OUR APPROACH
Digital Skills
to build a high-quality, robust knowledge base about a complex and contentious topic
We focus on two core capacities
Civil Discourse Skills
to communicate across different viewpoints with empathy, curiosity, and respect
A Next-Gen Approach to Digital Knowledge Development and Civil Discourse
Or Initiative develops evidence-based tools to help middle school, high school, and college students engage deeply with contentious issues—beginning with the Middle East conflict.
Young People’s Digital Habits are Assets, Not Deficits
Young people's digital practices are too often dismissed as dangerous or antithetical to learning. We flip the script:
What if their digital habits could be a springboard for engaging with complex issues?
We design digital tools with and for young people at their developmental stage—tools that spark curiosity and motivate them to build knowledge from diverse sources. They learn to evaluate bias and misinformation while developing foundational understanding of contentious topics.
Our digital tools also support civil discourse by helping teachers highlight unexpected agreement and energize students where they disagree. Students can prepare at their own pace, building intellectual resilience before face-to-face discussions.
Developmental Approach
We meet young people at key transition points—8th grade, 11th grade, and early college—building skills over time. Because 40% of high school graduates don't pursue college, and everyone needs civil discourse skills for a thriving democracy.
Research-Driven
Our work is grounded in interviews with young people, educators, and leaders, plus systematic review of curricula and academic research. Every intervention starts with questions—the same skill we're teaching students.
What Sets Or Initiative Apart
We're university researchers, educators, digital media makers, and policy experts with decades of cross-sector experience in how technology shapes youth development.
OUR THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Youth-First, Asset-Based
We start with teens—what they think, do, and feel. We explore their existing strengths: How do they navigate digital spaces? Build knowledge? Form viewpoints? Then we equip educators to meet kids where they are.
Digital Tools for Skills Development
Teens are already learning about current events and issues in their social media feeds. Instead of bemoaning a "TikTok- educated generation," we ask: How can we use the formats they love to motivate deeper learning from credible, diverse sources?
Developmentally Staged Civil Discourse
We design for deep engagement, not performance. Civil discourse isn't just dialogue or "agreeing to disagree"—it's strategic, empathetic argumentation on a shared evidence base. Our young people are fully capable of it.
OUR TEAM
OUR PARTNERS
OUR ADVISORS
CHARISSA CHEAH
Professor & Director of the Culture, Child and Adolescent Development Laboratory at the University of Maryland
LOUISE DUBE
CEO, iCivics
AARON GILBERT
Recent Student Board Member & Middle East Policy Studies M.A. Student
ADNAN JABER
Tech2Peace
NATALIA MEHLMAN PETRZELA
Professor, New School History Department & Lead Historian, NYC DoE Jewish American Hidden Voices curriculum
STEPHANIE REICH
Professor, UC Irvine School of Education
LEONARD SAXE
Professor & Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University
SIERRA STONE
Chief of Staff to Van Jones