DCI Civic Academy Saturday, February 1, 2025 9 am – 4:30 pm

A Practical Workshop for People Seeking Positive Community Change

Led by Eric Rosario, Laura Branca, Margo Hittleman, Sofia Villenas, with guest speaker, Stacey Dimas

Register here!

Location: Tompkins Center for History and Culture — an accessible downtown Ithaca location, near free parking.

Lunch and snacks will be provided.

This all-day workshop expands on DCI’s highly-acclaimed half-day Applied Civics Lab workshop, which was offered in 2023 and 2024.

There is no fee for this workshop, although donations to DCI will be welcomed!

 What to expect: 

• This will be a very interactive workshop. Come prepared to engage with other change-makers in our community.
• Learn from a real-life example about how a local public policy was changed, through the combined efforts of young people, community advocates, and their elected officials
• Build your skills to impact community policy changes
• Look at ways to apply what you learn to the issues you care about
• Meet others also seeking positive community change

Register here!

What participants have said about DCI’s Applied Civics Lab (our previous half-day workshop now expanded to this full-day Civic Academy):

• The true allegory of how citizen action ultimately impacted policy was very illuminating…. It gave me a lot to think about. 
• Great conversations about the challenges of reaching people in this time of skepticism, misinformation and economic and scheduling stress. 
• I learned how important and impactful it is to engage in the policy process early on, rather than showing up at the final vote. We really need to spread this message! 
  

Questions?  Email Laura Branca at info@dorothycottoninstitute.org or Margo Hittleman at mjh17@cornell.edu.