The Obama Democracy Forum kicks off Thursday in Chicago. The goal is to bridge the political divide and get people talking about issues together.
The former president, along with actor Ryan Reynolds and country music singer Reyna Roberts, will be speaking.
Obama Foundation CEO and longtime Barack Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett spoke with Scripps News about what to expect from the conference.
"Part of what we're doing [Thursday] is inviting leaders in the community who can take these tools back to their local communities and help the people on the ground who are feeling helpless in this situation," Jarrett said. "I do think there is a hunger around our country and around the world to focus on what we have in common, to avoid the kind of polarization that we're seeing, to talk to each other in a way that's respectful, to disagree and have hard conversations without letting them break down into acrimony."
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Jarrett also discussed recent threats to democracy, including in South Korea, where President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law in an attempt to eliminate "anti-state" forces alleged to be sympathizing with North Korea.
"We take a long view. We look at this as a way of building confidence in leaders that are moving forward, that will be leaders of tomorrow. They'll be confident because they'll have the necessary tools to avoid the kind of friction and combativeness that we are seeing all too often," Jarrett said.
Watch the full interview with Jarrett in the video above.
