Mae Israel is an independent journalist based in Charlotte. Below, she writes about the impact of the On the Table initiative. Today, Knight Foundation is announcing a $2 million reinvestment in On the Table to connect neighbors over mealtime conversations in cities.

Huddled around tables in restaurants, churches, offices, museums and libraries across Charlotte on a sunny day in October, thousands of people were talking, in many cases to people they didn’t know, about the city issues that matter most to them. 

The goal was to move beyond the niceties of casual chats toward in-depth and sometimes probing dialogue between people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives who might not otherwise have the opportunity to say hello.

Over meals from breakfast to dinner, Charlotte’s On the Table conversations came nearly a year after protestors rioted on uptown streets following a police shooting of an African American man, and after a report ranked the city last among the country’s 50 largest cities for economic mobility of its poor. The fast-growing Charlotte area also is tackling other urban issues: rising rents, a dwindling supply of affordable housing and traffic congestion.

During a breakfast gathering, as more than 100 people sat in a church at the edge of uptown, two African American men – an award-winning teacher, James Ford, and a former Charlotte mayor, Harvey Gantt – spoke candidly.

“We need to focus on equity,” Ford advised the racially diverse crowd in a discussion of equality. “Fairness is not sameness. It may require more resources and more energy.”

More issues, including education, the judicial system, poverty, community development and homelessness bubbled up in animated conversations involving more than an estimated 5,000 people during Charlotte’s On the Table. Charlotte was one of 10 communities that took part in 2017 as part of the Knight Foundation’s national effort to promote civic innovation and stronger communities.

Inspired by the On the Table program initiated four years ago by The Chicago Community Trust to promote civic engagement, the Knight Foundation this year invested $1.15 million to expand the idea across the country. 

With community foundations as the primary partners, On the Table spread to Akron, Ohio; Charlotte; Columbus, Georgia; Gary, Indiana; Lexington, Kentucky; Long Beach, California; Miami; Philadelphia; Detroit; and Silicon Valley, California.  

“This initiative is civic engagement at its best and goes to the heart of our work,” said Lilly Weinberg, the Knight Foundation’s program director for community foundations. “It gets people to come together to talk about community issues over food. There is value in providing a forum for civil discourse, particularly given the trend of increasing polarization in our country right now.”

Each of the cities adapted the community conversation to the personality of their area:

• Akron’s invitation to residents to come out and talk in September engaged an estimated 6,000 people, many eager to discuss the impact of the opioid epidemic and economic development.
• In Long Beach, an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 gathered, also in September, around tables set in such diverse settings as an aquarium, a craft-beer happy hour and a gondola cruise.
• Nearly 2,000 Philadelphia residents turned out in May to share opinions about education and youth development, equity and social inclusion, public safety and the judicial system.
• Miami had more than 3,000 participants – despite taking place shortly after Hurricane Irma blew through South Florida. The  Miami Foundation had one of the more successful strategies for partnerships – working with public schools while leveraging almost all of the branch libraries for events. 
• In Lexington, an estimate 11,700 people showed up, launching the first of this year’s On the Table gatherings in March, convened by the Blue Grass Community Foundation. The city imbedded their planners in conversations and used the data to inform their 2025 Comprehensive plan. 

In response to the momentum generated by On the Table, the Blue Grass Community Foundation has awarded $50,000 in “What’s Next” grants to 30 individuals and groups to support ideas that surfaced during the event. Lexington planning officials also took the opportunity during On the Table to solicit community comment on the update of Lexington’s comprehensive land-use plan.

In Charlotte, the Community Building Initiative, a nonprofit organization which works on racial and diversity issues, partnered with the Foundation For The Carolinas to help organize On the Table. The organization, which sponsored earlier efforts to engage residents around specific issues, reached out to individuals and groups across the Charlotte area, crossing zip codes with varying incomes. Its leaders say they would have liked to have connected with an even more diverse group of people.

The more than 200 On the Table conversations took place at retirement centers, high schools, universities, the county jail, the county courthouse, an outdoor area uptown where homeless people gather, a country club and at local businesses. Some people came because they were encouraged by their organizations. Others saw media notices and wanted to get involved. 

“It was a worthy effort,” said Dianne English, the Community Building Initiative’s executive director. “It reinforced the idea of social capital and how important it is for people to have social connections.” 

At Queens University, where students served as moderators for more than 50 people, the issues discussed at one table were wide ranging: the need for more affordable housing, more tutors in schools and more job training. The six participants wondered why so many poor people in Charlotte remain trapped because of problems with economic mobility.

Across town, in a church hall in a predominantly African American church, members from two United Methodist congregations joined during the evening to talk; earlier in the day some had gathered at the predominantly white church. The churches – St. Mark’s United Methodist, mostly African American, and Myers Park United Methodist, mostly white – began collaborating about 18 months ago on programs to break down racial barriers.

At St. Mark’s, a group of about 60 picked up pizza slices and salad before heading to tables seating six to 10 people. One group’s conversation focused on the challenges of connecting with people of different races and incomes when many people segregate themselves based on those circumstances.

“I’m disappointed by how upper class white people isolate themselves in Charlotte,” said Lisa Howell, a member of Myers Park, located in one of Charlotte’s most affluent center city neighborhoods.  “When are we going to change? You have to be intentional, willing to be uncomfortable.”

Camille Davidson, a St. Mark’s member, agreed. “I thought that the New South meant people would be more aware of each other,” she said. “I have been disappointed. I sometimes feel like the New South is the Old South with cellophane.”

“Still,” she added, “I think today is a great start.”

Early survey results from participants, analyzed by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement, which evaluated surveys from all 10 cities, indicate this is an event that bridges divides and inspires action. For example, in Philadelphia, 74 percent talked with someone they did not know and 41 percent exchanged contact information with someone they had not previously met. When asked if they made specific plans to work with another participant, 26 percent of those who responded to the survey said they did.  

The results also show where community members are most interested in creating change in their communities. In Long Beach, it’s around homelessness while in Silicon Valley it’s focused around the housing crisis. 

Knowledge is power and with this information, decision makers, funders and community members can be better equipped. Both anecdotal evidence and the survey data show the power of what an open invitation and food can do – bring people together to positively change their community. 

Today, Knight Foundation is announcing a $2 million reinvestment in the On the Table initiative to connect neighbors over mealtime conversations in cities.

As a national foundation with deep local roots in 26 Knight cities, we believe informed and engaged communities are the building blocks to a successful democracy. We have seen across our cities the power of breaking bread – allowing a platform for solutions-oriented conversations while capturing data from those conversations to inform decision makers and the community at large. On the Table invites residents to dine together, discuss community issues and solve problems. It’s an initiative that truly gets to the heart of informed and engaged communities.

This initiative would not have been possible without community foundations, which were the key leader and partner in pulling off the events across the country. And that makes sense – they know their community. They managed the day to day and were the key partners in the cities. We have learned a lot from their experience. Below are three learnings from community foundations on pulling off a successful On the Table:

1. Plan ahead for the data: This is easier said than done, but it’s powerful to have thousands of your community members providing feedback on your community. This is rare, so take advantage of it. However, data is limited to the way in which it’s used, so come up with a plan beforehand. Some community foundations planned to leverage the findings for their own strategic grant-making.  For example, Long Beach is structuring funds and a focus around the most important issues they heard from their community, with homelessness and housing rising to the top. In Lexington, Blue Grass Community Foundation planned ahead of time to imbed the City of Lexington planning department in the conversations. Consequently, the city used the information for their 2025 plan and for other important decision-making around development issues (1/3 of participants said a top priority was to protect the bluegrass landscape). None of this would have happened without the foundation partnering with the city on harnessing the data. 
2. Outsource capacity support: It’s hard to pull off this initiative without capacity support. Let’s be real – On the Table is a lot of work, especially for a small organization. So many community foundations hired a local organization for support. And dependent on needs, some hired a grassroots organizer while others hired a local PR/media firm. This was critical for supporting the outreach of the initiative, increasing numbers and diversity while ensuring a successful, inclusive event. We also saw that within each community, social media went through the roof. Literally, millions of impressions were made and for some of our small community foundations, this is hard to sustain. So plan accordingly to give some extra support to your communications team (or person) and this will not only support the day of the initiative but will also sustain the followers in the future for your organization. 
3. A Branding Opportunity: We learned from the surveys that in many communities nearly half of On the Table participants had never even heard of their local community foundation. Wow, let that sink in for a second – what an amazing branding opportunity for the community foundation! To be clear, that’s not the purpose of the initiative, but it is an opportunity that allows for the community foundation to be front and center. For example, Legacy Foundation in Gary, Indiana, gave out little notebooks with their name to each participant. They also prepped each host with a one line sentence to read about the foundation. What do you want that one line to be – well that’s important for you to figure out beforehand. It allows for participants to hear about the community foundation and understand that it’s a resource in the community. 

Overall, On the Table served as an amazing opportunity for community foundations to be front and center, engaging with their community. Seize that opportunity and plan accordingly!