Executive Summary

Generation Citizen (GC) is transforming how civics is taught by providing real-world civics education that helps students understand exactly how governments function, and how they can make a difference in the system. GC works with students in communities that have historically been marginalized from political processes, teaching them the skills and knowledge they need to engage directly with the local issues and institutions impacting their communities.

GC’s approach to civics education is a collaborative, project-based curriculum in which young people learn civics by doing civics. Over the course of a semester, students democratically choose a local issue that matters to them, research the root causes of the issue and how it is impacted by local institutions, and then take substantive, real action towards local policy change.

Last year, GC reached over 28,000 students across the country who collectively led over 1,100 Action Civics projects throughout the school year. Topics for these projects included healthier school lunches, LGBTQ+ student safety, teen vaping & substance abuse, gun violence, expanded after-school opportunities, student homelessness, and more. To showcase their work, GC holds end-of-semester Civics Days where students present their projects to their communities and hear from local leaders.

A grant from Yield Giving will enable GC to double in size, reaching over 56,000 students per year by 2025 and prioritizing communities that have traditionally not had access to quality civic learning opportunities - specifically rural and urban public school students and students of color.

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