Grounded Knowledge Panels®
A Grounded Knowledge Panel® (GKP) is a public conversation by a small group of people who have realistic, authentic and personal experience and understanding of a particular topic or question. As the Grounded Knowledge panelists converse among themselves, the audience members (“witnesses” in the GKP model) observe the discussion, thus both groups—panelists and witnesses—bring a distinctive power and depth to the experience of speaking and listening.
Thoughtful preparation
The public Grounded Knowledge Panel® comes about after several pre-GKP sessions in which I guide panelists through conversation to engage in increasingly deeper levels of engagement with a theme or issue. I help the panelists–through mediation and consultation–come to an agreement on guidelines regarding their level of safety, privacy, openness and discourse. It is through the preparatory meetings that, the public conversation becomes especially dynamic, rich and meaningful.
Potent Vehicle
A Grounded Knowledge Panel® is a potent vehicle for the amplification of different perspectives and experiences, especially those that have been silenced or minimized. A GPK creates the capacity for deeper engagement, healing, and community because of the profound need humans have to know and connect to each other through testimony and storytelling. Grounded Knowledge Panels provide a warm invitation into that connection.
“I found it inspiring overall - another reminder that I need to find a way to be better, to teach my children to be better. It was a reminder that my learning never stops. I simply wish for more. I could have listened for longer, and wish these panels happened more often.”
–GKP Witness
A Healing Exchange
Our panelists have distinguished themselves as individuals who are extraordinarily devoted to the compassionate and dignifying upliftment of others, especially those in under-served, under-valued, and under-seen communities. Their leadership, communication, and work ethic have brought forth critical under-truths that question and challenge conventional understandings and strategies for change. Their breakthroughs have galvanized incredible transformations in and beyond their own communities. The Crown Institute is honored to support the GKP framework and is deeply aligned with the intent and skillful attention given to both speakers and witnesses. It is a powerful model of communal healing and reflects the values that guide all of the crown institute work.