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On April 14, 2016, with support from tl k, JMLBA, the United States Attorney fc outhern District of Ohio, and the Divided Community Project, a small group of attorneys met at a private law office to begin discussing what would become the Columbus Community Trust. Smallwood and representatives from the Divided Community Project joined a common pleas judge, an assistant prosecutor, a communications official from the U.S. Attorney's office, a criminal defense attorney, an immigration attorney, and the executive director of the CBA. The group quickly realized attorney -based membership was insufficient to initiate broad -based community planning and considered how to expand. Members agreed they wanted to recruit participants who were willing and able to get things done, but wondered whether there was a distinction between those who can accomplish things formally verses informally. In a matter of weeks, the group developed a 30-name list of individuals to engage in the process ranging from the Mayor and law enforcement and other elected officials, to religious, advocacy, and education leaders. Throughout May and in early June, the group continued to develop a list of civic leaders to engage. Members expressed hesitation when considering officials up for election or re-election, asked who might be offended if they did not have a seat at —or were not invited to — the table, and considered whether it was appropriate to invite the Chief of Police for the City of Columbus to sit alongside a deputy from a different institution. One member suggested that the invitation to the Trust should be addressed to the organizational leader, but an alternative executive could attend on behalf of leadership. In June 2016, Trust members were tasked with reaching out to approximately fifty identified community leaders to discuss the Trust's work and ask them to engage at a future date. Trust members reported favorably on their conversations with potential stakeholders —and turned the Trust's attention to expansion. In late July, eighteen attended an expanded Trust meeting, including nine new members. Seasoned Trust participants described the group as a "broad -based planning effort" in advance of civil unrest; and, an effort to prep the community for unrest and to listen for sources of conflict. New participants again recognized that other voices should be part of the Trust's convening conversations. One new member asked the group to take a trauma -informed social justice approach to the project, urging the Trust to consider how to incorporate the voiceless into the design of the project. Another participant asked whether the Trust considered engaging a generation of younger leaders, asking how we populate a similar table for the next generation. All participants agreed that the Trust was fundamentally an attorney -oriented group, and the Trust "needs more people at the table." Throughout 2016 and 2017 the CCT's steering committee continued to slowly expand, inviting members from non-profit organizations like the YWCA and Columbus Urban League, and diverse religious organizations. The Trust's membership continues to slowly expand as new stakeholders emerge, but participants have also disengaged due to retirement, career changes, and perhaps the Trust's pace of progress. A Preliminary ASSESSMENT Lacking resources to hire a professional to assess the community's ability to handle division, mediation -trained law students and faculty at The Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law quickly assisted in the development of a preliminary assessment. Conducting more than forty interviews, as well as accompanying historical research, the preliminary assessment addressed three topics: potential local issues which may divide the Columbus community; reasons for planning ahead; and, issues to consider when convening the right people for the CCT. The assessment provided information identifying how the trust might function; a toolkit for planning in advance of civil unrest; a two -page document identifying recent nationwide civil unrest, themes, and triggers; and a memo outlining the work of a similar planning group, the 1970's Metropolitan Columbus School Committee. Smallwood described the tools in the preliminary assessment as "indispensable road maps" Smallwood also points to the Divided Community Project's two -page toolkit for convening.2 Initially "It was hard to see and measure progress" as the Trust "began to try to work our way from a dead stop to having a group large enough to think about getting this work accomplished." DESIGNING the Trust Relying on tools from the Divided Community Project and the "preliminary assessment," Smallwood originally framed the conversation as an opportunity "proactively set up an infrastructure to stem violence." One member suggested the Trust might have three components: a structure to alert the community of divisive issues; a venue for airing grievances and giving residents voice; and a forum for bringing residents together.