Three-year grant to accelerate national effort to equip college students with the skills to communicate and collaborate across differences
NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) and the John Templeton Foundation today announced a $4.5 million grant to expand CDI's work fostering intellectual humility, curiosity, and constructive dialogue across higher education. The three-year grant (2026–2028) will support CDI's efforts to equip 1.75 million college students with the mindset and skillset to communicate and collaborate across differences.
This is the third major grant from the John Templeton Foundation to CDI, bringing its total investment to $9.5 million over the course of nine years. The Foundation's support has played a transformational role in CDI's growth and impact, helping the organization become a national leader in strengthening inquiry and dialogue in higher education.
"The John Templeton Foundation's partnership has been transformative for CDI," said Caroline Mehl, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Constructive Dialogue Institute. "Their sustained investment over nearly a decade has enabled us to build the evidence base, infrastructure, and partnerships needed to strengthen civic discourse and pluralism across American higher education."
Since receiving its first $2.5 million grant from the Templeton Foundation in 2019, CDI has grown from a promising idea into a proven national model for fostering constructive dialogue. With the Foundation's support, CDI has:
- Partnered with more than 150 college campuses across the country.
- Impacted more than 500,000 students through its programs and resources.
- Equipped more than 200,000 students with the mindset and skillset for constructive dialogue through its Perspectives online learning program.
- Conducted three randomized controlled trials demonstrating that Perspectives improves affective polarization, intellectual humility, and conflict resolution skills.
- Been recognized as a winner in the Stanford Democracy Challenge for its effectiveness in reducing affective polarization.
"This new grant from the John Templeton Foundation will be catalytic in enabling us to reach millions of students and equip them with the skills to bridge divides and sustain a healthy democracy," said Jonathan Haidt, Co-Founder and Chair of the Constructive Dialogue Institute.
The $4.5 million grant is part of CDI's broader $20 million, three-year capital campaign to scale its impact and help transform U.S. higher education. Over the next three years, CDI aims to:
- Expand its suite of offerings to help colleges and universities promote intellectual and civic virtues.
- Conduct rigorous research to evaluate program effectiveness and guide continuous improvement.
- Scale its programs to reach 1.75 million college students, with a focus on expanding partnerships with state systems of higher education—building on successful multi-year collaborations with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the City University of New York.
"The Constructive Dialogue Institute is a leading provider of programming to help university students develop humility, open-mindedness, and empathy," said Richard Bollinger, Senior Program Officer for Character Virtue Development at the John Templeton Foundation. "We are excited to support CDI as they continue to strengthen their programming and expand their capacity to achieve their ambitious goals."
About the Constructive Dialogue Institute:
The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) is a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps colleges and universities create campus cultures of inquiry and dialogue. CDI believes that a thriving democracy depends on people's ability to engage with diverse perspectives, evaluate information critically, and collaborate on shared challenges. Since its founding in 2017, CDI has partnered with more than 150 colleges and universities nationwide, offering an evidence-based suite of programs designed to reach stakeholders at every level of a campus—from presidents to incoming students—and drive meaningful culture change.
About the John Templeton Foundation:
Founded in 1987, the John Templeton Foundation supports interdisciplinary research and catalyzes conversations that inspire awe and wonder. We are working to create a world where people are curious about the wonders of the universe, free to pursue lives of meaning and purpose, and motivated by great and selfless love. With an endowment of $3.4 billion and annual giving of approximately $140 million, the Foundation ranks among the 25 largest grantmaking foundations in the United States. Headquartered outside Philadelphia, our philanthropic activities have engaged all major faith traditions and extended to more than 58 countries around the world.
Media Contacts:
Constructive Dialogue Institute
Ciaran O'Connor, Vice President of Strategic Communications
917 609 6798
John Templeton Foundation
Media Contact
Ciaran O'Connor, Constructive Dialogue Institute, 1 9176096798, [email protected], https://constructivedialogue.org/
SOURCE Constructive Dialogue Institute
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