webinar

Building Whole-Family Civic Engagement

PAST EVENT
November 4, 2025

On November 4, GTY hosted a discussion focused on findings and implications from the Building Power Together: Family Civics in Communities of Color study, funded by the William T. Grant Foundation. This 4-year mixed-method study focused on a community-based civic leadership initiative for parents/caregivers and their children, ages 3-12 — the Children’s Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) and the Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI).*

Watch recording

*The Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) and Children’s Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) are a family civics initiative of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity (CWCSEO).

Top Takeaway

Intergenerational civic leadership programs, specifically PLTI (Parent Leadership Training Institute) and CLTI (Children’s Leadership Training Institute), reshape family relationships and create lasting, measurable increases in civic engagement across generations.

Families who participate become more civically confident, discuss community problems together more often, and children develop sustained feelings of leadership and agency, especially when both generations are involved in parallel programming.

Recording

More Takeaways

  1. Family as the Core Civic Community: Children described their family as their first and most important community. Through the programs, they learned civic skills by engaging together — discussing issues like bullying and environmental cleanliness, and turning concerns into collective family actions.
  2. Six Practices Driving Change in Children: Six standout practices in CLTI — (1) building civic knowledge, (2) public speaking confidence, (3) cross-age friendships, (4) adult connections, (5) family cohesion, and (6) action projects based on children’s interests — supported both immediate and long-term civic growth in youth. Crucially, these practices emerged not from standard curriculum but from children’s own priorities and the parallel learning of adults and children.
  3. Modeling and Spillover Effects: Even household members who did not directly participate, siblings and spouses, showed increases in civic awareness from being part of a household with a PLTI or CLTI participant. Siblings were motivated to do community projects after seeing their brother or sister’s involvement, highlighting the program’s reach beyond registrants.
  4. Tailored Support Matters: Accessible child care, transportation, shared meals, language interpretation, and inclusion of children with IEPs or special needs, all intentionally provided, were essential for authentic family participation. These supports ensured everyone felt welcomed, enabling deep investment and persistence by entire families, particularly those juggling multiple children’s involvement.

Resources

CENTER FOR POLICY, RESEARCH, AND EVALUATION AT NYU METRO CENTER | UNIV OF MICHIGAN MARSAL FAMILY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

Lessons from a Mixed Methods Study on Intergenerational Civic Development

CENTER FOR POLICY, RESEARCH, AND EVALUATION AT NYU METRO CENTER

Building Power Together: Family Civics in Communities of Color Study

NYU METRO CENTER WEBINAR SLIDES

Building Whole-Family Civic Engagement

What Can Philanthropy Do?

Philanthropy should invest in intergenerational civic engagement, supporting programs that bridge children and adults learning together.

Funders are urged not only to provide resources but also to spend time in the spaces where the programs take place, observing families, listening to their stories, and seeing firsthand how such investments yield sustained civic growth that spans generations.

“Join in…see what families are learning, invest in programs that can help us all learn more civic skills together…it truly was a blessing for me and my family,” advised a PLTI/CLTI parent.

Memorable Quotes

Far too many children, teens, and parents, especially those from communities historically underserved by our democracy, feel their voices don’t matter. That’s why community-based spaces like CLTI and PLTI are so vital. By bringing children and parents together across race, class, and language to learn civics as a family, these initiatives foster civic engagement that is both rare and essential for our collective future.

—Dr. Joanna Geller, NYU Metro Center

What surprised me most? How powerfully children could articulate what mattered to them and their ideas for taking action — at such young ages. There’s a lot adults could model after their children.

—Dr. Wendy Perez, NYU Metro Center

The most powerful moment? Seeing the quiet kid, who sat at the back, become the one chosen by peers to speak at graduation — watching that journey from hesitation to confidence is remarkable.

—Tyler Benson, CLTI Teacher

Learning together made it more meaningful. We were having a lot of interesting conversations, never a dull moment at the dinner table…It helped us understand each other and grow stronger as a family.

—Shatara Tucker, Parent / PLTI alum

I learned to speak up for myself and share ideas without being scared…and I learned how to make a difference.

—Liam, CLTI Youth Participant

We empower families and caregivers from all backgrounds to become advocates and agents of change. All children are intelligent. All children can learn and grow, and all children can lead.

—Donna Thompson-Bennett, NPLI

These intergenerational initiatives led to meaningful, lasting increases in civic confidence, child leadership, and family-level civic discussion.

—Matthew Truwit, University of Louisville

Contact the Speakers

If you’d like to follow up with any of these speakers, please reach out to GTY.

Speakers

Joanna Geller, PhD

Director of Policy, Research, and Evaluation, NYU Metro Center

Through mixed methods and participatory research with youth and parent leaders, Dr. Joanna Geller studies settings that inspire civic learning and engagement across all ages, from young children to grandparents.

In 2021, she was the recipient of the $1 million Lyle Spencer award from the Spencer Foundation to conduct a national landscape analysis of parent leadership organizations and study how parent leaders influence their children’s learning and civic development. In the same year, she received a multi-year grant from the WT Grant Foundation to study the Children’s and Parent Leadership Training Institute, an intergenerational civic leadership initiative.

Dr. Geller also leads external evaluations of district- and community-based family engagement and leadership initiatives. Before becoming a researcher, she worked at Common Cents, where she supported New York City schools and community-based organizations with service-learning.

Dr. Geller has a PhD in Community Research and Action from Vanderbilt University. She serves on her local school’s parent council, is an elected member of her local Town Meeting, and stays busy as a mother of two boys.

Wendy Y. Perez, PhD

Senior Research Associate, NYU Metro Center

A bilingual daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants, Dr. Wendy Y. Perez was inspired to pursue research by Los Angeles communities fighting for systemic change during her time as an education policy advocate. Her research projects have totaled over $5 million, including funding from the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Gates Foundation.

Dr. Perez has focused on participatory and asset-based studies that elevate the voices of youth, families, and communities in K-12 and higher education. She has served as a project lead or researcher on several youth- and family-focused projects, including building a parent leadership evaluation network and a racial equity peer learning community, examining intergenerational civic initiatives and power-building, and studying how youth organizations shape positive outcomes, such as racial identity development and college success.

Dr. Perez has a PhD in Education from the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, a Master’s Degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Pomona College.

Matthew Truwit

Assistant professor of Evaluation, University of Louisville

Matthew Truwit is an assistant professor of evaluation in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville. He is driven by a desire to understand and ultimately improve the ways in which policy both enables and constrains the teaching and learning that take place in schools—particularly schools with high concentrations of poverty like the one in north Nashville where he taught social studies before entering academia.

His research and teaching are both oriented toward the use of rigorous quantitative methods to critically evaluate educational policies and programs in conjunction with policymakers and practitioners, understanding whether and how they not only achieve their intended aims but also potentially exacerbate existing inequities.

Tyler Benson

Children’s Leadership Training Institute Teacher

Tyler Benson has proudly served as a CLTI Teacher in Rochester, NY for the past 10 years. As a CLTI Teacher, he understands the importance of early civic engagement and is dedicated to empowering youth to engage in advocacy and reach their full leadership potential. He is originally from Fairport, NY, but now calls the city of Rochester home.

Post high-school, he studied Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University but soon discovered his true calling—working with youth. His journey began in afterschool enrichment programs with the YMCA, laying the foundation for a career centered on youth development.

In addition to his work with CLTI, he currently serves as a Recreation Specialist at the City of Rochester’s Frederick Douglass R-Center, where he oversees a wide range of programs. He has a special passion for STEM education and proudly coaches Rhythm Robotics and Rhythm Robotics Jr., award-winning FIRST LEGO League teams. He is committed to breaking down barriers and making technology education accessible and inclusive for every young person in Rochester.

Shatara Tucker

Parent Leadership Training Institute Alum

Shatara Tucker is a proud graduate of the Bridgeport PLTI Class of 2025 and mother to three proud CLTI graduates. She was born and raised in Bridgeport, CT, with several years spent in North Carolina. She is married to her amazing husband, who works as a firefighter and fire marshal for the City of New Haven.

For over 15 years, she has worked as a graphic designer, earning a Digital Arts Certificate from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Her passion for mental health led her to pursue a new path in psychotherapy, and she is currently working toward her Master’s degree in Psychology at Southern Connecticut State University.

She is the founder of Family Fused, a support group created to uplift and guide blended families. Family Fused grew out of her own experiences as a parent/step-parent and was also the focus of her PLTI community project. Its mission is to provide a safe space and resources for families navigating blended family life, with support in areas like healthy co-parenting, children’s mental health, high-conflict resolution, communication, and building strong family bonds. Through Family Fused, she hopes to reduce stigma and bring families together with love, understanding, and healing.

She has also chaired community toy drives, back-to-school initiatives, and donation efforts for women served by the Center for Family Justice in Bridgeport, CT, a nonprofit that provides free, confidential services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She is deeply passionate about mental health, family wellbeing, and community work, and she strives to help families feel supported, connected, and empowered.

Zulema Gomez

National Parent Leadership Institute

Zulema Gomez is the Director of Implementation and Capacity Building at the National Parent Leadership Institute. With over 15 years of experience in parent leadership and civic engagement, she partners with communities nationwide to implement and sustain Parent and Children’s Leadership Training Institutes. A dedicated parent leader and mother of a 14-year-old, Zulema resides in Rochester, NY.

Presented by

Grantmakers for Thriving Youth

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