About GLADI

The Generous Listening and Dialogue Initiative (GLADI) was launched in 2024 in collaboration with the Vuslat Foundation. The Vuslat Foundation is aimed at promoting authentic connection—with ourselves, with each other, and with nature—through generous listening. Toward these aims, the GLADI was launched as a research center focused on building a theory-predicated evidence base for generous listening and dialogue as a means to promote character and community development, both on Tufts campuses and in the world. To do so, we promote awareness campaigns, host and support events and workshops, support grassroots efforts, and conduct research and evaluation.

GLADI Vision and Mission

At the GLADI at Tufts University, we recognize that, just as our individual- and group-level differences are inevitable, so too are the conflicts caused by them. We therefore envision a world where, through generous listening and dialogue, our differences are framed as strengths, and our conflicts are understood as opportunities—opportunities to learn, to understand, and to collaboratively problem solve.

Higher education is a key developmental context for fostering character and community development. By promoting the skills and values associated with generous listening and dialogue, we envision a supportive and empowering campus culture; one where all members feel seen and heard, respected and valued; one that prepares active and engaged citizens to contribute to building a robust and inclusive civil society.

Toward this vision, we aim to integrate generous listening and dialogue into campus culture by collaborating across university offices, departments, and colleges to raise awareness, offer workshops, host events, support grassroots efforts, and conduct research. We will inculcate a shared "Jumbos" identity, centered on our Tufts University motto of Pax et Lux ("Peace and Light"), producing cohorts of future leaders who are peacebuilders and illuminators. Together, this strategy seeks to foster a community working together, despite and because of our differences, toward a just and peaceful future.