Civics Unplugged In Person Fellowship Is a Success!

UpMobility Foundation is proud to announce the success of our partner organization Civic Unplugged’s first ever in-person fellowship at Georgetown University. Held in June, the fellowship featured 75 high school students from 41 states and Puerto Rico. The fellows included students who serve on their states boards of education, as well as developers of apps that protect the I.D. of minors online, and members of Google’s AI advisory group. Attendees met with leading figures in government, participated in workshops led by leading CEOS, attended briefings given by heads of executive departments, and forged lifetime friendships. Thanks in part to UpMobility Foundation’s support, the program was 100% tuition free.

Founded in 2019,  Civics Unplugged is a non-profit that empowers young leaders with the training, funding, and community they need to become civic innovators. Prior to support provided by organizations like UpMobility Foundation, Civics Unplugged was running its fellowship program virtually. While that iteration of the program has certainly made an impact—-in just under three years, Civics Unplugged has engaged 3,000 Fellows from all 50 States—having an in-person fellowship has taken Civic Unplugged’s mission to a new level. Among other opportunities, fellows had the chance to meet Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Congressman Maxwell Frost, and Senator Chris Murphy, who delivered talks based on the topics our fellows were researching over the course of the week. The fellows also attended briefings with deputy directors from the US Department of State, Treasury, Education and Transportation to discuss avenues for  innovation to help the American people. 

UpMobility Foundation views philanthropy as a way to catalyze lasting change, which is also the ethos drivingCivics Unplugged. In addition to providing invaluable memories to attendees, 16 teams of fellows pitched their innovative plans to help solve current challenges faced by the Departments of State, Treasury, Education and Transportation before a board of funders. We are excited to continue our relationship with Civics Unplugged, which in its short life as an organization has already moved over $250,000 to support their alumni’s projects and professional development, resulting in over 4,000,000 people being impacted by their work.