Generation Citizen

Generation Citizen is a national organization working to transform civics education so that young people are equipped and inspired to exercise their civic power. It partners with school districts to provide real-world competency-based civic learning experiences for students while advocating for policies that ensure these students receive an equity-centered civics education. This grant takes the next step in an Equity in Civics field-building initiative by convening a national steering committee to provide guidance to school districts and civics education organizations, create toolkits and other resources that civics education groups can use to promote equity in civics education, and host conferences to promote equity in civics education. (Substrategy: Student and Community Voice)

As part of the second round of the partnership with the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation on PropelNext, we are recommending grants to five organizations supporting underserved youth in the Bay Area: Enterprise for Youth, Generation Citizen, Oakland Leaf, Safe Passages, and ScriptEd. Another seven organizations in the Bay Area will also be participating; Heising-Simons Foundation, a new co-investor in this partnership, will support two; the Packard Foundation will support three; and the Sobrato Foundation will support two. These organizations were selected after a thorough due diligence process, which included external reviewers. As part of their participation in the three-year PropelNext program, these organizations will receive funding, training, coaching sessions, and peer learning sessions — all intended to support organizations in developing a theory of change for their program, and build stronger data-driven, performance-based cultures and systems. An evaluation of the first cohort of PropelNext participants showed positive results, suggesting that this approach is a promising one. Of the five organizations we recommend, two are based in Oakland, one in San Francisco, and two are national organizations with San Francisco offices. They serve a range of youth — including those living in disadvantaged communities or attending under-resourced schools. They help in a variety of ways, including through individualized support and coaching, school-based supports, connections to employment, and skill-building. We hope that participation in PropelNext will help strengthen these organizations to more regularly use data to improve performance and inform learning across their organizations — ultimately improving outcomes for underserved youth in the Bay Area.