Ways to embrace pluralism in your daily connections
A 5-step guide to embracing pluralism, fostering connection, and engaging inclusively this holiday season.
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Pluralism starts with you. It's not just about tolerating differences but embracing and engaging with people who are different from you to build common ground and spark meaningful change. At the Obama Foundation, we also see pluralism as an active commitment to finding connections in everyday encounters—whether during coffee with a coworker, a conversation at a dinner party, or a gathering with your family for the holidays. Here are tools to help you live out these ideals in your daily life and deepen your impact.
Live it out:
At work or in your community, create events or opportunities for people to share and showcase their cultures, ideas, and perspectives.
Actively invite people from different backgrounds to contribute to decision-making processes.
Tip: Have empathy for differing ideas.
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Learn more (Opens in a new tab)Ana Maria Gonzalez-Forero, 2018-19 Obama Scholar, is a Colombian political scientist, social entrepreneur, and inclusion expert, currently supporting Colombia’s peace process through the U.S. Institute of Peace. She has advocated for indigenous communities for over 25 years, co-founding FEM Colombia, which helped rural ethnic communities secure their land and governance rights.
“I was angry with someone who thought differently from me, then I had to check myself. You can get so used to a polarized environment that you don’t realize you become polarized yourself. To me, the heart of pluralism is embracing difference to the point that you really want people who are not like you to have political representation. There will always be dissenters and opportunists. We need to both give them a voice and take away their weapons. So we work to offer something that makes them actually exchange their arms for having a real voice. We can’t want everyone to sound like us.”
Wafa Eben Beri, a 2019-2020 Obama Scholar, describes pluralism as embracing diversity to achieve a shared vision for the common good. “It’s about recognizing and honoring the multiple identities, backgrounds, and perspectives that shape our societies,” she explains, “and seeing these differences as strengths, not sources of division. In a pluralistic framework, we move beyond tolerance to actively celebrate diversity, understanding that inclusion and collaboration across differences are essential to solving today’s complex challenges.”
Put pluralism into practice
Explore our toolkits full of resources, and actions for you to take the next steps in your community.
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