Community Foundations Working Across Differences Accelerator Definitions

Working Across Differences

The work to connect and collaborate across differences manifests in many ways. That work includes strategies known in the field as belonging, bridging, building common ground, and conflict transformation. These strategies inform a variety of activities and investments, including countering polarization, combating hate, encouraging racial healing, advancing equity, and fostering an inclusive democracy.

Heartset, Mindset, Skillset

Heartset refers to the desire and willingness to connect and collaborate across differences. It is the belief that engagement across difference matters and finding the motivation, drive, and ambition to do it — not because it is easy or popular, but as a reflection of core values, beliefs, and principles of leadership.

Attributes of leaders who possess these heartsets can include things like demonstrating curiosity, humility, compassion, vulnerability, mutuality, and the desire for self-reflection and growth.
When a heartset is institutionalized into an organization, these attributes may be codified in organizational language and value sets, are consistently modeled by leadership, and are used as principles or criteria for decision-making. The organization meaningfully engages a diverse and divergent slate of partners, collaborators, and advisors.

Mindset refers to the plan to translate ambition into a clear and actionable process of engagement and leadership. It is about expanding heartsets into clear and rigorous strategies for impact — moving from the emotional to the empirical by employing evidence-informed, science-backed methodologies, frameworks, and practices.

Leaders who possess these mindsets create and/or utilize quantitative research, proven models, qualitative evidence, and best practices to create tangible strategies, plans, tactics, and impact metrics.
When a mindset is institutionalized into an organization, its staff and leadership continuously implement robust strategies, evaluate them rigorously, and utilize resulting insights for continuous learning and improvement. The organization regularly responds to constructive feedback and openly shares its successes and insights for mutual benefit.

Skillset refers to the ability to effectively engage in the work of connecting across difference and finding common ground. It is about having the competency to put heartsets and mindsets into practice — this may include utilizing skills like asset mapping, active listening, conflict management, dialogue facilitation, cultural competency, peace building and/or violence prevention.

Leaders with these skillsets have a desire and willingness to learn new things and can readily identify the necessary “tools in the toolbox” for a given situation. Even if they don’t personally possess those skills, they have an awareness of them and ability to access or activate them in others.
When a skillset is institutionalized into an organization, it employs people with a diverse suite of trainings, skills, and assets for engaging difference. It has mapped its assets and is able to deploy them quickly and effectively. It consistently draws on the expertise and experience of others, especially those who represent different lived experiences or worldviews.