Empower young people to engage in constructive dialogue and disagreement to improve the quality of politics.
A thriving US democracy where leaders and citizens engage in respectful, productive dialogue.
The goal of BridgeUSA is not to change minds or create centrists, but encourage students to engage differing beliefs, experiences and perspectives. What unites us is not agreement on policies, but a shared mindset.
The BridgeUSA Mindset champions understanding, empathy, open-mindedness and a willingness to engage those who are different from us.
BridgeUSA strongly believes in our ability to hold strong beliefs while being able to express them in a constructive manner.
Come to a discussion with your beliefs as they are. Be open about them. Give others the same grace. That’s what Bridge is about.
In February 2017, our co-founders were freshmen on the campus of UC Berkeley when protests over a conservative speaker turned violent.
The campus was shut down and students on every side were angry.
A small group of students were determined to cut through the noise. They organized a discussion where students who sided with the protestors and those being protested could speak to each other, human to human.
One discussion turned into many more and that group turned into a chapter. Soon, chapters were forming on nearby campuses, then in neighboring states. Now, we are a nationwide movement of young people working toward a better kind of politics at more than 125 chapters.
