Everyday Democracy’s mission is to help communities develop their own ability to solve problems by exploring ways for all kinds of people to think, talk and work together to create change.

The ultimate vision is to see local communities create and sustain public dialogue and problem solving. Such strong local democracies can form the cornerstone of a vibrant national democracy. In this kind of democracy:

• everyone’s voice has an opportunity to be heard, equally and respectfully;

• people of different backgrounds and views routinely work together to solve public problems;

• elected officials have many opportunities to hear from and respond to everyday people;

• people have ways not only to inform government officials as they create and carry out public policy, but also to work with officeholders to solve public problems