The Dinner Party

Our Mission

To transform some of our hardest conversations and most isolating experiences into sources of community support, candid conversation, and forward movement using the age old practices of gathering and breaking bread.

Our Vision

We foresee a day in which people find amidst their deepest struggle the source of their deepest strength, by connecting with others who’ve been there too; a day in which grief is free of stigma and silence, and where finding friends who’ve shared your experience is as easy as finding an AA meeting or a yoga class. We foresee a day in which those who’ve lived through loss, whatever its form, are recognized not as objects of pity, but as better listeners and better leaders, characterized by profound empathy, resilience, agency and a commitment to living a life of meaning.

About Us

The Dinner Party is a platform for grieving 20-, 30-, and early 40-somethings to find peer community and build lasting relationships. Since 2014, The Dinner Party has connected more than 13,000 grieving peers to one another, including 2,000 since the start of the pandemic. We screen, train and support a growing network of peer hosts, and connect them to 12-15 people nearby, who share a similar age and loss experience. We’ve been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, On Being with Krista Tippet, CNN, NYT, O Magazine, BuzzFeed, and dozens of other publications, and as a case study in various books, including The Upside of Stress, The New Better Off, and The Power of Meaning.