About Us

Touchstones is a registered educational not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing the world together through dialogue. Through the Touchstones discussion process, all participants engage in respectful collaboration that fosters essential communication and literacy skills, critical thinking skills, responsibility, community, and shared leadership. Touchstones is used across the United States primarily in elementary, middle and high schools, as well as in colleges and universities. But the Touchstones method is useful for any group seeking to build collaboration by eliminating the roles of passivity, factions, expertise, and silence.

For more on our history, please visit the Touchstones History page on our website.

You may view a list of current Touchstones Discussion Project Board Members here.

Our staff and associates:

Howard Zeiderman (Bio)
President and Co-Founder
hz@touchstones.org

Stefanie Takacs, MS.Ed (Bio)
Executive Director
st@touchstones.org

S. Joan Croker (Bio)
Business Operations Manager
joancroker@touchstones.org

Jeremy Jokell (Bio)
Everything Person(doesn't every non-profit have at least one of these?)
jeremy@touchstones.org