CUMU Conference 2019

In 2015, the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA joined with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to create a civic education program for the Los Angeles community. Civic U© is organized and developed as a substantive and accessible guide to the power points of Los Angeles government. Under the direction of PBI Executive Director, Dr. Raphael Sonenshein, a noted expert on Los Angeles government, Civic U© has developed a strong constituency: community organizations, neighborhood councils, private foundations, and even within the city government itself. It has now been incorporated into the city budget as an annual training provided to LA neighborhood council leaders. The program has received grant support from private foundations. Civic U© has now expanded to education regarding Los Angeles county government, the Los Angeles school district, and the council-manager form of government prevalent in the county areas outside the city of Los Angeles. Participants report a much increased sense of efficacy in their dealings with local government and a greater optimism that they can make a difference. In the last year, PBI has incorporated a high school version known as Civic High©, which has worked with high school students in our service area, including training them to run full-scale actual candidate debates for major offices. The presentation will include a brief history of the Civic U© and Civic High© and excerpts from the training, allowing for interaction with the audience. Civic U was presented as a poster session at the 2018 Annual Meeting.