The Consensus Council Concept
 Beyond purely providing meeting facilitation services, The Consensus Council Inc., serves as a model for democratic decision-making in the 21st century. A Consensus Council serves as a place where leaders and citizens alike can bring their most difficult issues to begin creating decision space for crafting innovative public policy agreements.
It also serves as a think tank, generating dialogue and momentum on issues important to its region. In this way, it is a tool for elected leadership, private-sector leadership, public agencies, citizens and unincorporated populations.
The Consensus Council, Inc. model has been tested and institutionalized at community, state, regional, national and international levels in many different cultural and political climates. The Council has worked to establish these "centers for dialogue" throughout the United States through providing technical assistance and developing national models.
The Consensus Council Service Model
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Results-oriented consensus processes that go beyond general agreements to actual policy implementation; |
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Grassroots community consultations that allow citizens to voice their values, concerns and priorities; |
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Forums for diverse leaders to establish relationships, study and discuss problems, and build agreements; and |
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Expert documentation for the development of agreements as legislation, rules, projects or other tools for legislative, executive, judicial, and private-sector consideration and implementation. |
Regional Consensus Councils and Partnerships
Other Consensus Councils: Originally unique to North Dakota, the Consensus Council helped design the Montana Consensus Council in 1993. Other Consensus Councils have been established in California and New Mexico. Council staff have also assisted Wyoming, Kansas, Iowa, Washington and South Dakota officials in assessing establishment of a Consensus Council through The Consensus Council Forum in 2002 and technical assistance.
National Consensus Council Contributions
Policy Consensus Initiative: The Consensus Council helped launch the Policy Consensus Initiative (PCI) with a two-year, $775,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. PCI works nationally to strengthen state offices of dispute resolution and to expand alternative dispute resolution and consensus-building services to other states and Canadian provinces. The Consensus Council Deputy Director Dick Gross co-directs PCI with Chris Carlson, former Director of the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution.
U.S. Consensus Council: In 2001, the Consensus Council partnered with Search for Common Ground of Washington, DC to organize the U.S. Consensus Council to provide consensus services to leaders of Congress and the White House on difficult issues of national public policy. (S.B. 1651 and H.R. 3305, (2002))
How The Consensus Council Inc., Operates:
Board of Directors: The Board of Directors is the policy making body of the Consensus Council. The Board of Directors currently consists of nine members, except the governor of North Dakota who serves ex officio. It is pan-partisan, reflecting a full range of the political leadership and private and nonprofit sectors of leadership.
The Board of Directors does not review the results of particular consensus processes. The Board instead serves as a service integrity trustee of the consensus processes.
Staff Services: The staff of the Council create and implement the programs to reach the goals established by the Board of Directors. The Council staff is led by an Executive Director, who is responsible for the development and implementation of the Council's programs. It is a team environment organized to encourage and support creativity and flexibility.
How The Consensus Council Inc., is Financed:
Funding: The Council is currently financed by grants from private foundations, contracts for services and contributions. The Board has a long-range funding plan for the Council, which includes the development of a variety of contract services to private organizations, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies. |
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