TESTIMONIALS

"Given the tremendous challenges that American democracy faces in this new decade, Civics Unplugged has been a rare source of hope for my generation as we look to take on responsibility for building the future. As a 2020 Fellow, the Fellowship cultivated a sense of mutual understanding among my peers that we face a lot of problems, and that it's much better to face them together. On July 4th, 2020, the Fellows and I could have not been more excited to join the Civics 2030 community, through which will get all the support we will need to turn our vision of a healthy, people-centered democracy a reality."

"I have always hated doing school projects. If it was a subject I wasn't interested in; I would always lose focus. I would always try my best to make it great, but it was a battle. When I saw the Leadership Blueprint, it was daunting; it looked like a lot. But, as I started to complete the assignments, I enjoyed filling them out, I could make the blueprint my own and personalize it. Using the Blueprint has made me learn new things about myself that I would never have thought of. It's allowed me to learn my strengths and weaknesses and plan accordingly for the future. Before starting the Fellowship, I had an unclear direction for the future and where I wanted to go with my civic journey. Now, I have plans and goals I am determined to accomplish. The Leadership Blueprint helped me see 20/20."

"Today, there are a lot of people who tell teens and young adults what they should do and who they should be. But the CU curriculum does the opposite. We began by contemplating what we value, enjoy, and care most about. This helped me realize what I wanted to do with my life- and I’m not talking about a career choice. Because of Civics Unplugged, I looked back on my experiences and began to recognize my own behavioral patterns. I’ve been able to put into writing not only what I am passionate about, but also why it matters. Taking a look at ways you can improve as an individual and the abilities you have is the first step to being equipped to help those around you. We learned how to work as a team to apply our gifts and talents to the many communities CU fellows are a part of. We’ve increased our awareness of the unregistered biases that all people foster as well. To prevent ourselves from judging situations too hastily, which happens frequently in politics and day- to- day life, we’ve studied how to approach complicated scenarios and complex systems. These are just a few of the skills we’ve developed as Civics Unplugged fellows, but they are imperative, and often unknown, tools that anyone, no matter their situation, can use."

"Given that the pace at which the world changes has accelerated in recent months and years, it's never been more important to give America's future leaders the space and opportunity to experiment with solutions that meet the unique challenges of our times. And given that the Civics 2030 Campaign creates the civics playground my peers need to develop new ideas for this new world, I could not be more excited to have joined the Campaign as a Founding Builder."

"Youth have been on the front lines of system change and community empowerment for decades, whether that be the Greensboro Four, Ruby Bridges, students at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, Sunrise or so many other culture-shifting movements. Our education system, though, teaches the youth to wait their turn. Our society cannot and should not be teaching us that we can be future leaders when we want to be leaders right now. Civics 2030 challenges that paradigm by emboldening Generation Z to take on the systems that they want to change. I am excited to be a part of the Civics 2030 community as it accelerates the projects, potential, and power of our generation to lead our communities and democracy to a brighter future."

"The CU Fellowship really helped me understand who I want to be, and gave me the tools to design my life in a way that will allow me to balance succeeding in school and developing as a social entrepreneur.
 

I'm so grateful to have joined Civics 2030 as the next step in my leadership development journey! From connecting me to world-class mentors, to providing funding for my work, Civics 2030 will supercharge my ability to execute on my ideas and pursue my dreams over the course of this decade."

"I was first recommended to apply to the Civics Unplugged (CU) Fellowship by an adult program organizer at Facing History and Ourselves Chicago. It seemed that the two initiatives had a lot in common, especially when it came to recognizing the often underdeveloped potential and power the younger generation has in today's sociopolitical climate. What caught my eye about CU was its drive for doing. There exist seemingly infinite programs that provide educational insight to students, whether it be learning about pre-colonial America, the Declaration of Independence, or current political systems. Few, however, take the extra step of thrusting complete agency into the hands of the young learner, the young creative, the young advocate. This agency is further nurtured through CU's cohort, or 'Junto', system, where each Junto group is lead by an adult civics professional. Through weekly video conferences with my junto members, I became proximate to group of diverse students from all across the United States, all of whom had come together with the common mission to re-evaluate and reinvent what it means to be an ethical citizen, leader, and member of Generation-Z in the 21st Century. Lastly, CU is more than just a one-year initiative. The very design of the Fellowship encourages students to make a 10-year commitment. In fact, at the time of this writing (June 2020), Founding Fellows are drafting the 2030 Civics Unplugged Declaration and planning Commence 2030, where selected students will be honored for their work in building the future of American democracy. By celebrating Gen-Z and looking towards the future, CU has established itself as a leading initiative that empowers young leaders and advocates for productive, inclusive, and collaborative change!"

During COVID-19, my in-person teen programming was shifted to virtual and I noticed that conversations among museum professionals was focused around adapting what we all did well in-person to virtual. It felt like trying to fit a square block into a circular hole. Instead, I decided to look outside of museums and learn from organizations like Civics Unplugged that intentionally designed virtual programs. The fact that they are so transparent and organized with their program design is unheard of and inspiring. Their program ideology and facilitation approach are things every teen program should learn from. They set the best practice standards by backing up every part of their program with research and evidence. Diving into their website over a few days, I completely understood their approach, developmental outcomes, and objectives. It helped me convert my two teen programs using this innovative program design. I was particularly impressed with their pillars and their Leadership Blueprint model. I plan to share what I have learned from CU with other teen-serving museum educators as we all attempt to do what CU is already exceptional at!

Now, more than ever, our country is in need of ingenuity that can protect our democracy, advance values of inclusion and belonging, and expand our idea of citizenship. Across my work, whether that be organizing national stakeholders to realize full justice, or countering the effects of political polarization, or amplifying the story of immigration as a value-gain; being in community is an impact multiplier. I’ve been so impressed with the work of Civics Unplugged. They’ve shown real agility and innovation, building out a modern, 21st century civic infrastructure that sets the standard for community fellowship, civic engagement and youth-led progress. I’m proud to serve as a Civics 2030 Champion as they continue to build a movement of inspired leaders who are meeting the challenges of this moment, and the next