Civic Education Conference

By: Lilly Thumm

On October 6, over 100 people attended our sold-out conference, Civic Education: The DNA of Democracy, in downtown Indianapolis. People were eager to hear everything our speakers had to offer, and to accommodate such overwhelming interest, we created standing space in breakout rooms, so no one missed a thing. Additionally, free childcare and meals were provided for attendants to alleviate any stresses of committing to a full day of civic education. 

One of our attendees enjoyed their experience so much that they emailed us to say,

I felt so privileged to attend the conference yesterday and wanted to say I found hopefulness and inspiration by participating. The conference was extremely well organized, offered fantastic and relevant speakers, and provided great information on how to get involved to bring about positive change. Thank you so much for bringing this event to us. I definitely will be working to make a difference in my community - investigating some of [the] organizations and activities discussed yesterday to see where I might fit and be of value.

They, among others, gave positive feedback about the day. Some featured conversations include the international perspective on democracy by Dr. Cynthia Cherrey, as well as a more focused perspective by local politicians such as Senators Vaneta Becker and Fady Quaddora. The benefits of these discussions, like the Toolkit for Civic Literacy, is that they gave people resources and knowledge to go on and educate others. College students who volunteered could also attend these breakout rooms and learn from others. 

Thank you to our sponsors for your support of the conference. Without you, we couldn’t have created such an impactful event. If you couldn’t make it, there are other ways to get involved in Indiana and with Women4Change. You can donate or volunteer with us, and you can vote at the November 8 elections for the change you want to see.