Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Nominations open for civic collaboration awards

Nominations open for civic collaboration awards

Beth Broadway of the El-Hindi Center for Dialogue at InterFaith Works accepts one of two local prizes given out at the 2018 Civvys awards presentation.

The Civvys

Nominations are open until July 12 for the third annual American Civic Collaboration Awards, known as the Civvys.

The awards, established by the Bridge Alliance and Big Tent Nation in 2017, honor civic collaboration efforts that "strengthen communities and empower citizens" while bridging ideological divisions, partisan politics, narrow parochial interests and other gridlock-producing barriers.


Past winners have included a student-run public interest research group in North Carolina, a digital civics education effort in Colorado and a middle-school shadow city council in Alabama.

Awards will be given for national, local and youth projects. Entries will be judged on the collaborative practices involved, the impact of the project and its scalability – whether the effort can be replicated for greater impact. More information and a short nomination form can be found at www.civvys.org.

The awards will be presented at the National Conference on Citizenship in October.

Disclosure: The Bridge Alliance Education Fund is a funder of The Fulcrum.


Read More

California’s New Law Aims To Close a Housing Gap for Domestic Violence Survivors
Emily Scherer for The 19th; Getty Images

California’s New Law Aims To Close a Housing Gap for Domestic Violence Survivors

Domestic violence survivors often struggle to find housing, and California’s “Unseen and Unheard Housing Act” will help make more housing available to meet their specific needs.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill Sunday requiring cities and counties to factor in domestic violence survivors when planning for future housing.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Window to Safely Managing the Education Freedom Tax Credit is Closing Fast
Empty wooden tables and chairs in a library with shelves of books
Photo by Tuyen Vo on Unsplash

The Window to Safely Managing the Education Freedom Tax Credit is Closing Fast

There is a major change in how students, schools, and educational programs can be funded, taking effect on January 1, 2027, with a small window of time to ensure the program is well managed. We have to move fast.

The Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC) creates a new federal tax credit for taxpayers who make qualified contributions to approved nonprofit Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). SGOs, in turn, use that money to award scholarships for tutoring, tuition, or other qualified education expenses for students, regardless of whether they attend public, private, or charter schools. The money is contributed directly to SGOs by taxpayers, who can receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on their 2027 tax filing, up to $1,700 for individuals and $3,400 for married taxpayers filing jointly.

Keep ReadingShow less
A person wearing a t-shirt that says, "Black Voters Still Matter."

A member of the audience wearing a 'Black Voters Still Matter' t-shirt from Georgia NAACP as Georgia Democratic Senate candidate U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) speaks during a Get Out the Vote rally December 3, 2022 in Hephzibah, Georgia.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Black Voters Don’t Need Another Election-Year Lecture. They Need Government That Works All Year

Democracy cannot just be something Black Americans are asked to save every election. It has to be something we can see working in our lives between elections. Every election season, here it comes again. We are told how important this election is. We are told democracy is on the line. We are told to register, organize, bring somebody to the polls, and make sure our voices are heard. Candidates come into Black communities, sit down with Black leaders, show up at churches and community events, and remind us just how powerful our vote can be.

I believe in voting. I believe in democracy. I believe deeply in civic participation.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Construction on the proposed White House ballroom.

Construction on the proposed White House ballroom is seen from the Washington Monument on May 17, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump has initiated numerous construction projects on federal government properties in Washington, including demolition of the White House East Wing to build a ballroom and re-painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting pool blue.

Graeme Sloan/Getty Images

Democracy Must Prevail: Reset Community Meetings Process

Once a month, on the evening of the first Wednesday, I sit on an elevated platform behind a horseshoe-shaped desk in my role as a member of my community’s historic preservation commission in Urbana, Illinois.

On the lower level and at floor level, is a conference table and behind that a room filled with chairs that may all be full – but are more frequently close to empty.

Keep ReadingShow less