The First Solidarity Dialogues Cohort Completes Their Training: Not a Closure, But a Continuation

This April, the first cohort of the PLEDJ Solidarity Dialogues gathered for their final retreat, marking the culmination of a year-long journey of deep learning and community-building. This milestone followed an intensive four-day training last July, a mid-point retreat in December, and many hours in between spent building partnerships, receiving mentorship, and leading their own community dialogue initiatives.

L–R: Participants at the first Solidarity Dialogues training in July 2024, the retreat in December 2024, and the final retreat in April 2025.

This gathering was an opportunity to deepen the practice of both facilitating and participating in dialogue, and to exchange lessons learned and feedback. Though it was the final training for this cohort, the retreat didn’t mark an ending – it was a launching point for what’s still to come. As one community leader put it, this isn’t an ending, it’s the planting of a seed. Seeds take time to grow; they require patience and dedication. The solidarity built among these community leaders, from diverse communities and sectors across Montreal, is something worth nurturing.

PLEDJ is deeply grateful and proud of the 20 community leaders who gave their time, energy, and trust to be a part of this pilot project. Read on to learn about the key takeaways from the final retreat.

Opening in Ceremony

Dale Karoniahente Dione, an Indigenous expert in restorative justice and member of the first cohort, opened the retreat with a sage ceremony, offering the smoke as medicine to help participants clear their minds and ground themselves for the day ahead. This set the tone and reminded everyone that they had come together with a shared purpose: to build peace.

Over the next two days, participants reflected on how their perspectives had shifted since the initial training in July 2024. Much had changed – in their personal lives, communities, and the world. Some things remained constant, however, including the persistence of distrust among communities in Montreal and the need for spaces that allow for nuance and complexity. 

What made this final retreat integral to their journey was the opportunity to share reflections and questions from their own community initiatives developed as a result of this program – some completed, others still unfolding. These range from interfaith dialogues, to initiatives promoting cross-cultural connection and healing through music, to campus-based discussions aimed at helping both students and faculty engage in dialogue rather than debate or censorship. Participants spoke honestly about breakthroughs and challenges in their initiatives, including navigating power dynamics and facilitating emotionally charged conversations that impacted them personally.

This is why the PLEDJ Solidarity Dialogues is grounded in experiential learning. These community leaders didn’t just facilitate dialogue – they first had to live it, in all its complexity and emotion. In doing so, they came to understand the care and support needed to move through pain and defensiveness toward empathy. In an interconnected world where global conflicts are increasingly felt at the local level, these dialogue skills aren’t optional, they’re vital.

Sharing Our Truth, Sharing Our Humanity

A key takeaway that emerged during the retreat was that discomfort is not the same as being unsafe. While discomfort challenges us, it is also a place where growth and change can happen. Learning how to sit with discomfort is a core part of building resilience and empathy.

One activity of the retreat gave space for participants to share the personal experiences that shaped them in their lives: experiences of migration, intergenerational trauma, and childhood memories emerged. These moments helped participants understand each other even further. While media and political systems often dehumanize and divide, hearing each other’s truths and lived experiences builds empathy across identities – an act of resistance and connection.

We thank this first cohort for their bravery and humility, for showing up with open hearts and minds despite any fear or apprehensions. Any pilot project requires grace and adaptability, and is a collective achievement. As Brian Bronfman, participant and founder of the Peace Network for Social Harmony, reminded us during the retreat discussion: peace, justice, and solidarity are a journey.

Looking Ahead

Although the training is complete, the work continues. The 10 community dialogue initiatives launched by the first cohort are still in motion, creating soft spaces for hard conversations across Montreal. The cohort plans to stay connected and to keep learning from one another, supporting each other, and envisioning future collaborations.

At its core, the Solidarity Dialogues is about human connection. In a world increasingly used to the artificial and polished, it’s important to value these messy, imperfect conversations that help us understand one another and move beyond division. This work is vital, especially as discrimination and hate continue to leave people feeling unsafe, isolated, and silenced.

As Kawtar El Alaoui, one of the retreat facilitators, reminded us by quoting Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

In the coming year, many of these participants will take on mentorship roles to support the next cohort of Solidarity Dialogues, which begins in January 2026. A public event hosted by PLEDJ later this year will provide a space to share collective wisdom from this pilot experience and continue the broader conversation on community-rooted responses to hate and polarization in Canada.

If you are interested in participating in a Solidarity Dialogue community dialogue initiative or in being a part of the Second Cohort of the Solidarity Dialogues training, please reach out to Hanya Omar at hanya.omar@pledj.org.

The Solidarity Dialogues is a PLEDJ initiative, delivered in partnership with the Peace Network for Social Harmony. To learn more about the Solidarity Dialogues program, follow this link. PLEDJ also expresses our appreciation for the generous support of the Government of Canada and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. Additionally, PLEDJ thanks the Power Corporation of Canada, Donner Foundation, and Trottier Family Foundation for their support.