National Issues Forums Competitors

Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally. Founded in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The official flagship Harvard social media channels are maintained by Harvard Public Affairs and Communications and aim to provide access to the people, places, events, news and research at our Institution. We ask that all visitors to Harvard’s digital spaces be civil to one another and to the site editors. Personal attacks, profanity, commercial solicitations, spam, misinformation or other inappropriate contributions are grounds for comment removal. We ask that you stay on topic when contributing to a discussion and refrain from duplicate posts. Hateful or discriminatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs will not be tolerated. The page administrators reserve the right to delete inappropriate or abusive comments and to permanently ban or block users from the Harvard social media accounts.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. Because democracy demands wisdom, NEH serves and strengthens our republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Endowment accomplishes this mission by awarding grants for top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers.

Civics Unplugged ("CU") is a 501(c)(3) shaping young leaders to build the future they want and deserve. Our programs prepare young leaders to design civic innovations—new ideas and technologies that solve community and civic problems. More than 6,000 high school students are now a part of a tight-knit CU community that transcends differences. The Fellows connect across political, geographic, racial, and socioeconomic lines, united by their commitment to leading with integrity and innovation. These young leaders will be our future founders, legislators, judges, journalists, and teachers, all collaborating to set up a brighter future for us all. The current education system is failing to prepare our country’s next generation to create a brighter future. In schools, we fail to help students be creative or develop entrepreneurial skills. As they grow up, we discourage them from pursuing their passions or taking on meaningful social impact work. Worst of all – we’ve created an environment where young people everywhere feel disconnected from their peers, their voice, and any form of civic agency. We believe the loneliness crisis Gen Zers face spurs directly from the lack of opportunities to do fulfilling civic work in communities across the country – and creates one of the biggest threats to our democracy we’ve ever faced. That’s why we built Civics Unplugged.