CivicsEDU’s Post

What does civic responsibility mean to you? Our data show that many young people see civic learning—understanding how our society is organized and governed—as an active form of civic participation. Civic care invites civic learning as a first step. Learn more about what young people say about civic learning: https://buff.ly/40dxmBa

Hope, vision, and place-based civic heath are key elements to our ability to navigate the turbulent times that have left so many of us in fear and despair. https://lnkd.in/gynH2n8R

June 19th marked the beginning of #CivicSeason, a nationwide tradition to enhance one's knowledge of #history and #civics. According to a recent United States Chamber of Commerce report, 70% of Americans failed a basic civic literacy quiz. With the world revolving around the #internet, there is no excuse to not know basic civics or who your elected representatives are. In my next America's Future piece, I discuss why you should take this time to familiarize yourself with this important information.

If you're an #educator grappling with this #election, I highly recommend: 1. Voting, with a young person by your side. 2. Checking out our youth civic engagement report, which offers critical insight into how students perceive their preparation to fully participate in our democracy - a bedrock purpose of our public education system.

In 2020, Funders Initiative for Civil Society (FICS) carried out interviews with over 150 civil society activists, academics, and funders seeking to understand the deeper drivers which were closing civic space around the world. The abuse of national security powers was identified as the dominant driver set to further shrink civic space this decade, yet few funders focus on this issue. Our partner, Civic Futures, was co-founded by FICS and The Fund for Global Human Rights, to change this. Learn more about Civic Futures in the carousel below and at civic-futures.org.

While taking some downtime before my next adventure (still coming soon), I planted a seed with a handful of community leaders, not knowing it would start to immediately sprout. The seed: How do we address the civic engagement desert in our smaller, northern communities as well as pool resources for greater reach? With continued population growth in counties north of Seattle (Snohomish, Island, Skagit, Kitsap, and Whatcom), opportunities for civic engagement BEYOND POLITICS also needs to grow. As the need for civic engagement and civil discourse increases, so does the need for organizations to provide these opportunities. NorthwestWA Civic Circle (NWCC) aims to be the nonpartisan hub for groups large and small to work collaboratively on their respective missions. Let's address the civic engagement desert by broadening the number of opportunities across these counties, and expanding those engagement opportunities beyond politics. Thank you, Erin Murray, SPHR, Nate Nehring, Susan Paine, Corrie Wilder, Ed.D., and Steve Woodard for watering the seed. Learn more, and let's work together. https://lnkd.in/gJWndnyP

Check out our new report, Youth Civic Empowerment!

YouthTruth's report on Youth Civic Empowerment is out! If you work or fund in #education, #democracy, #youth, or related areas, read up on must-know insights about youth civic engagement 👇

Our survey, The Civic Outlook of Young Adults in America, showed that 57% of young people are dissatisfied with our political system. What can we do to help turn this around? Jessica Sutter, Chief of Civic Learning Initiatives, led a roundtable with two college students to find out. Trenton Eilander, a student at the University of Iowa and Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute Fellow, shares with Jessica that political leaders can better model civility and optimism. Watch the full conversation: https://buff.ly/3xZvr7k #GenZ #civiclearning #civicengagement

YouthTruth's insights into how high schoolers across the U.S. think about civic engagement are a vital pulse check for #funders thinking about education, democracy, or youth in their work. Check out key insights and the report 👇 #youth #voters #youthvote #democracy #civicengagement #civics #youthvoice #students #studentvoice #funding #philanthropy #education #research