The Institute for 21st Century Agoras (commonly known as Global Agoras) was founded in 2003 by Alexander N. Christakis and Kenneth C. Bausch as a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization. Its mission is to advance the science (referred to as Structured Dialogic Design) and practice of Structured Democratic Dialogue (SDD), a methodology designed to help diverse groups collaboratively understand complex challenges and co-create pathways toward shared action.
From its inception, Global Agoras has served as a hub for researchers, practitioners, activists, and educators working at the intersection of dialogue, deliberation, and design (the three essential pillars of civic engagement). Through training, facilitation, and applied research, the Institute has supported hundreds of initiatives in governance, peacebuilding, education, sustainability, and social innovation.
Founders and Pioneers
Dr. Alexander N. Christakis (b. 1937), is an internationally recognized systems scientist, social innovator, and lead-developer of the Structured Democratic Dialogue (SDD) process. After earning his Ph.D. in theoretical physics at Yale University, Christakis worked alongside Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis as an urban planner, helping to introduce scientific rigor into large-scale design and planning. This work led him to observe the difficulty experts faced in communicating across disciplinary boundaries.
In collaboration with John N. Warfield at George Mason University, Christakis co-created the Interactive Management (IM) system, the scientific foundation for Structured Dialogic Design, providing a way for groups to collectively reason through complexity. His later work led to the establishment of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras in 2003, aimed at empowering communities through democratic, bottom-up processes of design and deliberation. A past President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) (2002), Christakis authored two seminal books: How People Harness Their Collective Wisdom and Power to Create the Future and The Talking Point: Creating an Environment for Exploring Complex Meaning.
Dr. Kenneth C. Bausch (1940–2022), co-founder of the Institute, was a scholar of systems theory and a prolific writer whose contributions deepened the philosophical and practical foundations of social systems design. His works, including The Emerging Consensus in Social Systems Theory and Strategic Articulation: Pathways to Effective Action, advanced the understanding of how collective intelligence and reflective practice can address global challenges. Bausch played a central role in articulating the theoretical coherence of Structured Dialogic Design within the broader landscape of systems sciences.
Among the Key Founding Circle Members, Ambassador John W. McDonald, Ms. LaDonna Harris, Dr. David Loye, Dr. Béla A. Bánáthy, and Dr. Reynaldo Treviño-Cisneros deserve special mentioning. Ambassador John W. McDonald (1922–2019), a visionary diplomat, lawyer, and peace builder, co-founded and served as Chairman of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Washington, D.C., exemplifying the participatory and humanistic ethos underpinning Global Agoras. Ms. LaDonna Harris, a Founding Board Member, brought her dedication to civil rights, women’s empowerment, and Indigenous leadership. As founder and President of Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO), she championed Indigenous sovereignty and developed the Indigenous Leaders Interactive System, an SDD-based process. Dr. David Loye, a social psychologist and evolutionary systems thinker, co-founded The Center for Partnership Studies with Riane Eisler. His research linked science with ethics and partnership, complementing the Agoras’ belief that social evolution depends on cultivating empathy and shared purpose. Dr. Béla A. Bánáthy (1919–2003) is a pioneer of the field of social systems design. His philosophy of “designing for evolution” and commitment to participatory educational systems laid critical groundwork for the SDD methodology. Dr. Reynaldo Treviño-Cisneros (b. 1942) was one of the most influential Latin American pioneers of Structured Democratic Dialogue. Treviño-Cisneros, a systems thinker and planner, applied dialogic design with Nobel laureates to develop national scenarios for Mexico, and he remains an active member of the Global Agoras Board.
A Living Legacy
Over the past two decades, Global Agoras has inspired and equipped pioneers from around the world, including academics, civil servants, activists, and community leaders, to learn, engage, and implement SDD. Their work has strengthened democracy, fostered peace, and advanced sustainability, especially in this era when humanity faces an escalating Global Problematique that demands new modes of collective intelligence and systemic collaboration.
Today, under new leadership and with a growing network of members across continents, the Institute is being revitalized to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Guided by its foundational principles and supported by a new generation of systems thinkers and practitioners, Global Agoras continues its mission:
To nurture inclusive, transparent, and systemic dialogue processes that empower communities to design their shared futures.
Join us in reviving the Agoras: the places where citizens once gathered to deliberate, design, and decide together.
Together, we can reimagine democracy for a complex world.