Five years ago, in February 2019, the Growing Democracy Project official launched.

It is hard to believe all that we have accomplished over the last five years. Here are a few highlights:

  1. Co-creating an online repository for key concepts related to civic and political engagement, written by KSU students and NEO community members. This is an on-going process. Reach out if you would like to be involved.
  2. Hosting the Growing Democracy Podcast, which focuses on civic and political engagement, social justice, and racial equity. While we no longer release an episode a week (eek, that was a lot!), we love recording conversations with local community members, students, faculty, and guests of Kent State University. So far, we have recorded and posted 81 episodes. We have 2 more waiting to be released!
  3. Launching the GDP website and posting occasional blog posts, highlighting key issues and/or amplifying the work of our interns, research assistants, and affiliates.
  4. Organizing the Democracy Roundtable and Fellows program. Piloted in Spring 2023 and organized again in Fall 2023, we have learned so much from the faculty, staff, students, and community members involved in our Roundtable dialogues. The Roundtable is a space for faculty, staff, students, and community members to come together and discuss pressing issues related to democracy. Our aim is to create space for critical dialogue on democracy and civic life and discuss ways to enrich our
    democracy and foster peaceful change. Stay tuned for content from Fellows.
  5. Putting together a range of outstanding programs and workshops. From guest speakers such as Dr. Brandi Blessett (and more) to the 2021 student-organized film-festival to our Photovoice program, we have been honored to work with outstanding student interns and project managers in the planning of these events over the last 5 years.
  6. and, finally, working on research projects with summer research assistants through the Democracy Lab. We are honored to collaborate with such talented scholars.

We look forward to seeing what the next 5 years brings!