Our Blog
Up-to-date information about GC and the broader community we serve.
Jul312018Read More >What We’re Reading | July 31st, 2018
Our favorite articles from recent weeks Every few weeks, GC picks out a selection of articles that are relevant to our work and to the civics education space as a whole. We at GC love to expand our learning in every aspect of what we do, and we hope you enjoy our selections! How […]
Jun182018Read More >Announcing the Hasbro Change Maker Award Recipients
This year, Generation Citizen and the Hasbro Children’s Fund collaborated to create the Hasbro Change Maker Award. Awards were given out in the form of mini-grants to fund and support student ideas on how they could make their communities a better place. Across five schools in Providence, RI and the surrounding areas, volunteers from Hasbro […]
Jun142018Read More >Generation Citizen NYC Executive Director, DeNora Getachew, Testimony to Joint Hearing of New York City Council’s Education and Youth Services Committees
Testimony delivered by DeNora Getachew, New York City Executive Director of Generation Citizen to Joint Hearing of the New York City Council’s Education and Youth Services Committees regarding Youth Civic Engagement Opportunities. Read on! Good Afternoon Members of the City Council’s Education and Youth Services Committees: My name is DeNora Getachew and I’m the […]
Jun142018Read More >GC Student, Samara Henry, Testifies at the New York City Council Executive Budget Hearing
On May 24th, 2018, Samara Henry, a student at the Bronx Academy of Letters, testified at the New York City Council Executive Budget Hearing. Here she explains the crucial role of Action Civics. Read on! Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to testify at today’s hearing. My name is Samara Henry and I […]
Jun142018Read More >GC Student, Anyhara Garcia, Testifies to The New York City Council Education and Youth Services Committees
On June 13th, 2018, International High School of Health Sciences student Anyhara Garcia, submitted a public testimony to the New York City Education and Youth Services Committees. Here she explains the crucial role Action Civics has in effectively addressing New York City’s civic participation problem. Read on! Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity […]
May302018Read More >Civics Day: A Movement of Youth Civic Engagement Across the U.S.
Watch: “Youth voices are the key to change for the future.” Justice Paraiso-Caceres and GC Students Share Why Youth Voice Matters Generation Citizen students are leading in their communities by tackling head-on difficult issues that impact their everyday lives: pollution, bullying, gun violence, school funding and many more. At Civics Day, our end-of-semester showcase event, […]
May222018Read More >Ruba Tariq: I am the present and future of American Democracy
May212018Read More >We’re Hiring a Vote16DC Campaign Fellow (Washington, DC)
Vote16DC Campaign Fellow About Generation Citizen: Generation Citizen is an innovative, quickly scaling nonprofit that seeks to strengthen our nation’s democracy by empowering young people to become engaged and effective citizens. GC believes all students have the right to an effective civics education that prepares them to participate in our democracy. We partner with schools […]
- May032018Read More >
We’re Hiring a Vote16USA Summer Fellow (Boston, MA)
About Vote16USA: Vote16USA is a national initiative, organized by Generation Citizen, that supports youth-led campaigns to lower the voting age to 16 on the local level in cities around the country and promotes the issue on a national level. Since launching in 2015, Vote16USA has become the leading authority on this policy issue and currently […]
May012018Read More >[podcast] Civics Disrupted: The Rise and Potential of Political Entrepreneurship
Rising to meet the many social and political challenges facing our democracy is a new breed of innovator and disruptor. Political Entrepreneurs are addressing some of democracy’s most pressing challenges by delivering fresh and innovative ideas, products, and services. On Wednesday, April 25th Generation Citizen, brought together a panel of diverse civic disruptors to explore […]
- Apr192018Read More >
We’re Hiring a Vote16DC Campaign Organizer
About Generation Citizen: Generation Citizen is an innovative, quickly scaling nonprofit that seeks to strengthen our nation’s democracy by empowering young people to become engaged and effective citizens. GC believes all students have the right to an effective civics education that prepares them to participate in our democracy. We partner with schools to implement an […]
Apr182018Read More >Jury is More Than a Duty — It’s Civics in Action
Jury is More Than a Duty — It’s Civics in Action How jury duty is a microcosm of our democracy by Nora Howe, New York Senior Program Associate Everyone assured me that I wouldn’t be picked. Or groaned when I told them I’d been summoned. When I walked to Brooklyn Superior Court with dozens of other New Yorkers […]
Apr042018Read More >Generation Citizen Testimony to the New York City Council Education Committee
On March 23, 2018, Generation Citizen NYC Program Director, Brooke Wallace, submitted public testimony about the New York City Council’s Education Committee Budget and the importance of having Action Civics in the classroom. Here she explains the crucial role Action Civics has in effectively addressing New York City’s civic participation problem. Read on! Good Morning […]
Apr042018Read More >Emily Larcher Shares Public Testimony on the Importance of Action Civics Education
On March 23, 2018, Generation Citizen NYC alumna, Emily Larcher, submitted public testimony to the New York City Council’s Education Committee. Here she explains her experience in a Generation Citizen class and how it empowered her to use her voice and become civically engaged after Generation Citizen. Read on! Testimony by Emily Larcher Freshman at […]
Mar242018Read More >Generation Citizen Statement on Today’s March
Generation Citizen Statement on Today’s March Today demonstrates not only the importance of student activism, but the value of ensuring that every young person in this country receives an effective civics education. Today, hundreds of thousands of young people across the country will be marching in the March for our Lives, demanding that public officials […]
- Mar202018Read More >
We’re Hiring a Bay Area Program Manager
Generation Citizen (GC) is excited to announce that we are looking for an exceptional leader to join our team as the Bay Area Program Manager of our local “Democracy Coach” Action Civics model, which involves recruiting, training, and supporting college volunteer Democracy Coaches in effectively partnering with classroom teachers to facilitate Action Civics in middle […]
Mar192018Read More >What We’re Reading
Every few weeks, GC picks out a selection of articles that are relevant to our work and to the civics education space as a whole. We at GC love to expand our learning in every aspect of what we do, and we hope you enjoy our selections! The Power to Change the World: A Teaching […]
- Mar152018Read More >
We’re Hiring a Director of Impact (New York, NY)
Overview: Generation Citizen (www.GenerationCitizen.org), a quickly scaling civics education nonprofit that seeks to strengthen our nation’s democracy by empowering young people to become engaged and effective citizens, is looking for an experienced leader to help assess and deepen its impact on students, teachers, schools in multiple regions across the country. The Director of Impact will […]
Jun282016Read More >Young People Could Have Stopped Brexit
In the aftermath of last week’s globally consequential Brexit referendum, in which voters in the United Kingdom decided to historically break away from the European Union, much of the analysis has centered on the imbalance between the opinions of young people and the ramifications of the vote on their futures. Yet a comprehensive statistical analysis […]
Nov052015Read More >Ellie’s Eighth Grade Endeavors, Episode 3: Why Community Engagement Matters
Oct152015Read More >Ellie’s Eighth Grade Endeavors, Episode 1: Democracy Coaches Learn Too
- Oct062015Read More >
Should Politics be Fun?
Should Politics Be Fun? As the 2016 elections approach, the missing youth electorate is becoming an increasingly prevalent story. Despite a slight upwards tick of youth participation in President Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012, the 2014 midterms saw the lowest youth voting rate in the last forty years, with only 19% of […]
- Sep082015Read More >
I’m Too Busy to Write This Blog Post
“How are you doing? How’s your summer going?” “I’m just so busy! And I thought I was going to have so much time this summer to catch up on life, and, I just got too busy, and now it’s almost gone!” I would venture that every person in the working world had some […]
- Aug172015Read More >
My Adventures in Democracy
– David Pechefsky Recently, GC has embarked on a project in which we ask ourself #WhyGC. Where to start? I have been working in government/politics/democracy building for close to 20 years. Back in 1996 I was an intern in the office of Brooklyn Council Member Steve Dibrienza. This was when Mayor Giuliani’s administration was […]
- Jul142015Read More >
Does Civics Cross Borders?
As I’ve talked about extensively, the idea for Generation Citizen initially came about after my observing emerging democracies at work resulted in a realization that the American democracy needed a youth revitalization. Specifically, observing the successful 2002 Kenyan elections as a fifteen year old showed me the power of individuals coming together to make a […]
- Feb222015Read More >
Getting Off College Hill
– Sean Manning, Brown University Democracy Coach A mixture of excitement and anxiety clouded my mind when I first set foot in Providence, Rhode Island to begin my college career at Brown University. It had been my dream to attend Brown, and the fact that that dream had become a reality had not quite […]
- Feb112015Read More >
Meet a DC! Boston University’s Mai Mazan
The following interview was posted on the Microsoft Blog, after Boston’s Civic Tech Challenge hackathon event hosted at Microsoft N.E.R.D. in November. Mai Mazan, a Democracy Coach from Boston University, was generous enough to share her experience with GC with the folks at Microsoft, and we always love hearing about the incredible work our DCs […]
- Feb112015Read More >
What’s So Great About Young Founders?
What’s So Great About Young Founders? – Scott Warren Last Friday, the author Robin Black penned a New York Times op-ed entitled, “What’s So Great About Young Writers,” rallying against a culture that she feels unfairly rewards youth, rather than merit. Describing her path to becoming an emerging writer in her late forties, she […]
- Feb112015Read More >
From One Semester to Another: Leaving My Comfort Zone Behind
By Katherine Dillon My first semester at Fordham University was much like that of those portrayed in movies and TV shows – I was almost always learning, meeting new people, or simply in a state of awe at the newness of everything. I had so often heard before leaving for college that my […]
- Feb112015Read More >
From Pebble Beach to East Flatbush
A few weeks ago, I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at a luxurious hotel located on the Pebble Beach Golf Course near Monterrey, California. My mornings comprised of runs along ocean-side cliffs with stunning vistas, and my days consisted of vigorous intellectual conversations about the lack of constituency voice in social entrepreneurial ventures, and the […]
- Feb112015Read More >
How Do We Educate to Improve Our Democracy?
How do We Educate to Improve our Democracy? As Generation Citizen matures as an organization, we’ve realized that it’s not enough for us to solely focus on our in-school programming. We continue to improve and iterate our action civics curriculum and teacher and volunteer training, but we have also recognized the necessity of building […]
- Feb112015Read More >
Defending Social Studies Funding in Massachusetts
On March 9, 2015, Greater Boston Advocacy Manager Leila Quinn gave testimony before the MA Foundation Budget Review Commission in defense of funding for social studies and civics courses. Below you will find an abridged version of her testimony. State law charges our schools with a civic mission that we must revive. Students often learn […]
- Feb112015Read More >
Welcome to Our Newest Intern, Gabrielle!
Hi! My name is Gabrielle Aaron. I am a student at Washington University in St. Louis, not to be confused with Washington University in Washington—I promise this one is in Missouri. I am studying Psychology, Marketing and Children’s Studies. If you ask how they all go together, the answer is simply that these topics all […]
- Feb112015Read More >
Swimming Like a Duck
By Scott Warren I’ve always had a weird admiration for ducks. When I was younger, my grandparents lived steps away from a pond filled with ducks. I used to visit it frequently, illegally feeding them breadcrumbs, searching for ducklings, watching them swim. It’s a little cliché, but one of the most fascinating aspects […]
- Feb112015Read More >
Teach Young People About Civic Duties
By Rep. Javier Martinez / Democrat, Albuquerque and Scott Warren / Executive Director, Generation Citizen. Published by Albuquerque Journal New Mexico’s high school students spend a lot of time at school. Approximately 140 hours per month, not counting extracurricular activities. How this time is structured, financed and spent is decided by a governing school board, […]
- Feb092015Read More >
Welcome to our Newest Intern, Admera!
Hi everyone, my name is Admera Khan and I am a transfer from Syracuse University studying the best two combinations, which I consider to be Politics and Spanish at NYU. I am currently a sophomore pretending to be a “real New Yorker” by living the life of a student/intern who thinks they understand how to […]
- Feb112015Read More >
CCF Fellow Miajia Speaks at the Ford Foundation
On January 23, 2014, Generation Citizen co-hosted an event at the Ford Foundation called “Educating for Democracy: The Role of Young People in Re-Invigorating our Democracy.” During this event, as part of the “Scaling Civic Learning” panel, GC alum and Community Change Fellow Miajia Jaware spoke as a youth participant. We could not be more proud […]
- Feb102015Read More >
NYC DCs Reflect: Haikus from Training Day
At the end of two longs days of training, we asked our NYC Democracy Coaches to reflect on the experience in the form of a haiku. Lots of mixed emotions – from excitement to anxiousness to plain old fatigue after a long day. Boston, Bay Area, and Rhode Island DCs: you’re not alone! We’re all […]
- Mar142014Read More >
Summer 2014 Internship Openings
We are excited to announce two new summer internship positions opening at GC! Please read below to learn more about the Development Internship and National Program Internship. Development Internship Generation Citizen (dev-generation-citizen.pantheon.io/) is an innovative, quickly scaling non-profit that seeks to strengthen our nation’s democracy by empowering young people to become engaged and effective citizens. […]
- Sep302013Read More >
Reflections on Democracy Coach Training
On September 21-22nd, GC’s newest cohort of Democracy Coaches in four program sites participated in a training workshop to prepare for the start of the school year. Below, Director of Programming Meghan Trombly reflects on the experience in a letter to the Fall 2013 Generation Citizen Democracy Coaches. Dear Generation Citizen Democracy Coach, Dragging oneself […]
- Sep042013Read More >
Walking the Walk
We profess to be a great many things. Our nation claims to be a beacon of representative democracy, a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Yet, Generation Citizen exists because sometimes what we say we value doesn’t always match reality. So then we either reconsider our values, though in this case […]
- Aug272013Read More >
Incorporating Voices: A Modern Jeffersonian Meal
Last week, Generation Citizen Board Member Robert Flanders hosted a “Jeffersonian Breakfast” inspired by the dinners hosted by Thomas Jefferson back in the early days of our Republic. Jefferson would invite 10 friends to Monticello to discuss a set topic, which could range from politics to philosophy to archeology, to hear the personal experiences that […]
- Jul102013Read More >
GC to Receive Funding from Knight Foundation
Today, we’re excited to announce that Generation Citizen has received a transformative grant of $190,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to both evaluate and expand our work. We are truly grateful to the Knight Foundation for taking a chance on us, and believing in action civics. See the press release below from […]
May022013Read More >DCs of the Month
Looking back at April, a big month for us at GC as classes go deep into taking action, we’d like to recognize the following Democracy Coaches for their empowering work and dedication. NEW YORK DC OF THE MONTH: RINA KATTAN, STUDENT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY What brought you to GC? After Rocky Solomon, a former […]
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