The Commonwealth Club Receives Civics Education Grant from Koret Foundation

San Francisco, CA  (May 2022)– The Commonwealth Club of California has received a $1.2 million grant from the Koret Foundation for the expansion of its civics education initiative, Creating Citizens. The grant is part of the Koret Foundation’s $3.2 million Civic Learning Initiative, which will support and improve the quality of civic education in California and beyond.

Creating Citizens was founded in 2020 to ensure that all students will have the motivation, skills and resources they need to participate in the democratic process as active, informed citizens. Building on The Commonwealth Club’s core values of free speech, respectful discourse, and a spirit of collaborative progress for the common good, Creating Citizens brings civic leaders, policymakers and youth activists together for conversations that bridge political divides, teaching young people how to sift through noise and hyperbole to bring forth what is essential to our democracy.

“Civil dialogue is essential for the health of our constitutional democracy and should be a part of every student’s education,” comments The Commonwealth Club’s vice president for education, Dr. Lauren Silver. “Too often, students are exposed to hate speech and divisive rhetoric, so they don’t learn how to speak and listen respectfully to people whose opinions differ from their own. And educators don’t have the support they need to encourage difficult conversations in the classroom.”

With funding support from Koret, Creating Citizens will continue to address these needs by expanding its current programs and initiatives to include intergenerational programs, educator resources culled from The Commonwealth Club’s 119-year-old archive of recorded talks and publications, interactive student field trips, and a Youth Advisory Council.

“We are grateful to the Koret Foundation for their commitment to ensuring the health of our fragile democracy through its support of Creating Ciizens and civics education nationwide,” says Dr. Silver.

###

About The Commonwealth Club

The Commonwealth Club of California is the largest public issues forum in the United States and is a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization. It is the leader in its field both nationally and internationally, with a fast-paced, lively, and stimulating environment and a range of fascinating and informative people and ideas. The Club hosts daily in-person, online, and hybrid programs that include lectures, panel discussions, roundtables, and special events on issues of public concern and interest, for both engagement and enrichment. Every year, the Club produces several hundred programs with extensive content that is distributed through online video streams, podcasts, a digital magazine, and a weekly national radio broadcast that airs on more than 230 public and commercial stations and other platforms. For more information, visit commonwealthclub.org.

About Creating Citizens

Creating Citizens is The Commonwealth Club’s civics education initiative. Building on more than 118 years of nonpartisan civil dialogue at The Commonwealth Club, Creating Citizens brings students and educators into the conversation. In the face of mass-polarization, Creating Citizens gives youth who are watching and listening a chance to speak. Programs feature civic leaders from across the ideological spectrum, thinkers and influencers young people respect, and youth themselves. Students develop their own perspectives on complex issues and learn the power of mutually respectful dialogue in a diverse society. For more information about Creating Citizens, visit commonwealthclub.org/education.