The Civvys
The Civvys

2020 Awards


NATIONAL WINNER – CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT

The Civic Responsibility Project brings the broader business community together in collaboration to support voter participation and civic engagement. Research shows that supporting democracy is good for business - and the Civic Responsibility Project helps brands create and implement civic responsibility programs that get their employees and consumers actively engaged in our democracy. Through their work, thousands of companies actively supported voting in the 2020 election, and other industries can take lessons from this coalition, service-based model.

LOCAL WINNER — SA2020

Throughout the year 2020, nearly 12,300 people in San Antonio reaffirmed and strengthened a shared vision originally created by nearly 6,000 people in 2010. Both processes were led by SA2020, the nonprofit organization responsible for driving progress toward San Antonio’s Community Vision through research, storytelling, and practice. This work includes measuring progress on more than 60 community indicators, telling stories that broaden perspectives and reshape narratives about San Antonio, and holding institutions accountable to leading change. SA2020’s work is a model for broad based community visioning and impact.

YOUTH WINNER – GREEN OUR PLANET

From its hub in Las Vegas, Green Our Planet has projects all over the U.S. and is making immediate impact as the largest "school garden" program. In a creative approach, they bring together STEM learning, hydroponics, school yards, and the business world of farmers' markets, to help young people connect with the Earth, their own skills and knowledge, and civic responsibility in communities. Across 10 states, 3500 teachers, thousands of students - Green Our Planet demonstrates impact, teaching self-reliance and hard work, entrepreneurship and climate science, and healthy living and eating. It's a holistic, engaging, real approach to getting young kids involved in community and civic life.

COMMITTEE CHOICE AWARD – PANDEMIC VOTING PROJECT

Missouri's impressive voter turnout in 2020 had the Pandemic Voting Project to thank, organized by the NAACP Missouri State Conference and Show Me Integrity. This truly cross-partisan initiative brought together Republicans and Democrats,  the public and private sector, as well as an initiative called DoctorsForDemocracy, that collaborated to help more people in Missouri vote safely. Together, they gave people more ways to vote absentee, supported election authorities, registered and educated voters, and launched new technology at MoVote.org that registered 16,000 voters with a 92% voting rate. 

COMMITTEE CHOICE AWARD — MARIA YUAN AND ISSUE VOTER

Issue Voter connects constituents to members of congress and uses technology to make peoples’ voices heard. Given the urgent need for an easy, clear understanding of issues, Issue Voter breaks down complicated policy and ballot measures and helps citizens to be more informed. Maria Yuan was also nominated for her work in streamlining data collection to better track and combat anti-Asian hate crimes. Her work in gathering, organizing and disseminating key data - on ballot issues and hate crimes alike - provides a replicable, scalable model that other civic collaborators might learn from. 

COMMITTEE CHOICE AWARD — DOSOMETHING.ORG

The pandemic, the election, and protests for racial justice all changed the way we live in 2020, but young people were especially affected, as school and major milestones were disrupted. DoSomething.org’s Our 2020 Vision campaign mobilized in response to give young people more of a say - with their vote. The "Our 2020 Vision" campaign registered 250,000 voters all online, and 37% of those were rural voters. DoSomething.org’s work focused on gathering broad stakeholders, serving immediate needs and making an impact.

 


 

2019 Awards

If you’re looking for the people who are making America work, who are answering the call to serve their nation and their neighbors through collaborative, creative efforts that inspire, unite and facilitate civic participation, look no further than the American Civic Collaboration Awards (“Civvys”) honorable mentions and finalists. These exemplar cases demonstrate the way forward to others around the country, and we are pleased to be sharing more of their stories here as the award ceremony approaches in October 2019 at the National Conference on Citizenship.

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NATIONAL WINNER:

ioby

ioby (which stands for "in our backyards") is the country's first and only civic crowdfunding platform, mobilizing neighbors who have good ideas to become powerful citizen leaders who plan, fund and make positive change in their own neighborhoods. An individual with an idea for improving their community goes to ioby to get training on fundraising and community organizing, then crowd funds it from within the community and works with local government officials and other decision-makers to execute it. This model is catching on - the organization has supported projects in more than 200 cities across the country, and counting.

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LOCAL WINNER:

RISE Colorado

Aurora, Colorado is one of the most diverse school districts in the country, with 143 languages spoken. Yet those most involved in the barriers to education, like immigrants and refugees, have been left out of the education reform conversation. RISE educates parents on the opportunity gap, empowers them with leadership development to become policy architects and decision makers, and works with them to engage and organize other parents and school officials. RISE Colorado has no agenda or angle it asks families to support. Parents are the decision makers, and they work together to find ways to support their children's academic achievement. They’ve also developed rubrics and materials for other communities to learn from.

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YOUTH WINNER: GenerationNation

GenerationNation brings together youth, local governments, and schools to develop young civic leaders and give them "a seat at the table". Through their partnerships and initiatives, like “Kids Voting,” nearly 1 million Charlotte-Mecklenburg students have built and applied civic knowledge and skills through GenerationNation programs since 1992. Students regularly interact with public ocials and civic leaders, engage in local government and civic dialogues, experience the election process, learn about and apply knowledge to solve community issues, meet and collaborate with youth from other schools and diverse backgrounds, participate in service-learning and educational seminars, and more.

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COMMITTEE CHOICE: Make Shift Coffee House

A 2017 and 2018 Civvys finalist, and again nominated in 2019, Make Shift Coffee House has mastered the art of bringing people together across divides — and the solution is simple. Throughout Maine, Make Shift Coffee House invites people to come together, face-to-face, for respectful conversation in a coffee-house setting. It’s not a debate. It’s not about persuading someone to change their mind. It’s about listening to people with different beliefs to understand why someone believes what they believe. Founder Craig Freshley has created a model that can be used by other locales to create civil dialogue and foster empathy.

COMMITTEE CHOICE: Kingmakers of Oakland

In 2009-2010, African American males in the Oakland School District were chronically absent, with high rates of suspensions and drop-outs. KingMakers of Oakland, a project of the Office of African American Male Achievement, took this problem on at the root- countering cultural perception and bias with a multifaceted approach that is now school-district-wide and provides a useful model for other communities facing complex challenges. Director Chris Chatmon and his colleagues courageously and creatively cultivated new forms of interactions, relationships, rituals, and practices between young Black men, educators, parents, unions, district staff, community members, and organizations.

Finalists, National

AllSides
American Democracy Project
Civic Tech Field Guide
The Participatory Budgeting Project
RepresentUs

Meet our 2019 National finalists:

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AllSides

AllSides is an online platform that seeks to free people from their political “filter bubbles,” by exposing people to information and ideas from all sides of the political spectrum by providing balanced news coverage, media bias ratings, civil dialogue opportunities. Tackling polarization is no easy feat, but AllSides has figured out a model that is scalable and growing, through embedding in school curriculum and by driving impressive traffic to their site, from thousands of Americans across the political spectrum.

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American Democracy Project

Since 2003, the American Democracy Project has collaborated across college campuses to prepare the next generation of informed, engaged citizens for our democracy. And they have reach — across 259 state colleges and universities serving 2.5 million undergraduate students across 46 states. Since its inception, ADP has organized more than 15 national and 18 regional meetings, a series of national initiatives, and hundreds of campus initiatives, including voter education and registration programs, curriculum revision projects, campus audits, special days of action, speaker series, and award programs.

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Civic Tech Field Guide

The Civic Tech Field Guide is a crowdsourced directory of tech-for-democracy projects, designed to promote collaboration, impact, and scalability. Funders and practitioners use it to reduce duplication of effort, by finding related (and often, open source) projects they can partner with or re-deploy. By categorizing related projects and conducting additional research about the field as a whole, the Guide is helping to productively grow the entire eld of civic technology. The collection currently includes approximately 22,000 data points about civic tech projects!

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Participatory Budgeting Project

The Participatory Budgeting Project supports neighborhoods, cities, schools, organizations, and public officials in using “participatory budgeting” (PB), a democratic process in which community members propose projects and vote on how a portion of the budget is spent. In 10 years, PBP has supported over 400,000 people in 29 cities to allocate $300 million for projects at schools, parks, playgrounds, and libraries – projects that build on local residents’ knowledge of their communities’ needs. Those who participate in PB learn how to work with government agencies to make positive change and go on to engage further in civic life.

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RepresentUs

RepresentUs is building a grassroots movement to battle corruption in the political system. They seek to unite iberals, conservatives, and everyone in between to mobilize Congress to action and solve corruption at the city and state level. With 60 new chapters and 13,000 new volunteers in the past year, these everyday Americans have created immense impact by helping RepresentUs win more than 100 anti-corruption ballot initiatives — from the introduction of ranked choice voting and anti-gerrymandering initiatives to transparency and campaign financing laws.

Finalists, Local

Common Good Atlanta
Draw the Lines PA
Indiana Humanities, “INseparable Initiative”
The Village Square
Your Voice Ohio Media Collaborative

Meet our 2019 Local finalists:



Common Good Atlanta

Through Common Good Atlanta, more than 70 volunteer professors from 9 Georgia colleges and universities collaborate with the Georgia Department of Corrections to offer accredited courses inside 4 Georgia prisons, 4 days a week, for the last 11 years. The program reaches across traditional divides that have separated our most educated citizens from our most vulnerable, in particular people from impoverished backgrounds, people of color, and people from at-risk school systems (all of whom are more likely to serve time in prison). The incarcerated students say and write repeatedly that going to college in prison helped them "feel human again."

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Draw the Lines PA

Election redistricting can be a complex and highly partisan topic, which is where Draw the Lines PA steps in. Building toward 2021, when Pennsylvania will redraw its voting maps, DTL gives anyone a chance to create a web-based map and make choices along the way that may impact voter turnout, representation or power. They also hold 2 contests a year, granting over $70K to mappers ranging in age from freshmen in high school to senior citizens who demonstrate creative solutions or extensive community engagement. And, they have many ways to get involved from merely learning about redistricting to going to the state capital to engage representatives on reform.

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INSeparable Initiative (Indiana Humanities)

Indiana Humanities is taking their role as successful “conveners” of people coming together to think, read and talk, and applying it to the civic sphere. The INseparable Initiative invites Hoosiers to explore how we relate to each other across boundaries, real or imagined, and consider what it will take to indeed be inseparable, in all the ways that matter. Over two years, they are creating and sponsoring a variety of programs and communications exploring the ways the pasts and futures of urban, rural and suburban Hoosiers are linked, as well as what might be preventing us from working together.

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The Village Square

The Village Square excels in bringing inspired collaborations together in community, giving Tallahassee a rich tapestry of civil dialogue events and addressing community issues together. Programs like the interfaith “God Squad,” “Local Color” frank conversations on race, or “Speed Date Your Local Leader” (self explanatory!) have prepared the city well to tackle future divisive or difficult issues. The Village Square is a model for other communities around the U.S. to boldly bring opposing groups together, utilize the community strengths they have to build “civic muscle,” and invest in their hometown.

Your Voice Ohio Media Collaborative

50 newsrooms in Ohio have committed to a groundbreaking new way to do journalism: work in collaboration, not competition; share data, tips and stories; and fully engage the public in the reporting process, holding community conversations and embedding members of the public in their work. Through Your Voice Ohio, Ohioans have seen improved coverage of issues like addiction, economic vibrancy, local elections, and racial equity, meeting an underserved need and changing the ecosystem for journalists doing this work.

Finalists, Youth

Andrew Lardie, Bowdoin Votes
Texas Civic Ambassadors Program, The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life
MOVE Texas

Meet our 2019 Youth Finalists:

 
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Andrew Lardie and Bowdoin Votes

Andrew Lardie, associate director for service and leadership at Bowdoin, goes above and beyond through Bowdoin Votes to ensure that no opportunity is missed to provide civic education, register young people to vote and demystify the governing and election process. Some of his big ideas include empowering any campus club or team to bring voter registration and absentee ballots to their group and lobbying all of the NESCAC athletic conference to commit to supporting civic learning and democratic engagement in 2020. In his spare time he has also worked with the local League of Women Voters in support of a bill to improve access to the ballot for young and disabled voters. Sharing what he’s learned, and learning from others, is a model of collaboration that has been key to his success.

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MOVE Texas

MOVE Texas — for Mobilize. Organize. Vote. Empower. — builds power in underrepresented youth communities through civic education, leadership development, and issue-based work. Since 2013, their work has been scaled from one city and one campus to impact young people across six metro areas, 35 campuses, and the respective neighboring communities. To date, that work has empowered over 65,000 young people to vote, while increasing access to voting information and helping shape the next generation of civic leaders.

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Texas Civic Ambassadors Program

The Texas Civic Ambassadors Program (TCA) by the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life gives 30 college students the chance to spend a year developing civic knowledge and leadership skills. But in addition to helping develop the next generation of civic leaders, the project also has impact at the local level; each participant must identify a project they plan to lead in their hometown or campus during the year, and execute it. TCA does specific outreach to “civic deserts” in the state, and provides a model to other states looking to support college-age leaders as well as improve communities.

Honorable Mentions

Links and additional details coming soon

Local Category
Allison Fisher, Globe Collection and Press at MICA
Alternative Break 2019 (Tevin Monroe, Margaux Crider)
April Nicklaus, NJPIRG Students
Asheville Poverty Initiative Collaboration (Dr. Lucy Lawrence of Warren Wilson College & Rev. Shannon Spencer of Asheville Poverty Initiative)
Ashley Hanson, PlaceBase Productions and the Department of Public Transformation
Barry Klein, Citizen lawmaking at the local level 
Citizen Advocacy Center (Theresa Amato, Esq. (Founder) and Myrrha Guzman, Esq.)
Colette Pichon Battle, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy
Committee for a Better New Orleans, “The People's Budget”
Common Cause New York, “RCV:NYC” 
Craig Freshley, Make Shift Coffee House
Illinois Public Media's Democracy Series
James Madison University and Virginia Commonwealth University, Debate Across the Curriculum
Link Centre, Tupelo, MS, and the Tupelo Public School District, “The Story of Us: Increasing Access to AP Classes “
Ms. Joan Johnson, Tarrant County College
My Meadville
PBS39 and United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, “Lehigh Valley Reads”
University of Delaware Center for Political Communication, “National Agenda Series”
University of Texas Permian Basin Honors Program (Christopher John Stanley, Dr. Robert Perry, Representative Brooks Landgraf)
Zöe Williamson, Geaux Vote LSU

Youth Category
Dr. Randell Trammell and the Georgia Center for Civic Engagement 
Engage Miami
Madison Shea Lamanna & The Eagle Endowment
Mariama Lockington and Olivia McCuskey, Inspire U.S. 
Mismatch (Clara Nevins and Kristen Hansen)
Opportunity Youth United, “Expanding the Electorate: Improving Voter Access”
The "Can We?" Project (Deborah Bicknell, Lydia Maier, Lowell Libby)

National Category
Audrey Henson, College to Congress
Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
Civity (Palma Strand, Malka Kopell, Reba Hsu, Gina Baleria)
David Domke and the Common Purpose Leadership Team, “Common Purpose Now”
Dr. Lewena Bayer, Civility Experts Worldwide, Inc.
Emgage, “Emgage in a Box”
ENACT: The Educational Network (David Weinstein)
Free Trip to Egypt  #pledgetolisten campaign (Tarek Mounib)
Future Hindsight (Mila Atmos)
GovEx at Johns Hopkins University (Beth Blauer)
Jamie Joyce, Great American Debate
John Kerry, Condoleezza Rice & Common Ground Committee
Kettering Foundation "Initiatives for Democratic Practice" Program (Alice Diebel and Joni Doherty)
Leslie Danks Burke, Trailblazers PAC
Maria Yuan, Issue Voter
National Issues Forum Institute
Serena DiMaso, New Jersey Legislator
Sophie Beren, TableTalk
Student Governmental Affairs Program (SGAP)
The Flip Side (Annafi Wahed, Jihan Varisco)
The Maintainers (Jessica Meyerson, Andrew Russell, and Lee Vinsel)
The Pledge Podcast (Allison Hausman)
The Reflect Organization (Jared Fenton)
U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, District Director Study Tour Program

2019 Review Committee

We are pleased to have on board with us this year a committee of distinguished reviewers, including several who have served as Civvys judges for multiple years. We are also pleased to welcome some 2018 winners to the review committee. We are grateful for the involvement of this dedicated group, and the Civvys would truly not be possible without them lending their time and talents.

 
 
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Peter Levine | Associate Dean for Research, Tufts University (2017, 2018 Review Committee)

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Kayla Demonte | Managing Director, Citizen University

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Nancy Rose, Chief Operating Officer at EducationNC and FirstVote (2018 Winner, Youth)

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Betsy Wright Hawkings | Program Director, Governance, Democracy Fund (2017, 2018 Review Committee)

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Lisa Matthews | Program Director, National Conference on Citizenship

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Louise Dubé | Executive Director, iCivics (2018 Winner, National)

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John Richter | Senior Advisor, Bipartisan Policy Center (2018 Review Committee)

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Sterling Speirn | Chief Executive Officer, National Conference on Citizenship

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Martin Carcasson | Director, CSU Center for Public Deliberation (2018 Winner, Local)

 

Celebrating 2018 Civvys Winners

October 18, 2018

On October 18, 2018 at the National Conference in Citizenship in Washington, D.C., six inspiring initiatives were honored as winners of the 2018 American Civic Collaboration awards.

The six winners and 23 finalists represent outstanding examples of collaborative work that elevate democracy and civic engagement, at every level of American life. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, these organizations are working hard to build a better future, and inspire others to do the same.


Meet the 2018 winners in each category:

NATIONAL WINNER: iCivics

iCivics is a leader in the field of civic education, paving the way for students to learn about their nation through innovative curriculum that includes games, digital interactives, surveys and teacher resources. More than 200,000 teachers use iCivics games and resources to educate and engage 5 million K-12 students in all 50 states, and the organization is committed to doubling its reach by the year 2020. In the words of Civvys judge and 2017 National Winner Jody Thomas, “This organization hits all the right notes and they have the metrics to back it up.”

LOCAL WINNER – TIE: Interfaith Works NY El Hindi Center for Dialogue; Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation

The El-Hindi Center for Dialogue at Interfaith Works in Central New York was nominated for their outstanding work in a variety of programs, most notably an initiative bridging the gap in understanding between the Syracuse Police Department and the local community. Their immediate and lasting impact presents a model for other communities to follow. Civvys judge Michele Holt-Shannon, who was also a 2017 Local winner, pointed out “the use of multiracial, multilingual facilitators expands the impact of the dialogues.”  


As a pioneering model adopted by other universities, the Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation operates under the belief that universities play a key role in not just providing quality information or training informed citizens, but in elevating the quality of communication in their communities. They provide forums for citizen engagement, connection and empowerment – improving outcomes for the students involved, the local community, the faculty bringing together theory and practice, and the university as a convener.


YOUTH WINNER: FIRST VOTE NC

First Vote NC believes that if students have an opportunity to practice voting, it will become a habit. They have built a track record of success with their virtual voting platform and civics lessons, which provide education, information, and room for engagement, while de-emphasizing the right versus wrong nature of today’s politics in favor of understanding how perspectives differ because of a myriad of factors. Through a mobilized network of teachers using the platform, the work of First Vote has reached over 40,000 students in 46 counties.

POLITICAL WINNER: MAINE RANK CHOICE VOTING EDUCATION EFFORT

This year, the Chamberlain Project Foundation and the Foundation for Independent Voter Education launched a joint effort in Maine to make sure voters were comfortable and aware of ranked choice voting, which helps broaden candidate pools beyond two parties, increase voter turnout and give more power to each vote. Their work created a transformational change in the way the state of Maine elects its leaders, what Civvys judge David Sawyer called “a game changer for the nation, breaking the polarization paradigm.” Two other judges called this work “an essential experiment” in the “laboratory of democracy.”

COMMITTEE CHOICE AWARD: MONTEVALLO JUNIOR CITY COUNCIL

In 2012, eight middle-schoolers in a small, rural Alabama community approached their mayor to start the first-ever Junior City Council in their town. Through the work of these young people, they established themselves as a political body, and their president sits on the dais at all City Council Meetings to represent the youth voice. The JCC hosts deliberative forums, developed a merchant discount card for teens and convened a mayoral debate, among other activities. Their nomination, submitted by an adult, noted, “In the decade I have worked in civic engagement, I have never seen a group of young people be given as much real power to make positive change in their community.”

 
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2018 Finalists

The 23 finalists for the 2018 Civvys showcase exemplar cases of high-impact civic collaboration that bring people together, engage communities in political and social action, and enact long-lasting change. Please join us in congratulating these finalists in each category:

Political
Cases of collaborative political leadership, campaigns, or reformed political processes

National
Projects with a nationwide scope and audience

Local
Projects with a local, statewide or regional focus

Youth
Projects led by or for children, teenagers or young adults

Honorable Mentions

We are delighted to award an Honorable Mention to projects that use collaborative action to make measurable impacts in civic and political life:

 

2018 Review Committee

We were pleased to have a committee of distinguished reviewers, including three of our judges from 2017. Three of our 2017 award winners also signed on to serve as judges. Our 2018 review committee included:

 
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Betsy Wright Hawkings | Program Director, Governance, Democracy Fund (2017 Review Committee)

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Amy Lee | Program Officer, Kettering Foundation

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David Ehrlichman | Partner, Converge

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Peter Levine | Associate Dean for Research, Tufts University (2017 Review Committee)

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Lisa Matthews | Program Director, National Conference on Citizenship

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Jody Thomas | Executive Director, National Foundation for Women Legislators (2017 Winner, National)

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Bruce Mallory | Co-Director, New Hampshire Listens (2017 Winner, Local)

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David Sawyer | Partner, Converge

(2017 Review Committee)

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Dan Xie | Political Director, Student PIRGs (2017 Winner, Youth)

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Peter Weichlein | CEO, U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress (2017 Finalist, National)

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Brenna Kehew Sculley | Director of Policy and External Relations, National Foundation for Women Legislators

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John Richter | Senior Advisor, Bipartisan Policy Center

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Sterling Speirn | Chief Executive Officer, National Conference on Citizenship

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Michele Holt-Shannon | Co-Director, New Hampshire Listens (2017 Winner, Local)

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Meet the Winners

We honored awardees in a ceremony at the National Conference on Citizenship in Washington, DC in October 2017.

And the 2017 Civvy Award goes to:

 
 
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Youth Winner: Student PIRGs

The Student Public Interest Research Groups from several college campuses were nominated for their work supporting voter education, voter registration and creating safe spaces for dialogue between students with diverse perspectives. Student PIRGs promote learning and understanding about a host of current issues, while providing a forum for students to become politically active and effective. As one elected official put it, “the work PIRGs do is vitally important in a democracy and serves as such a great role model as a set of engaged citizens so necessary to building effective public policy.”

Regional Winner: New Hampshire Listens

New Hampshire Listens is thewinner in the regional category for their work facilitating civil conversation in the state of New Hampshire on controversial public challenges. They also train others to facilitate such productive dialogues. Bruce Mallory and Michele Holt-Shannon have developed programs to elevate the state’s problem-solving capabilities, modeling a respectful and inclusive approach that many hope will be replicated nationwide. As the person who nominated them put it, “People feel relieved and respected when Bruce and Michele enter the room.”

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National Winner: Collaboration between SLLF, NICD, and NFWL.

The partnership between the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, the National Institute for Civil Discourse and the National Foundation for Women Legislators has resulted in a new leadership program designed to deliver insight, inspiration and techniques to legislative leaders working to improve public policy discussion in their states. With NICD’s expertise in training community leaders and legislatures, SLLF’s success in providing state legislators with nonpartisan information and a forum for discussion, and NFWL’s work in empowering leaders, this partnership aims to replace gridlock with progress and criticism with compassion. In the words of their nominator, “since many of our federal leaders begIn their political service in state legislatures, success in this program will eventually improve our federal government.”

Thank you to all those who submitted nominations and helped take part in recognizing organizations doing great collaborative work

Here is to another year of innovation and collaboration!

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Congratulations To All the Nominees

The 2017 Civvys received over 50 inspiring nominations from across America, of organizations and people working actively to fight partisan rancor and ideological division. Nominations highlighted youth-led initiatives, community efforts, and professional initiatives from every corner of the country, all working to unite and improve America.

Nominees and finalists have been notified.

The Finalists

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Amy Curran | Generation Citizen 

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Sam Novey

 

Honorable Mentions

  • Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact- 92nd Street Y
  • Tim Cook- Apple Inc. 
  • Emily Schoephoerster- Westbrook-Walnut Grove
  • Beth Lewis- Save Our Schools Arizona
  • Sheila Sydnor- The Penn Alexander School
  • Lewena Bayer- Civility Experts Worldwide 
  • Erin McIlraith- WSU Center for Civic Engagement
  • Senator Diane Allen- NJ State Senate
  • Betsy Newmark- Raleigh Charter High School
  • Common Good
  • William Jackson and Quinton McGirt- The Justice Project
  • Jeff Girvan, Delegate Richard Anderson- Virginia House of Delegates
  • Junior State of America
  • Hunter Buxton- First Vote NC
  • Maria Hadden- Participatory Budgeting Project
  • Cindy Elias, Jan Phillips, Kathy Leighton- Green Dot Lewiston Auburn
  • No Labels
  • Jeff Clements- American Promise
  • Representative Helene Keeley- Delaware State Legislature
  • Curtis Miller- Connect Battle Ground
  • Amy Koch, Brian McDaniel, Javier Morillo, Carin Mrotz- Wrong about Everything Podcast

  • Dr. Clyde Rivers

Be sure to follow Big Tent Nation and Bridge Alliance on social media, where we will share more details about the winners and their work, as well as updates from the awards ceremony.

While nominations for this year have closed, please check back next year for ways to get involved with the Civvys!

Review Committee

Thanks to our esteemed reviewers for the inaugural Civvys - we couldn’t have done it without you.

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Peter Levine

Peter Levine is the Associate Dean for Research and Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs in Tufts University’s Jonathan Tisch College of Civic Life. He has secondary appointments in the Tufts Philosophy Department, the Tufts Political Science Department, and the Tufts Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. He was the founding deputy director (2001-6) and then the second director (2006-15) of Tisch College’s CIRCLE, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, which he continues to oversee as an associate dean.

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Betsy Hawkins

Betsy Wright Hawkins is the Director of the Governance Program at the Democracy Fund, a bipartisan foundation working to ensure that our political system is able to withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people. Focusing on principled leadership and effective governance, Betsy leads the Democracy Fund’s mission to invest in approaches that help our elected leaders deliberate, negotiate, and serve the American people. 

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David Sawyer

David Sawyer is Partner of Converge, a team of strategists and designers who partner with others to tackle complex social and environmental problems. He is also President of Context, a consulting firm with practice areas in strategy, leadership, and culture.

Sawyer is a strategy guy for a better world, specializing in networks, design, and systems thinking. He is active across all sectors and has played key roles in a variety of fields: education reform, national service, social entrepreneurship, women & girls, venture philanthropy, and environmental preservation.