Pearce Godwin

Founder & CEO of Listen First Project

"Pearce is the national voice for bridging divides." "He has achieved breakthrough into mainstream consciousness." "We often hear that one person can change the world but dismiss it as a utopian idea; Pearce is doing just that." "If bridging divides has a heart, it's in Pearce."

In July 2013, I was on an overnight bus ride across Africa after spending six months there supporting development projects. After years in Washington, DC politics, Uganda had given me a new perspective on life, and on America. I was deeply troubled by news that the most materially prosperous nation on Earth was increasingly gripped by relational poverty, the opposite of Uganda. Unable to sleep, I wrote It's Time to Listen. That simple message was printed in dozens of major newspapers across the United States from the Miami Herald to the Oklahoman. Emboldened by its resonance, I launched Listen First Project. I'm deeply thankful for the 500 partner organizations who have joined the #ListenFirst Coalition as well as the thousands who have signed the Listen First Pledge. Together, we will turn down the heat and find a way forward together. Thanks for joining us!

Pearce
Pearce@ListenFirstProject.org

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Bio

Described as the beating heart of the movement to bridge divides in America, Pearce Godwin is founder of Listen First Project and the #ListenFirst Coalition of 500 organizations bringing Americans together across differences to listen, understand each other, and discover common interests. He catalyzes the movement to save America from toxic polarization by shifting social norms from division, distrust, contempt and violence toward connection, understanding, and belonging. Pearce manages large-scale, co-created endeavors such as Meeting of America and the annual National Week of Conversation to engage as many Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs as possible to turn down the heat and find a way forward together. His work has been recognized across national media, including interviews on Fox News, MSNBC and in the Wall Street Journal as he writes for USA TODAY and TIME Magazine. Pearce has visited all 50 states, loves America and his fellow Americans, and maintains faith that out of many people one more perfect union can be built together.

To engage more Americans in this hopeful mission, Pearce has forged partnerships with some of the country’s most influential entities such as Walmart, Target, McDonald’s, Harley-Davidson, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Petco, iHeart Media, Duke University, Liberty University, and Stanford University.

Pearce graduated from Duke University and received an MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill. He spent five years working in Washington, DC—in the U.S. Senate and as a national political consultant for presidential and statewide campaigns. Before moving home to North Carolina in 2013, he spent six months in Uganda, Africa where he wrote It’s Time to Listen. That message—printed in dozens of papers across the United States—launched Listen First Project and led thousands to sign the Listen First Pledge—“I will listen first to understand.”

In 2017, as division turned to violence, Pearce left his marketing job, fully committing to heal America, and launched the #ListenFirst Coalition of aligned organizations. In 2018, he co-created the first annual National Week of Conversation and hosted the kickoff event, Listen First in Charlottesville. In 2020, he led the crisis response campaign #WeavingCommunity. In 2021, he served as Associate Producer of The Reunited States—a film about bridging divides—and created its #HealAmericaPledge then led America Talks as the kickoff event for the annual National Week of Conversation. In 2022, Pearce piloted Meeting of America, shared the hope of the bridging movement in the Wall Street Journal and in a PBS special, and testified before Congress. The #ListenFirst message has reached more than 50 million people.