If you don’t know what Generation Citizen is and what the program does then you might hear about it more when a future leader recounts their experiences in the program. But for now, to understand what Generation Citizen is and what the program tries to do is to understand and have a respect for creating a better tomorrow. According to their mission statement “Generation Citizen (GC) strengthens our nation’s democracy by empowering young people to become engaged and effective citizens. We envision a democracy in which every citizen participates in the political process.”
According to the Co-executive chapter director, Elliot Kim, “GC is an organization thats principle is to create a more engaged youth with their democracy.” Kim also stated that “ through action plans, overseen by democracy coaches, problems in local communities are targeted and then plans to alleviate these problems are created.”
Michael Owens, a student at UMass Boston, helped found the UMass Boston chapter back in fall 2012. The main coordinator for the organization now is Elliot Kim, a sophomore in the university’s honors college majoring in Economics. A democracy coach, David Combs, a student studying accounting in the college of Management has collaborated with students from the Neighberhood house charter school by working on a civics project with an end goal of building an activities center to promote physical fitness and academic guidance. On Dec. 12 a civics class will present their project at the Mass. State house to be judged on efficiency and approach of project.
When asked about the future of GC, Elliot Kim relayed that the organization will “continue to civically engage young people, and expand our chapter at UMass Boston by seeking out hard working students who are looking to make a lasting change on students who will then hopefully become engaged citizens of our democracy.”
To become involved with this organization, Kim said that admission to a role requires “students who are willing to take initiative, have a positive attitude, willing to be dedicated to a semester long project, and a desire to make a positive impact on local communities around you.” Students who are in the education program or human resources program at UMass Boston can also benefit from serving a role in this program by having their field work and pre practicum hours partially fulfilled through service with GC.