a regional democracy learning community in metro Washington DC to nurture democracy-strengthening networking and collaboration across specialty silos and lines of difference. “If we can develop a successful regional democracy learning community first in metro Washington DC, our hope is to adapt that model to develop in other cities worldwide to help empower citizens, and foster governments more accountable to their people,” said Learning Life’s founder and director, Paul Lachelier.

Beyond the online Dinners every two months, Learning Life plans to hold in-person events periodically to encourage networking and collaboration in the democracy sector, starting with a reception planned for October or early November 2021 in Washington, DC.

Below are photos from some of the Democracy Dinners, in chronological order, from the first to the latest Dinner.

For more about Learning Life’s Democracy Dinners click here. Want to get email invitations to the Dinners? If you live in metro Washington DC, and are engaged in democracy work at local to global levels as a volunteer or paid professional, please contact us at email@learninglife.info with your name, email address, and resume indicating your democracy work. You can also join our Democracy Dinners Linkedin Group here to connect with other democracy sector folks, and to share your democracy-related questions, events, publications, projects and calls to action.