We help leaders work across differences to ensure a strong and representative Congress capable of responding to the challenges and opportunities facing the American people.

The Rebuild Congress Initiative (RCI) creates opportunities for cross-partisan stakeholders to explore and act on the conditions necessary to ensure a resilient America. Specifically, RCI creates the deliberative space and fosters the social cohesion necessary to strengthen our democratic institutions. This includes cultivating networks, fostering deep dialogue, and, where possible, building consensus among elected officials, influencers, and experts from across the political and ideological spectrum.

RCI started in 2018 as an independent, nonpartisan initiative of the Harvard Negotiation Project (HNP). Co-founded by Bruce Patton, co-author of the seminal negotiation books Getting to YES: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In and Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, and co-founder of HNP, we draw on our deep expertise in conflict management, negotiation, consensus building, and systems change developed in myriad international conflict interventions and corporate transformations.

RCI does not advocate or lobby for particular solutions. Rather, it works to help these stakeholders explore deeply, critique, and think creatively about what might be needed to protect and sustain the American experiment in self-government.