We empower and enable people and communities to shape the decisions that affect their lives, hold those in power to account, and access the services they need.
The relationship between people and governments in democratic societies is defined by a core belief that governments work on behalf of the people they serve, and that those people are able to effectively engage with their government.
Time needs to catch up with our ideas; not our ideas catching up with time. Our tomorrow should be today.
Researchers found that when participatory politics were included alongside more traditional institutional politics, youths and women actually demonstrated the highest levels of overall involvement.
Young people’s cultural backgrounds are not obstacles to overcome. They are foundations on which to build.
Every generation, it seems, worries that the next one is not as politically active as it should be. But, in recent decades, a new concern has emerged: “gaps” in civic knowledge and participation in the US and many countries are along lines of race and class. According to a number of researchers, youth from low-income and rural Communities score lower on measures of civic knowledge, civic attitudes, and political action than their , wealthier and urban peers. Harvard’s Meira Levinson labeled these disparities the “civic achievement gap”. More recently, she and others have begun referring instead to the “civic empowerment gap,” stressing that these disparities are rooted in unequal access to quality civic education opportunities.
These findings are highly disturbing. They suggest that Youths and women are being systematically denied the education and exposure they need to be effective participants in political life.
People who are poor are demonstrably less likely to
develop traditional civic skills via education, the workplace, or participation in
voluntary associations—three of the primary venues in which individuals have the opportunity to develop and practice communication, analysis, organization, and
leadership skills relevant to civic and political participation. This is because they are likely to leave school sooner, to have attended worse schools, to have lower status
jobs, and to participate less in voluntary associations. Churches may ameliorate, but certainly do not solve, this civic skills opportunity gap
The bottom line is this . The demographic mostly affected by this disparity are Youths, Women, The Poor, Uneducated, Disabled in the Society and communities in the rural areas.
Most people are afraid to talk for fear of rejection and making mistakes . We will model how to do a talk and we practice the talk so that the natural fear about having these conversations is dissolved. Teaching the people public speaking.
We build a structure of support that is strong enough to dissolve the powerlessness people face in challenging the status quo. And powerful enough to thaw the resignation of it’s not possible; and give them a real chance of winning and succeeding in their endeavors.
We stay involved in the communities with the intent to connect with the people and help them connect with their own power as citizens and awaken the power that exists within the community to bring solutions to the problems facing them and build better communities.
We are working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to build a strong Institution that impacts the lives of the people and the community in a positive fashion.
We inculcate and encourage communities to learn and maintain the civic skills, knowledge, talents and uniqueness and attitudes embedded in youths’ as part of a broader project of redefining what it means to be a “competent and responsible” member of a society.
We engage the people and communities; we help build better citizens through our programs and activities. Empowered citizens, create the most inclusive and productive conversation possible. We believe through engaged conversation; lasting progress can be achieved.
Amidst the glut of insignificance that engulfs us all, the temptation is understandable to stop thinking. The trouble is unthinking persons cannot choose but must let others choose for them. But to fail to make one’s own choices is to betray the freedom which is our society’s greatest gift to us all.
….Our real problem is not a heating planet or rampant malnutrition….We only have one real problem: our own feelings of powerlessness to manifest the solutions right in front of our noses.
