New Format for Democracy Dinners in 2025
Learning Life’s Democracy Dinners continue in 2025 with a new format to help connect and inform Washington DC area residents interested in strengthening democracy in the U.S. capital region.
In 2024, Learning Life’s five Democracy Dinners focused on organizing for, then reflecting on the first DMV Democracy Festival. This year, the five planned Dinners’ meeting structure and content follow a new format that will (a) bring attention to local research and action on democracy issues happening in the DC area to worldwide, and (b) foster learning and collaboration among DMV residents interested in and/or doing democracy. Here is the new format:
6:00-7:00: Reception with appetizers
7:00-7:15: Settle in for dinner, then go around for brief introductions
7:15-7:45: Reports from individuals and organizational reps doing democracy work
7:45-8:30: 1-3 speakers on a democracy topic, then discussion
8:30-9:00: Extra meeting time, if needed, then mingling
The 2025 scheduled Dinner dates and topics are:
March 1: Civic education
May 3: Deliberative democracy
June 28: Democracy and media
August 23: Economic democracy
November 8: Authoritarianism and polarization
All Dinner dates are on Saturdays, 6-9pm, and will take place in or near Washington, DC. See the poster below for the first Democracy Dinner of 2025, and the 49th since the launch of the Dinners in June 2019.
“Learning Life’s Democracy Dinners are a place for small “d” democrats in our nation’s capital region to connect, learn, and build relationships. This new Dinner format strengthens that purpose, and advances our organizational mission to widen and deepen democracy by nurturing more caring, capable and connected citizens,” said Learning Life’s founder and director, Paul Lachelier.
Mark your calendar, and RSVP for any of the Dinner dates you plan to attend. Seating is limited and therefore not guaranteed with your RSVP, but we will inform you via email of each Dinner date. Also, for each Dinner you attend, please contribute what you can in advance or at the Dinner toward the cost of the Dinner, the 2025 DMV Democracy Festivalcoming in October, and the building of the wider DMV Democracy Learning Community. We ask working individuals to contribute $40, couples or friend/colleague pairs $70, and $20 for students, retirees, and individuals unemployed or with gross annual incomes below $50,000. Note that if you are employed, you may be able to get reimbursed for the Dinner through your workplace.
The DMV Democracy Learning Community is a growing association of DC area individuals and organizations working to make democracy more fun and inclusive by connecting professionals, publics and policymakers via social events, products, services and spaces that nurture fun, learning, networking, collaboration and wider, deeper citizen participation.
