The city of Stockton police department has embarked on a number of initiatives in the hopes of building trust between them and the communities they work for. With initial funding from the Department of Justice, the department began truth-and-reconciliation processes, including workshops, departmental reforms, public apologies, and community conversations. Actual reconciliation is hard to measure, and yet their efforts to atone for their part in historic and systemic racism have shown positive results.

Personal connections contribute to more productive discourse, reducing polarization and divisiveness. Outreach projects such as those led by the Better Angels nonprofit and KUOW-FM in Seattle encourage conversations between individuals with differing political points of view. KUOW has run several “Ask A…” programs, including “Ask a Muslim” and “Ask a police officer,” which focus on building conservations. The Better Angels program, which includes workshops centered on discourse, has spread nationwide.

The University of Chicago and Eureka College are teaming up to bring together college students from urban and rural Illinois to discuss political differences. As part of Bridging the Divide, community leaders from both settings have led tours of homeless shelters, job training sites, and immigration centers.

Immigrants are increasingly settling in the United States, but their cultural adjustments present economic and social challenges. Different states have started welcoming initiatives to aid in foreigners in their transition. Welcoming Tennessee has organized community gatherings and public talks, and has publicized how immigrants can contribute to their new neighborhoods.

A grassroots organization called Soft Landing Missoula (SLM) is a community effort to bring refugees to Montana. It was started by two women who met on opposite sides of a protest, but, through consistent and respectful conversation, have learned to respect each other's views and form a meaningful friendship. SLM puts that principle into practice by sitting down with the mayor, city council members and the county commission to work with the International Rescue League to start a process that helps migrants settle into Montana. They consider conversation to be the most important tool in overcoming bias.

After an incident where a Latino teen was hurled into the ground by white teenagers, and they put a noose around his neck, Tamara Parson jumped into action. She started by organizing town halls with panels made up of people of color. Then that led to the creation of the Diversity Coalition of Knox County. Later, she teamed up with her pastor and created a six week long course titled Overcoming Racism. "It got people thinking about what experience minorities had here. It brought a spotlight to a lot of the diversity that already existed in our community.”

Amid divisive free speech discussions on campus, students across the country formed BridgeUSA, a group dedicated to the 'transpartisanship' movement. Student representatives are trained to facilitate constructive discussions with members of all political parties on campus. John Sarrouf, who trains students, noted, "The question shouldn’t be 'freedom of speech vs. safe spaces … but how do we create the context for people to engage each other [who have differences]?"