Youth Collaboratory Fellowship
Find your people. Build your power.
You know that feeling when you look around your school, your neighborhood, or your town and think, “There has to be a better way?” You’re not the only one. You’ve got energy and drive to make the places around you work better for more people. But knowing where to start, who to collaborate with, or how to turn that feeling into something real and lasting can feel tough.
That’s what Citizen University’s Youth Collaboratory Fellowship is all about. The Fellowship is a six-month training program and power project incubator for high school sophomores and juniors.
It’s designed to help you understand how civic power flows, how you can harness it for good, and most importantly, how to work with others to make change happen.
The Youth Collaboratory Fellowship is a state-based program, and this year we’re starting with a cohort in Washington state. A group of 30 emerging civic catalysts from across the state will get grounded in the practical steps of building power in their communities. Citizen University will help you build the tools, language, and systems of support to move from “I care” to “I know what to do next.”
2026 Washington State Cohort: April-September
This is a community that is ready to hype you up, challenge you, and actually see you — a circle of young people who are ready to grow and circulate your power and put it to use for the good of the places you love.
Why students love Youth Collaboratory
- Travel to Seattle (twice) and experience something totally different from school
- Meet other teens from across Washington who actually care about their communities
- Build real friendships, not just “connections”
- Create a project that actually exists and matters
- Get mentored by adults who listen and take you seriously
- Stay connected long after the program ends
- Be yourself — quiet, creative, outspoken, unsure — all of it belongs here
Applications for the 2026 Washington State cohort are open Jan. 16 to Feb. 13, 2026. Questions? Reach out to Program Manager Davis Endava anytime.
“YC made me realize power isn’t some adult-only thing. It’s something we already have. I just needed a place to unlock it.”
What does it mean to be a Youth Collaboratory Fellow?
The Youth Collaboratory Fellowship is a six-month learning experience for high school sophomores and juniors who want to understand how power actually works in their school, in their town, in their community. This year, we’re looking for students who live in Washington State, and who are ready to practice using civic power with integrity and care.
Citizen University provides all Youth Collaboratory fellows with:
- A comprehensive curriculum designed to help you understand and unlock your passion and power
- Virtual and in-person connections with a community of peers from across the state
- Two in-person trainings in Seattle
- Support in developing and pitching a power project that works to strengthen the civic culture of your local community
- Six months of participation in Citizen University’s National Civic Collaboratory — a mutual aid society for civic innovators from across the country
- Mentorship from National Civic Collaboratory members, civic innovators working to strengthen democracy and civic culture through education, media, politics, tech, art, business and beyond.
- Coaching from CU staff members who will see you, listen to you, and help you grow as a civic catalyst.
The Youth Collaboratory Fellowship is fully supported by the generous contributions of our funders and is offered completely free to students. Citizen University covers lodging, meals, materials, coaching, and all program costs for both in person gatherings (Travel plans and costs will vary for each student, so we offer need-based travel stipends as well).
Youth Collaboratory Fellows commit to:
- Attend all virtual meetings
- Travel to attend both in-person training sessions in Seattle
- Design, plan, and launch a power project in their local community that aims to strengthen the civic culture of their place
It’s part learning, part fellowship, part “let’s actually try this.” No cost. No résumé. Just a cohort of young people who care about their community and will get the tools, support, and real-world practice to grow their power with purpose, even after graduating.
“What surprised me most is how the support doesn’t end when the program ends. A year later, I’m still connected, still learning, and still in conversation with CU mentors about the work I care about. That kind of long-term investment in young people is rare — and it changed everything for me.”
What’s the National Civic Collaboratory?
As part of the Youth Collaboratory Fellowship experience, Fellows participate in meetings and connections with Citizen University’s National Civic Collaboratory — a decade-long experiment in community-building and a vital network for civic innovators nationwide. For over a decade, leaders in the National Civic Collaboratory have built bonds of trust, circulated power and resources, and made lasting commitments to support one another’s work. Join us to tap into this well of resilience and leave feeling renewed by other civic practitioners pushing for transformative change.
The Collaboratory is not about advancing a single policy agenda or creating just another professional network. Its purpose is to cultivate a habit of reciprocal support that makes the civic ecosystem as a whole more vibrant, interconnected, and effective.
Youth Fellows join the National Civic Collaboratory as full participants. We know that realizing the change our nation needs most will require the faith, energy, and wisdom of youngers and olders creating together. This element of the Youth Collaboratory Fellowship experience invites catalysts across generations to practice building a shared future, side by side.
Six months with CU
2026 key program dates
April 16-17: In-person training in Seattle
Sept. 4-6: In-person training in Seattle
Spring: Gather in community
We kick off together in March with a virtual orientation and a few other opportunities to build community and learn together online. Then in April you’ll travel to meet for our first in-person gathering in Seattle. You’ll meet your cohort, connect with those from nearby and from places across the state, and start seeing your own power differently. You’ll also join for a National Civic Collaboratory meeting, circulating ideas and resources with civic innovators from across the country!
You’ll get hands-on practice understanding how power flows in public life– in your school, neighborhood, and beyond… and how to use it to support healthier communities for everyone.
We break it down in real language:
- What power actually IS
- Who has it
- How it moves and flows
- How you can move it too… and build new power where it hasn’t existed
This program is full of other students like you who care and are genuinely looking for where to start. You’ll build friendships, share meals, laugh too hard, have real conversations, and feel seen in ways school rarely offers.
“I loved the one-on-one conversations I had with everyone during the trip — especially the mentors.” – Maya, YC alum
Summer: build a Power Project
Your Power Project is the heartbeat of your Youth Collab experience. It’s where your ideas meet real community needs.
You’ll practice presence and observe your community deeply to start to notice how power is already flowing and shaping civic life. Then, you’ll use what you’ve learned to design an experiment that will strengthen civic culture right where you are. We’ll walk with you the whole way: brainstorming, shaping your idea, connecting you with resources, and helping you bring it to life.
And because CU is all about helping young people define what being a powerful, responsible citizen looks like for them, you’ll see quickly that there isn’t one “right way” to contribute.
Past students have:
• Hosted climate-action summits
• Created podcasts on identity, justice, and belonging
• Built voter education tools for their towns
• Partnered with city leaders to launch youth councils
• Designed veteran support networks
• Created mutual-aid networks and support hubs
Your project won’t look like anyone else’s — that’s the whole point. It starts with listening to your community and asking, What’s needed here, and how can I help?
Youth Collaboratory brings together teens from different backgrounds, political views, and lived experiences — and that diversity is a big part of how each project becomes successful! You’ll learn from each other. You’ll expand what you thought “citizenship” meant. You’ll realize you’re not too different, too quiet, too outspoken, or too anything to belong here.
Fall: reflect and celebrate
In September, we’ll reconnect in Seattle to share progress on our Power Projects and celebrate all the hard work and collaboration it took to get there!
“I learned things I never would’ve understood on my own — what gun violence really feels like for some people, what it’s like to grow up rural, what opportunities look like in different communities. YC brings together people with totally different lives, and that changes the way you see the world. It made me realize there isn’t one type of ‘civic kid.’ There’s room for all of us here.”
Why now? Why me?
Let’s be honest: America is charged right now – the future can feel uncertain, but also full of possibility.
There is no shortage of urgent topics that need real dedication and heart – the climate crisis, ongoing racial injustice, increasing political polarization, growing concerns about isolation, loneliness, and mental health — it might make your head spin just trying to figure out what you should care about, let alone how you can help. Fortunately, the Youth Collaboratory Fellowship experience is grounded in the current moment, and in ways that you can make a real difference right where you are. You’ll reflect with others on the compelling questions facing our society and communities right now. And, you’ll learn to see the ripple effects you’re capable of creating.
This program is for students who want to build power and circulate it for the good of their friends, families, and community members – now and into the future – but might feel unsure of how to do that, or how to make real, lasting change. You don’t need to have it all figured out, you just need to be ready to try.
We’ll connect you to a network of incredible change-makers and support you as you gain the skills and connections for a lifetime of civic power. Because YOU are the one who best understands the needs of the people closest to you. In the Youth Collaboratory Fellowship, you’ll learn how to be a civic catalyst: circulating power, sparking a culture of civic participation, and supporting a democracy that works for everyone.
If you’re ready to show up as your full self, collaborate on every level, and find out just how powerful you can truly be, this might be just what you’re looking for.
“The Youth Collab is about challenging yourself. When it’s broken down for you by Citizen University, a better future doesn’t seem so distant; it starts right here, right now, and it starts with us.”
Youth Collaboratory student Ciera Roseboro shares how claiming your power can come from helping others claim theirs.
Anishka Durvasula stepped up as a civic catalyst after noticing a lack of current events coverage at her high school.
Since she was young, Harmonie has been increasing her literacy in power and using it for good.
Ellie Friedman shares how she built power — and intergenerational relationships — as a member of the Youth Collaboratory.
