The Civic Collaboratory, a nationwide mutual aid network of civic catalysts launched by Citizen University, gathers members for
quarterly convenings that promote collaboration and seed new approaches to shared challenges. On July 24-25, the Academy hosted
the July National Civic Collaboratory in Cambridge, MA. Learn more about the Civic Collaboratory and how you can participate.
Our Common Purpose
ACADEMY HOSTS NATIONAL CIVIC COLLABORATORY
Our Common Purpose calls for dramatically expanding the capacity of civic leaders and civil society to bring people together and
address civic challenges. Vital to this work in recent years has been the Civic Collaboratory
[[link removed], a nationwide mutual aid network of civic catalysts launched by Citizen
University. Collaboratory members gather for quarterly convenings that promote collaboration and seed new approaches to shared
challenges. On July 24-25, the Academy hosted the July National Civic Collaboratory in Cambridge, MA. Learn more about the Civic
Collaboratory and how you can participate here [[link removed]
STORIES FROM THE FIELD
NEW REPORT CO-AUTHORED BY DANIELLE ALLEN OFFERS FRAMEWORK FOR PRACTICAL CIVIC LEARNING.
Experiential Civic Learning for American Democracy
[[link removed], a new report produced by the Allen Lab
for Democracy Renovation, draws on a first-of-its-kind national landscape analysis of existing civic learning programs to offer a
clear framework for what experiential civic learning is and how it can prepare the next generation for democratic participation.
The report makes clear that this field of pedagogy can avoid politicization and should be well-integrated into civic learning
offerings.
NEW REPORT FROM COGENERATE OFFERS INSIGHTS ON INTERGENERATIONAL COLLABORATION.
What Older Leaders Want – And Don’t Want – From Younger Allies
[[link removed], a new report from OCP Champion CoGenerate, includes
insights from 30 older leaders on how they think intergenerational collaboration can be improved.
AMERICA AT A CROSSROADS FEATURES OCP CHAMPION CIVITY.
A recent episode
[[link removed]] of
America at a Crossroads explored how OCP Champion Civity uses personal stories to connect people across ideological divides.
Civity led a trust-building workshop with more than 50 Rhode Island leaders in business, government and the nonprofit sector to
bridge political divides.
EVERYDAY DEMOCRACY HOSTS VIRTUAL CONVERSATION ON ROLE OF CIVIC SPACES.
OCP Champion Everyday Democracy hosted Remaking the Commons: Stories of Civic Space, Belonging and Democracy
[[link removed], a virtual conversation with Shamichael Hallman, Blew Kind, and Merle McGee
that explored how civic spaces are being preserved, created, and reimagined to meet the current moment.
CMF CEO JEN DAULBY ON CAPITOL SPOTLIGHT.
Congressional Management Foundation CEO Jen Daulby appeared on an episode of Capitol Spotlight
[[link removed]] to discuss CMF’s bipartisan approach
to building leadership and community on Capitol Hill.
THREE YEARS IN, 100% DEMOCRACY REFLECTS ON STATUS OF UNIVERSAL VOTING.
In their third anniversary newsletter [[link removed], OCP Champion
100% Democracy reflects on key milestones in the effort to advance universal voting in the U.S. and offers new evidence from
countries that have adopted this reform.
IN THE NEWS
'DEAR AMERICA': YOUTH250 LEADERS PUBLISH LETTER TO LEADERS AHEAD OF AMERICA'S 250TH.
Youth250, an initiative from OCP Champion Made by Us, published an open letter
[[link removed]] urging leaders and
young people nationwide to commit to making the country’s 250th anniversary a turning point in American democracy.
LAJUAN ALLEN: WANT TO SAVE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY? LET TEENS VOTE.
Writing in USA Today [[link removed], LaJuan Allen,
Director of Vote16USA, argues that lowering the voting age to 16 in state and local elections would help rebuild democracy from
the ground up. Our Common Purpose [[link removed]] called for pre-registering sixteen-
and seventeen-year-olds and providing educational opportunities for them to practice voting.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
BIPARTISAN BUILDING CIVIC BRIDGES ACT REINTRODUCED.
Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Andy Barr (KY-06), Lucy McBath (GA-06), and Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) reintroduced the
Building Civic Bridges Act [[link removed] First introduced in the 117th
Congress by Representatives Derek Kilmer (WA-06) and Andy Barr (KY-06), the bill would establish a new Office of Civic Bridge
Building to oversee a grant program to support civic bridge building programs by funding nonprofits, public institutions, and
religious groups working to address polarization, conducting research on impactful civic engagement, and providing training to
AmeriCorps members in bridge-building skills. Learn more about how the BCBA would reduce political polarization and increase civic
engagement here [[link removed]
FAIR REPRESENTATION ACT REINTRODUCED.
U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) led a House delegation in reintroducing the Fair Representation Act
[[link removed], an election reform bill to address structural gerrymandering
issues and extreme partisanship in federal elections. The bill would implement measures to elect U.S. House Representatives
through ranked choice voting in multi-member districts drawn by independent redistricting commissions and would require ranked
choice voting to elect U.S. Senators.
FEDERAL AND STATE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: INVESTING IN CIVICS EDUCATION.
Our Common Purpose [[link removed]] recommends investing in civic education programs
and professional development opportunities for educators. According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) civics assessment [[link removed], 31% of eighth graders fell below the NAEP basic level
for civics knowledge and skills.
Between 2022 and 2024, funding for K-12 civics education increased from $7.75 million (FY2022) to $23 million (FY2023 and FY2024).
This funding supported teacher professional development, curriculum development, and student programming. However, President
Trump’s FY2026 budget proposes $12 billion in cuts to K-12 education programs, including grants to increase access to civic
education, and consolidates K-12 education funding into a block grant program for states.
According to CivxNow [[link removed], 45 states
are considering 198 bills related to K–12 civic education during their 2025 legislative sessions. Over 70 percent of the
legislation is ensuring that civic education is a bi-partisan education priority for the states. According to the National
Conference of State Legislatures [[link removed], over the last several years,
states, including Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, have enacted legislation to increase standards,
provide professional development for educators, form task forces and commissions, and establish high school graduation
requirements.
The Academy will continue to monitor federal and state legislative activities and serve as a policy resource for Our Common
Purpose champions who are active in the civics education space. Learn more about the status of all these efforts here
[[link removed]
GET INVOLVED
NONPROFIT VOTE WEBINAR: WAYS FOR NONPROFITS TO BUILD LOCAL COMMUNITY POWER.
OCP Champion Nonprofit VOTE will host a webinar to expand on how locally-led candidate engagement can build connections between
local policymakers and their communities, empower residents to take action, and make civic participation feel relevant and
personal.
DATE: July 30, 2025 | 2:00 PM ET | Register Here
[[link removed]
ATTEND AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR STATE AND LOCAL HISTORY ANNUAL CONFERENCE.
Join the 2025 AASLH Annual Conference to connect with peers in the national history community as the field continues preparations
for the 250th commemoration of the founding of the United States.
DATE: September 10-13, 2025 | Cincinnati, Ohio | Register Here [[link removed]
READ THE REPORT
Learn more about the Academy's current efforts to advance reforms to reinvent American democracy and read the Our Common Purpose
report here [[link removed]
Our Common Purpose
[[link removed]
American Academy: [link removed]
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