About Us

We are a team of entrepreneurs based in Washington, DC passionate about improving civil discourse. The software we’ve created uses a unique method for organizing knowledge and solving problems.

For large-scale conversations and problem solving.

Our main project is OnlineTownhalls.com where our mission is to create the best open and transparent forum for ideas to compete.  We are also creating a version of the software for news organizations called QiQo for improving the conversation around news stories and facilitating the co-production of news between readers and news organizations.

OnlineTownhalls is a Web-based application that can engage thousands of citizens in a single conversation to discuss any of our nation’s toughest problems.  Today’s issues are complex, and solutions require interdisciplinary collaboration.  OnlineTownhalls uses conversation mapping to visualize the pros and cons of competing ideas.  The technology rewards innovative thinking by measuring the credibility of each participant over time.  It’s not enough to merely identify popular ideas; structured peer review can ensure their viability.  Large scale problems are often caused by thousands of unintentional, individual actions; harnessing collective intelligence through deliberate conversations is a powerful way to create solutions.

We are organizing large-scale, high quality national conversations that get past the typical partisan sound bytes and talking points. This is a non-partisan website and we are inviting all colors of the political spectrum to participate. To stay balanced as an organization, we made sure to draw talent for our core team from the left, the center, and the right.

Because it is important for everyone to challenge their beliefs from time to time, we’ve built this site so that you will come into contact with opinions that are different from your own. Share your thoughts, rate what other people are saying, and see how it all fits together. There are many complex algorithms working behind the scenes that are described in the answers to frequently asked questions.

As a small and agile development team, we launched OnlineTownhalls with financial support from our friends and family. Now we’ve started a software company to keep the project funded, and despite the tough economy, we’re confident in our ability to sustain this project over the long term. Our focus is on providing the best tools to foster large-scale conversations that are easy, fun, and efficient, and we’ll need your help in putting these tools to good use.

Please email us at feedback@athenabridge.org with your thoughts and suggestions.

AthenaBridge software for your organization:

We offer our technology as a service to businesses and government agencies so that they can dramatically increase their productivity. The software harnesses collective intelligence to improve communication between citizens and government, among employees, and between businesses and customers. Email us at business@athenabridge.com for more information.