Our Story
Our Past
The idea for Generation Citizen is based on a thesis on civic engagement conducted by Elizabeth Milligan (Lake Forest College '08). Generation Citizen was founded in 2008 by then-Brown undergraduates Scott Warren and Anna Ninan, both of whom had been involved in activism from a young age. Scott, a leader in the student movement for Darfur and former Executive Director of STAND, a student anti-genocide constituency, was concerned with access in youth political activism. Anna, a global health advocate with experience in Ethiopia, India, and Ecuador, found herself increasingly focused on community organizing for social change. Reflecting on their own political and social justice work, they designed Generation Citizen to teach students lessons on social change and political engagement that they wish they had known when they were in high school.
Our Future
Generation Citizen’s first year demonstrated the program’s potential to revolutionize the way that youth engage in their communities and the political system. In addition to our program in Providence, Generation Citizen will be working with the Boston school system beginning in Fall 2009. Over the next year, Generation Citizen will be looking to institutionalize a replicable system through which the youth of many American cities can jumpstart a future rich in political engagement and community involvement. Long-term plans involve creating an advocacy arm of the organization, and lobbying elected officials to make civic education for low-income youth a policy priority.