The growing divisiveness in the United States is palpable and alarming, fueled by disinformation and distrust. Americans are drawing battle lines online, at school board meetings in our hometowns, and in the treasured halls of our nation’s Capitol.
We see a way forward in today’s young people.
Today’s 42 million 14–24-year-olds are entering the public square–what they know and how they engage going forward will determine the direction of our democracy.
The Institute for Citizens & Scholars cultivates talent, ideas, and networks that develop young people as effective, lifelong citizens.
We accelerate the civic learning field by reprioritizing
civic preparedness. through
common measurement
tools, shared vision, and
collaboration across divides.
To unleash this generation’s civic potential, the time is now to support and cultivate young people as empowered citizens. Empowered citizens are civically well-informed, productively engaged, and committed to democracy.
Informed: Empowered citizens understand our government, our history, and the difference between fact and opinion.
Productive: Empowered citizens build common ground with others and take an active role in local and national decision making.
Committed: Empowered citizens are committed to democracy and willing to do the hard work to strengthen it.
Civic learning really speaks to the power of blending information and action. Making sure that we are really well-informed and seeking out the knowledge that we need and then also translating that into action.
Sadie Bograd Sadie Bograd, 2020 Civic Spring Fellow
New Ideas Shaping a More Perfect Union
In Preamble, Citizens & Scholars president Raj Vinnakota sits down for 15-minute conversations with diverse thought leaders—across traditional divides—on the new ideas shaping our democracy.
Over 75 years, Citizens & Scholars has attained unrivaled expertise, experience, data, and a network of funders and practitioners across the ideological spectrum, including 27,000 world-leading Fellows from a multitude of fields.
Our diverse network unites the boldest innovators across education, business, philanthropy, community institutions, media, and government. Sitting at this essential intersection, Citizens & Scholars attracts the ideas, funding, and talent that will ignite the revitalization of our democracy.
Meet The Fellows
From high school students to classroom teachers to Nobel Laureates, we invest in visionary people with diverse ideas that will strengthen democracy for the long haul.
Visionary thinkers of all ages and fields in our Fellow community
22
Pulitzer Prize recipients
46
MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipients
100+
College and University presidents
Educating for Democracy Since 1945
From our beginnings as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in 1945, and now as Citizens & Scholars, we have prepared new generations of American citizenry by opening doors to higher education, supporting more than 27,000 visionary thinkers, scholars, and teachers, and creating the thoughtful space for innovation.
Today, we’re on a mission to ensure that a majority of Americans get the foundational experiences needed to become effective citizens.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
