Civic Genius

CivicGenius aims to rebuild American civic culture through everyday opportunities to learn and engage. The program’s focus is on deliberative public processes that create better policy and strengthen relationships between governments and the people they represent.

Founded in 2017, Civic Genius (previously known as Common Ground Solutions), has always been dedicated to highlighting where Americans agree on the issues and connecting people with policymakers to make the case that we can move forward together. In 2021, the mission was expanded to include an educational dimension that emphasizes civic confidence and citizen empowerment. In September of 2024, Civic Genius became a program of the National Civic League.

Programs

Deliberative Democracy

Civic Education

Genius Guides
Does it seem like the system is built for insiders? We know the feeling. Genius Guides are built-for-anyone roadmaps to understanding our government and what citizens can do to make a difference. They are designed to put anyone on a path to active citizenship, from town council to Congress.

Civics for Everyone
Through live events and video, Civic Genius provides opportunities to engage easily from anywhere. During any given week, you can tune in for advocacy workshops, issue explainers, expert interviews, and discussions with real people who have made a difference. The tools, education, and advice are for everyone: Instacart drivers, teachers, white collar professional working from home, overnight security guards, parents who have a few minutes to spare while the baby naps – you get the idea.

Trainings & Workshops

Are you ready to build your organization’s civic muscle? Whether you want to learn the nuts and bolts of civic action, engage more deeply with your local community, or solve problems across ideological differences, Civic Genius teaches the skills you need to create a stronger civic culture. Our trainings and workshops are fun and fulfilling – and always nonpartisan.

We work with:

• Business leaders
• Elected officials
• Governments
• Colleges and universities
• Greek life organizations
• K-12 schools
• Faith communities
• Community leaders & organizations

Our team works with you to customize a learning experience for your organization’s leaders, specific teams, and groups of any size. Most sessions last from one to three hours, and can take place at your offices, offsite, or virtually.

Request more information at [email protected]!

Our Inspiration

It’s May 31, 1897. The United States is only a few decades past a civil war that nearly tore it apart. People have gathered at Boston Music Hall to dedicate a monument to Robert Gould Shaw, the Civil War colonel who led the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the second Black regiment to fight in the Civil War. Despite having little experience and even less respect from their fellow troops, the 54th brought their A game. In a true show of heroism, they lost half their troops and two-thirds of their officers in battle, including Shaw. Now, the American philosopher William James steps up before the crowd to speak in honor of Colonel Shaw and his soldiers. We spend a lot of time glorifying courage in battle, says James, but far less time honoring civic courage, the kind that Shaw displayed when he stood by the 54th. Shaw wasn’t some kind of “exceptional genius” achieving some singular feat. He was simply a committed citizen acting faithfully toward the American promise that we can build our own republic “if left free to try.”

But when the fabric of that republic begins to tear, how do we save it? James continues: “The nation blest above all nations is she in whom the civic genius of the people does the saving day by day, by acts without external picturesqueness; by speaking, writing, voting reasonably; by smiting corruption swiftly; by good temper between parties; by the people knowing true men when they see them, and preferring them as leaders to rabid partisans or empty quacks. Such nations have no need of wars to save them.”

These are the words that inspire us to action. It’s not the occasional extraordinary genius who will make our nation great; it’s the civic genius that materializes when Americans work together, across differences, for a strong future. That work is never done. There are always new challenges and perspectives that complicate our path, but we wrestle with them thoughtfully and passionately because our freedom requires it. Once again, William James said it best: “Democracy is still upon its trial. The civic genius of the people is its only bulwark.”