Youth Engagement

Youth Civic Agency and Engagement

Creating opportunities for civic engagement allows students to put their civic skills to action and amplifies student voices, foreshadowing a future of civic participation. We aim to empower all New York students to be active civic participants and uphold our democracy. 

The DemocracyReady NY youth cohort program is designed to support and amplify the voices of young people from urban, rural, and suburban districts across New York State as they engage in student-led inquiry and advocacy, and as they work in a multigenerational coalition alongside adult members to advocate for all New York students’ right to an education that prepares them for civic participation.

DemocracyReady NY Resources:

  • DemocracyReady NY Youth Members explore the role of tech in civic learning in their latest blogs.
  • Youth Members respond to NY Senate Bill S1732 and investigate the purpose of student councils in New York State.
  • Fund(Ed) letter to Governor Cuomo, a part of the Fund(Ed) New York campaign launched in January 2021 by students from across the state in direct response to the FY22 Executive Budget proposals related to education.

Resources from Our members:

  • Citizens Committee for Children of New York. YouthAction NYC is their after-school program for high school students interested in learning to be effective advocates for the issues they care about and  advocate on behalf of themselves, their schools and their communities. Participants learn how to gather information, document what they learn, and then effectively communicate this information to their communities and elected officials.
  • DoSomething, as one of the largest nonprofits exclusively for young people and social change, DoSomething has activated millions of young people in every U.S. area code and 189 countries to take action to improve their communities. 
  • Generation Citizen offers an online, free self-paced training through an online professional development platform, Kick Start Action Civics, for educators to build foundational knowledge of the Action Civics pedagogy. Action Civics is a hands-on, experiential approach to civics education, in which young people learn about democracy by actively working to address issues in their own communities. Generation Citizen trains teachers, amplifies youth voices, provides curriculum, and advocates for policy solutions that advance this essential education across New York and the country.
  • Inquiring Minds Institute KidCivics Videos. KidCivics is a video series designed by kids to help children and adults understand how children can thrive during their time in school. They use Socratic debate and cooperative dialogue strategies to help students probe, problem-solve and create new knowledge.
  • Mikva Challenge develops youth to be empowered, informed, and active citizens who will promote a just and equitable society. 
  • New York Youth Civics Initiative, discover paid internships, engaging events, exciting programs and interactive workshops by the youth-led groups that are a part of the solution.
  • Next Generation Politics produces The Round Table, the weekly for-GenZ, by-GenZ podcast that offers a platform for conversation and engagement of civically-minded young people from across the country. The Round Table models civil dialogue across various divides--socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, political, and regional-- seeking to challenge norms and represent all kinds of diversity, especially of perspective and ideas. 
  • The Puerto Rican Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute.  The Institute's purpose is to foster the leadership skills of Hispanic students and to introduce them to New York State's legislative process.
  • YVote's Youth Civic Hub, a one-stop clearinghouse of civic programming, opportunities, and resources, and an updatable calendar of civic events and opportunities.

Activities & Advocacy Opportunities:

Webinars

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