New England Aquarium

The New England Aquarium will lead the Capacity-building for Youth Civic Leadership for Issues in Science and Society (CYCLIST) project to build a national community of educators from informal science centers able to support teenage youth in developing civic leadership skills. At least 24 staff from twelve partner organizations will build a community of practice as they train together to understand the theory and process for supporting youth leadership development, learn about tested leadership curriculum materials, co-create plans for deploying common resources within existing youth programs, and collaborate with an external evaluator to document the work. The project will create a youth leadership toolkit to be shared with the wider museum field through online and in person workshops. CYCLIST will provide 1,200 youth with new opportunities to participate in leadership development activities facilitated as part of a youth program, while helping informal science education centers make youth leadership development a core part of their programming.