AmericanFuture.US http://AmericanFuture.us 

AmericanFuture.US research begins by asking everyday Americans about their individual future preferences to aggregate common themes. The common themes offer a solid foundation that allows for resonant, shared future narratives to bloom through artists and storytellers. Community and city planners can be informed about what community members want, improving community planning decisions. The design includes many additional layers to support positive future visioning that is backed by neuroscience.

Amplifier https://amplifier.org/ 

Amplifier is a nonprofit media lab building campaigns to amplify the most important movements of our time - by any medium necessary. Our experiments are built on a foundation of free and open source art, the unlimited possibilities within a human centered design process, and the potentials when analog and digital technology merge. Together with our social change partners in both the for profit and nonprofit worlds, we build media campaigns that shift culture and change the national narrative. We do this work with the goal of reclaiming an American identity rooted in equality, dignity, diversity, truth, and beauty. We believe that each piece of art we create and distribute with our partners can be a compass that leads us away from the chaos and negativity of this polarizing time. 

Arizona State University Center for Science and the Imagination https://csi.asu.edu/ 

At the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, we create inspiring, inclusive, technically grounded visions of the future by bringing together artists, authors, and educators with scientists, technologists, policy thinkers, and community members. We publish collections of science fiction, nonfiction, and art; lead informal and formal education initiatives; host public events and forums and create podcasts and videos about science fiction, media arts, and possible futures; conduct interdisciplinary research about collaboration and imagination, and more.

Our projects have been supported by NASA, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Intel Corporation, Google, the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities, Ingka Group, the Spencer Foundation, and the World Bank. We have collaborated with organizations including the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Slate magazine, New America, Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology, the MIT Press, CoFUTURES at the University of Oslo, Creative Nonfiction magazine, the National Informal STEM Education Network, the ClimateWorks Foundation, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Athletes Unlimited https://auprosports.com/

Athletes Unlimited is a network of women’s professional sports leagues with a civic leadership mission.  We develop our athletes as civic leaders and elevate them as role models for the next generation of athletes and fans. We recognize that the qualities that lead to excellence on the field are the same qualities that create strong civic leaders and participants in civic life.

Citizen Film: American Creed https://citizenfilm.org/project/american-creed-pbs/ 

Citizen Film collaborates with cultural and civic institutions to create documentary media that fosters active citizenship. Our films and place-based multimedia installations engage audiences in civic spaces—from public media platforms to public plazas, libraries and schools.

One such project, American Creed, invites audiences to embrace the ideals and practice of democratic self-government. The upcoming PBS series explores what young leaders see as the greatest challenges and opportunities for their communities and our democracy. Dialogue with democracy scholars David M. Kennedy and Condoleezza Rice contextualizes a range of perspectives. Prior to the series launch, a photo-essay challenge engages students around the country.

Citizen University https://citizenuniversity.us/ 

At Citizen University, our mission is to build a culture of powerful, responsible citizenship throughout the United States. We work with civic catalysts around the country — groups, organizations, institutions, and individual people — who recognize, care about, and feel spurred to take action on this same challenge. Catalysts are the ones on the ground who seek to create pathways for people to learn and participate as citizens, in ways that support and are responsive to the needs of their own place. Whether that's high school sophomores who believe that a more equitable future is possible or faith leaders looking to bring civic commitment ceremonies to their congregation, we equip and support civic catalysts to strengthen civic skills, habits, relationships, narratives, and values in communities throughout America. We offer distinct Programs to help them become more equipped for this work of inviting other people in their places to feel, understand, and “do” citizenship differently. 

To sustain this activity, we facilitate a supportive Community network that provides opportunities for deep connection and collaboration, fosters ongoing learning and circulation of ideas, and supports catalysts in feeling a part of a bigger movement of civic culture building.

Civics Unplugged https://www.civicsunplugged.org/ 

Civics Unplugged is a 501c3 non-profit whose mission is to empower future leaders with the training, funding, and community they need to become civic innovators. We do this through running intensive leadership programs for high school students across the country, and providing graduates with funding and support to launch initiatives that strengthen democracy. 

Democracy Funders Network https://www.democracyfundersnetwork.org/betterfutures

Democracy Funders Network is a cross-ideological learning and action community for donors concerned about the health of American democracy. It has a number of projects, including the Better Futures Project, which focuses on what the future of American democracy could look like and which published the Imagining Better Futures for American Democracy report in November 2022.

Uncertainty, rapid change, looming crises, and pervasive dystopian narratives can make it difficult to paint a picture of the futures we are building towards. It can be a struggle simply not to give up, sit on the sidelines or pass the buck to others. Against this backdrop, the Better Futures Project seeks to accelerate aspirational, future-focused momentum among a broad swath of pro-democracy actors. We use publications elevating the many bright spots and efforts of positive disruptors that already exist (e.g. the Imagining Better Futures for American Democracy report https://www.democracyfundersnetwork.org/resources/betterfuturesreport), thought leadership, and network weaving to forge tighter connections among democracy practitioners, donors, futurists, and foresight experts and increase the energy around imagining and realizing positive futures. 

Design For America https://www.designforamerica.org/

The world needs more - and more daring - problem-solvers. How can we nurture the next generation of social innovators while creating meaningful community impact?Design For America (DFA) is a student-centered innovation network partnering with and within communities to address real-world challenges. Through DFA's award-winning design thinking process, interdisciplinary teams practice systems thinking, collaboration, research, and prototyping to solve problems that matter to them and their communities.

d.school Designer’s Guide Books https://dschool.stanford.edu/books-plp_guides

Delightful, compact paperbacks filled with mindsets to help you think like a designer and methods to give you the tools to navigate the ambiguous, sticky challenges you face.

d.school Designing for Democracy: Elections

Elections don’t just happen.  They are designed and administered by over 10,000 local election offices across the U.S. This exhibit highlights many of the design decisions that elections officials make in the months before an election. It outlines some compelling design questions that welcome more engagement and involvement from those looking to support effective elections. We want to celebrate election officials, not only as the logistical experts that they are, but also as invisible designers who strive tirelessly to improve the way they administer elections, all the while overcoming new and increasingly complex hurdles and constraints.

d.school Futures Library https://dschool.stanford.edu/dschool-futures-series

The d.school’s K12 Futures Library helps educators, administrators, and learners approach the future with grounded hope, principled resilience, and embodied confidence. We offer practical guides and immersive experiences for all students to become dreamers, shapers and builders of better futures. 

Gen-Z for Change https://genzforchange.org/ 

Gen-Z For Change is a nonprofit coalition that leverages the power of social media to educate our generation, encourage mobilize civic participation, shift the debate, and enact progressive change. We have direct, trusted relationships with Gen-Z content creators and have a front-row seat to the misinformation and disinformation pumped into social media platforms.

Our creator coalition includes over 500 social media creators, influencers, and advocates with a combined following of half of a billion. Since our launch in 2020, we have become the dominant force targeted toward young people for online organizing. With over 1.7+ million

followers on our social media platforms and 153+ million views, we know that our content is reaching the widest audience possible AND driving young people to take action around a wide range of issues, including reproductive justice, climate change, labor organizing, racial justice, Palestinian liberation, and more.   

Interfaith America https://www.interfaithamerica.org/resources/faith-in-elections/ 

We are a national civic nonprofit founded in 2002 focused on bridge building across faith traditions to promote pluralism. We serve a variety of sectors but work heavily with higher education - campus leadership, faculty, and students. We also work with faith leaders to inspire collaboration, like our latest project in partnership with Protect Democracy.

Interfaith America and Protect Democracy have teamed up to launch the Faith in Elections Playbook, a robust digital resource full of nonpartisan election engagement strategies that support faith-communities in their civic engagement efforts to ensure safe, fair, and free elections in 2024. Our purpose is to equip organizations to take actions that best align with their interests and the needs of their communities as well as supporting the tremendous work leaders are already doing to promote a healthy democracy. Interfaith America is giving out $15,000 grants to national and statewide faith-based and civic organizations and $1,000 microgrants to local civic and religious orgs (e.g. synagogues, churches, mosques, faith-based nonprofits etc.) to deploy the strategies featured in the Playbook. 

Made By Us https://historymadebyus.org/ 

Made By Us brings history to younger generations in innovative and meaningful ways so they have more fuel to power the future. Our network represents hundreds of history museums stepping up to serve as civic hubs for young adults. We pool our knowledge, stories and efforts to meet younger generations where they are with timely, relevant information from credible sources. We're gearing up for the United States' 250th anniversary in 2026 by building YOUTH250, a dynamic, Gen Z-led engine to prioritize next-gen needs and input, so that this commemoration isn't just about the past, but serves as a springboard to our future. 

Pizza to the Polls https://polls.pizza/ 

Pizza to the Polls' (PttP) mission is to deliver free food to people who are participating in civic life, from long lines at polling places to nonpartisan events focused on voter education, registration, and turnout. Since 2016, we have delivered 85k+ pizzas and 1m+ snacks to 4k+ polling locations across 49 states. PttP operates the Food Truck and On Demand programs to execute the mission, and to bring joy to the democratic process!

School of International Futures https://soif.org.uk/igf/ 

The School of International Futures (SOIF) works with next-generation leaders, institutions, and decision makers to envision and create transformative futures that better serve the needs of current and future generations.

Launched in 2018 by SOIF, the Next Generation Foresight Practitioners (NGFP) is a network of more than 600 people from all over the world who are using futures and foresight to create positive impact and systemic transformation globally. 

Sesame Workshop: Together We Can Learn https://sesameworkshop.org/

How can beloved characters come together to help children grow smarter, stronger, and kinder citizens? TOGETHER WE CAN is a new live-action video music series created and produced by Sesame Workshop, focused on civics topics such as what it means to be a member of a community, the importance of rules and rights, and broader civics engagement concepts.  TOGETHER WE CAN will premiere its first episode on July 3.

Stanford Deliberative Democracy Lab https://deliberation.stanford.edu/ 

The Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University (DDL) is devoted to research about democracy and public opinion obtained through Deliberative Polling® and related democratic processes. The method of Deliberative Polling® has been used over 150 times in 50+ countries and jurisdictions around the world, at varying levels of government and society. To learn more about the DDL, visit: deliberation.stanford.edu.

To better understand individuals and the issues that matter to them, the DDL hosts events such as America in One Room. America in One Room (A1R) was a historic gathering of over 500 American voters who participated in a nonpartisan discussion about major issues in the 2020 presidential election. The participants—our citizen-delegates—were carefully selected to form an accurate, representative sample of the entire American electorate in all its political, cultural, and demographic diversity.

Over the course of the event, the delegates learned about the issues; deliberated amongst themselves in a thoughtful, civil, and substantive fashion; and had town-hall discussions directly with presidential candidates. Their views on the issues and the relative merits of the candidates were documented and shared with the public, candidates, and policymakers, giving a clearer, more balanced, and more informed idea of the political landscape heading into the election.

Through this event and hundreds more in over 50 countries, our Lab aims to move towards a more deliberative society.

Stanford Democracy Day https://www.democracydaystanford.org/ 

Democracy Day is Stanford's annual Election Day academic holiday focused on encouraging civic engagement, healthy dialogue, community-building, and reflection on the role of public service across campus. Our executive student team establishes partnerships across campus to host educational and engaging programming for students, staff, and faculty. Some key recurring events are the Public Service Career Mixer, Dine and Dialogue (between professors and students), Keynote Speaker (Andrew Yang in 2022), and Rock the Vote concert.

The Team http://www.theteam.org/ 

The Team is a nonpartisan organization that creates award-winning programming focused on integrating civic engagement into college athletics. We offer a pathway for every athlete, coach, and administrator to become more engaged citizens. At The Team, we bring our mission to life by hosting high impact civic events, inspiring coaches across the nation to sign our civic engagement pledge, and creating transformative civic programs with athletes in mind every step of the way.  

Urban Libraries Council https://www.urbanlibraries.org/ 

The Urban Libraries Council (ULC) is an innovation and action tank of North America’s leading public library systems. We drive cutting-edge research and strategic partnerships to elevate the power of libraries as essential, transformative institutions for the 21st century. With robust resources and opportunities for peer learning, ULC uplifts member libraries' efforts to fight misinformation and disinformation, encourage an active citizenry where all are engaged in creating an equitable and just society, and ensure community members free and open access to information. We identify significant challenges facing today’s communities and develop new tools and techniques to help libraries achieve stronger outcomes in education, workforce and economic development, digital equity and race and social equity.

Warm Cookies of the Revolution:  https://www.warmcookiesoftherevolution.org/ 

We're a Civic Health Club that works with regular people: working class, urban/suburban/rural folks, young people, Black and Brown folks, immigrants, and refugees. Our residents and artists use their moral and radical imaginations to create Civic Power, and lead with joy in the creation of badass creative programming that people actually want to take part in!

YVote/Next Generation Politics https://yvoteny.org/about/ 

YVote is a New York City-based nonprofit that equips youth with the skills and knowledge needed to individually and collectively create positive change in their communities—at and beyond the ballot box. It was co-founded in 2017 by young people from dozens of NYC public high schools to address what they saw as one of the biggest barriers to youth involvement in electoral politics and civic spaces—a lack of knowledge and commitment as to “why vote?” and a need to put the “Y” (youth) into voting. Together, we are working towards a city and country where every young person, especially those from historically marginalized communities, is an informed, civically engaged change-maker invested in shaping a more just world. 

One of our newest programs is Democracy Camp, a week-long experiential summer learning intensive leading to a lifelong commitment to democracy through engaging in a year-long Democracy Project through which young people explore how the macro issues of democracy manifest in micro-levels in their schools and classrooms. Democracy Camp engages young people in exploring the history of democracy in the US and encourages students to think critically about how its original promises diverge from current realities--and how we can work together to build a multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy focused on justice and opportunity for the 21st century. 

Youth Futures Movement http://yfmca.org/ 

Youth Futures Movement (YFM) is a coalition of creative and innovative youth and community-led organizations across the state of California bringing an “organizers” mindset to thinking about our long-term futures— we aim to shift narratives, create economic opportunity and disrupt systems of power that do not serve young Californians, now and into the future. 

Our mission is to empower young people throughout California to envision a future grounded in our values of equity, dignity, and healing by using futures and foresight tools and approaches. To do so, we convene communities from all across California to ensure that young people's active participation and voice are at the forefront when planning and designing a future for California. We understand that leading with the ideas and creativity of young people from all walks of life is essential as they will lead and represent our democracy. We aim to braid together futures work, civic engagement, and cultural healing to build relationships with youth, community, and across all sectors.