On May 15th, in the heart of San Francisco’s historic Mission district, students from across the Bay Area nervously crowded into an auditorium and began setting up their stations. This was their moment to shine. This was the day they would demonstrate their civic voices and posit solutions to some of their communities’ most pressing issues. And there was no better place to do it than The Women’s Building: a women-led non-profit arts and education community center that advocates self-determination, gender equality, and social justice.
I had the opportunity to serve as a judge at Civics Day alongside peers from Everlane, Wells Fargo, and Chevron, to name a few. We were inspired by the students’ depth of understanding of complex urban issues and their creative approaches to solve these problems. Read on to learn more about Generation Citizen and the organization’s mission to empower young citizens:
– Thea Nilsson, Civic Engagement Manager
At a time of great divisiveness within our country and community – from partisan debates on Capitol Hill to the accelerated wealth disparity here in the Bay Area – there is one thing that both sides of the proverbial aisle can agree on – our democracy seems broken. Voter turnout is at an historic low, 
citizen apathy is staggeringly high. On an encouraging note, there are many exciting tech-based solutions taking root and conversations around civic engagement continue to grow.
At the same time, there is also a group that is taking a more person-to-person approach, which is proving quite impactful and making waves in the Bay Area and beyond. Earlier this month, over 200 people – from students and educators, to local elected officials, business executives, media, and more – gathered in San Francisco to see the work in action.
Generation Citizen (GC), launched in 2008 by two Brown University seniors, trains college volunteers as Democracy Coaches (or “DCs”) and pairs them with middle and high school teachers to lead a semester long in-school “action civics” course.
After debating and reaching consensus, students choose one issue as a class that affects them locally, and that they think they can take effective action on (e.g., teen unemployment, gang violence, community-police relations). The students then analyze the underlying root causes of the issue and develop and execute an action plan. This may involve lobbying elected officials, building a coalition, engaging audiences through media and more.
As a culminating activity, students participate in “Civics Day” – the very event mentioned above that had standing-room-only turnout – and present their action plans and preliminary outcomes to public officials and other community members. Judges for this “civics fair” have included governors, commissioners of education, and members of Congress. In fact, Senator Elizabeth Warren gave a televised keynote address to GC Boston’s Civics Day this semester.
As a result of all this, students and community leaders learn to collaborate in new ways. Young people drive change on issues that matter to them, and prove to decision-makers that they offer unique solutions to community problems. Students who previously believed they had no role to play in making a difference in their community see themselves as change-makers.
In fact, Mission Local attended Civics Day and wrote about a particular project that showed critical thinking at its best – one of the pillars of learning that GC encourages in its students.
From water waste, youth homeless, and even human trafficking, GC students are tackling a huge range of on-the-ground issues, so supporting their proven efforts to revitalize democracy – locally and beyond – couldn’t come at a better time (especially as we approach election season!). Join their local board, sponsor a classroom – or just come for a site visit and learn about some of the local issues. It’s what democracy is about: a community coming together for the collective good. Even better, they don’t even need an app to make it happen!
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David Moren
recently joined on as the Bay Area Site Director of Generation Citizen, an organization that is revitalizing democracy by providing middle and high school youth with an action civics education, thereby creating more active, engaged citizens in the community. David comes to this work with over 15 years in a variety of nonprofit, private sector, and leadership positions, and in addition to his work as a volunteer community mediator and proud father of two young boys, was recently selected as a W.K. Kellogg Foundation national fellow.
