It began with a discussion group in southern Pennsylvania,

convened by founder Deanna Troust in 2017 after the term “fake news” had entered U.S. discourse. She found that a politically diverse group could find common ground on the issue — especially when shown how information is being manipulated in digital spaces today.

Just as important: People were grateful to talk about pressing issues without fear of conflict.

Today, Truth in Common is a nonpartisan nonprofit that offers multi-channel, relational learning experiences that draw on best practices in media and digital literacy, research on social media and social division, notably from the Polarization and Social Change Lab at Stanford University; the psychology of how falsehoods take hold and decades of experience in strategic communications, training and social change. We piloted our curricula in 2022, launched in 2023 and have been educating adults and older students across the mid-Atlantic in 2024. We also offer strategic advisory and risk mitigation services for mission-driven organizations and businesses.

Truth in Common is committed to the respectful and inclusive treatment of all individuals — including those with differing political and ideological viewpoints — in keeping with its organizational values:

Respect | Integrity | Curiosity | Courage

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About the founder

Deanna Troust is an award-winning communications strategist and educator whose career includes 30 years in social change communications, with over a decade in leadership at Vanguard Communications, plus several years in marketing and advertising for Fortune 500 companies. Under her 3 Stories Communications brand, she was a pioneer in bringing communications strategy to organizational development consulting at several firms, led dozens of cultural assessment and strategy projects and learned how mis- and disinformation spread and seed through projects in the democracy and local news spaces.

Deanna brings an unusual blend of PR strategy, crisis planning and gracious facilitation to the broader efforts to stem the spread and influence of mis- and disinformation, which she sees as an access issue and one of the most pressing of our time. She is a popular speaker on how the unchecked spread of falsehoods affect people, communities and businesses, and the power professional communicators and librarians hold in the solutions ecosystem. A graduate of Cornell University, Deanna lives with her family in Washington, DC; spends time in rural Worton, MD; and enjoys reconnecting with her roots outside Buffalo, NY.

Connect with Deanna on LinkedIn , Threads @dtroust or X/Twitter @DeeLT