American Public Square is honored to host the Second Annual Bridging Movement Summit in Kansas City from September 23–25, 2026 with the Listen First Coalition.
Across American society, trust in our neighbors and fellow Americans, institutions, media, and more has declined dramatically. This erosion of trust fuels toxic polarization, weakens democratic institutions, and makes it harder for communities to solve shared problems. This year’s Bridging Movement Summit will focus on the broader challenge of rebuilding trust in an era defined by outrage, misinformation, and institutional skepticism.
Leaders from across the bridging divides movement—including local practitioners, national organizers, researchers, academics, funders, artists, and allies—will gather to explore the roots of the current “trust recession” and the cultural forces that sustain it. The Summit will offer opportunity for sharing case studies and best practices from experience in the field, highlighting insights from emergent research, and engaging bridging movement leaders in conversations and interactive experiences where they will grapple with tough issues facing our field and put their own bridge-building skills into practice. The Summit will also celebrate examples of innovative bridging initiatives occurring at the local level where community members are building trust through collaborative problem-solving.
Together we will strengthen our capacity as a field by building relationships with peers, learning from each other, diving into thorny topics, and celebrating the spirit of collaboration that is integral to success as a movement. By shifting the focus from polarization alone to the deeper question of social trust, this year’s Summit invites us to explore how Americans might begin restoring the civic fabric that makes democracy possible.
