Youth Collaboratory
Equipping the next generation with the skills to build civic power and use it for good.
It’s easy to feel powerless — especially as a young person. In the Youth Collaboratory, high school students dive deep into how power works and how to harness it in order to support their community…
Spoiler alert: we believe everyone has way more power than they think. This program brings together passionate students from all across the country for six months of insights, connections, and practice — learning how to build civic power for good. You’ll travel to cities across the nation, meet leading civic innovators from all corners of the country, and use what you learn to develop a personal Power Project.
Applications for this program are now closed. Please reach out to Davis Endava ([email protected]) with any questions or join our email newsletter to learn about applications in 2025.
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.
About the Youth Collab experience
Each Youth Collaboratory cohort runs for six months. Over that time, your group of 24 peers will connect both in-person and virtually, and you’ll put your new skills to work in your hometown.
Travel and Gather
Two times during your Youth Collaboratory experience, you’ll visit cities across the country where you’ll spend time with your cohort and meet national civic leaders. We’ll cover all transportation, food, and lodging costs for the trip.
Learn to Read and Write Power
The basis of your learning will come from Eric Liu’s book, You’re More Powerful Than You Think. You’ll get to learn alongside Eric and others to explore how civic power is generated, the ways it flows, and the strategies you can use to harness it to make change happen in your community!
Turn Passion into Reality
To bring it all together, you’ll create a Power Project focused on strengthening civic culture at home. Whether that’s gathering people together, serving your community, or spreading ideas about citizenship, you’ll use your newfound knowledge to catalyze change.
Find Your People
Our favorite reason to join the Youth Collab? Joining a community of young people who care and want to step up their game. You’ll hype each other up, learn from each other’s experiences, commit to supporting each other's projects, and meet people who will be in your life forever.
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.
Practicing power
Your Power Project will be a central part of the Youth Collab experience — and you’ll get to focus on an issue you’re passionate about. We’ll support you in dreaming up and implementing a project unique to you, using the learnings, resources, and connections you’ve gained throughout your time in the Youth Collaboratory. Here are a few projects past students have completed:
Making your voice more powerful.
Naimo gathered her friends together around the mic to create a podcast about microaggressions and the impact they have on their everyday lives.
Creating in-roads in local government.
Feeling like youth voices were being left out, Marco collaborated with the Mayor and City Council in his town to create a Youth Council.
Reaching and empowering voters.
Wanting to strengthen democracy by increasing voter engagement, Micah launched a website to help people know more about local elections in his area.
Rallying with others.
Since she was a kid, Harmonie has cared deeply about taking action around climate change. Now she’s hosting climate summits reaching teens across the country.
Why now? Why me?
Let’s be honest: America is charged right now and it can often feel like a challenging place to grow up.
With hot topics ranging from the climate crisis and ongoing racial injustice to increasing political polarization and growing concerns about 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 experience is grounded in the current moment. You’ll grapple with 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 to their friends, families, and community members, but might feel unsure of how to do that, or how to make real, lasting change.
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, 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.
What CU has shown me is that you can make steps to do what you’d like to see in your community. What CU teaches us is that if you learn how to manifest power in a way you can use it, you can make it whatever your dreams are.
Since she was young, Harmonie has been increasing her literacy in power and using it for good.
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Eric Liu unpacks civic culture, responsibility, and the tenor of the times.
