The Civics Unplugged Team

Our History

We saw what others missed: a generation ready to lead now. The Civic Innovators Fellowship launched as a bold experiment - could young people design solutions to the world’s most complex challenges if given the chance? The answer was a resounding yes.

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launch year!

150 Founding Fellows from across the U.S. joined our inaugural Fellowship. They didn’t wait for permission. They built new initiatives that laid the foundation for a rapidly growing global community. Big media starts to take notice - watch here.

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Civics Unplugged goes world wide

The Fellowship welcomed youth from dozens of countries, each bringing critical perspectives to our collective work. The response was overwhelming (in a good way!) and the CU ecosystem expanded to support this global influx - across time zones, languages, and lived experiences.

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Fellows are building

We launched major initiatives like the Climate Innovation Fellowship and Digital Citizen Fellowship, diving deep into issues shaping our shared future. Alumni co-founded a consulting wing (Unplugged Strategies), a first of its kind DAO (Dream DAO), all while Civics Unplugged deployed over $100,000 in microgrants to seed innovative projects all around the world.

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D.C. is the place to be!

With the launch of the Civic Innovation Academy, CU bridged the gap between Gen Z talent and institutions of power. Fellows tackled challenges alongside the U.S. Departments of State, Treasury, Education, Transportation, and more. A new Academy is hosted in Austin, Texas to discover powerful new innovations in addressing housing crises. Meanwhile, our alumni network surpassed 3,500 strong.

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Go West Young Fellows!

We expanded Academy sites to both coasts, including a groundbreaking partnership with UCLA and the Ellison Institute focused on climate and health solutions. CU’s programming now spanned digital, in-person, and hybrid formats to reach youth in rural towns, megacities, and everywhere in between.

What does the future hold?

Now with over 5,000 alumni across 100+ countries, CU is becoming more than a youth civics org - it’s a launchpad for lifelong careers in systems change. This year, founding Fellow Zoë Jenkins joined the CU team as Director of Civic Trust and Recruitment - proof that the pipeline we’re building is not theoretical, but deeply real. Our new Civic Innovation Lab supports Fellows as they co-found real ventures tackling democracy, sustainability, media trust, and more. Our impact? Not just measured in events, but in the industries, communities, and institutions our alumni are transforming.

Our Team

We proudly support one of the nation's most diverse youth civic cohorts, embracing a distributed leadership approach that empowers every team member to collaboratively shape organizational decisions.We deeply value intergenerational collaboration, creating meaningful connections among our Fellows, partners, industry professionals, and team members. Together, we build an inclusive, innovative, and resilient community dedicated to transformative social change.