Civic Symposium Workshop Series 2026
A 6-part workshop series where teens identify community challenges, develop real solutions, and pitch their projects at the Second Annual Teen Changemaker Summit & Civic Symposium. First place winners receive $500 in seed funding to bring their project to life!
Workshop 1: Understanding Your Community & The Power of Advocacy
Workshop 1 sets the foundation for the entire Teen Changemaker Civic Symposium. Participants come together for the first time to get to know one another and begin exploring what civic engagement and advocacy really mean. Through discussion and hands-on activities, teens identify community issues they are passionate about and use a problem tree exercise to examine the root causes and effects of those issues. By the end of the session, participants form project groups based on shared interests — leaving with both a team and the beginnings of a shared vision for the change they want to make in their community.
Workshop 2: Strategic Program Planning
Workshop 2 takes the energy and ideas from the first session and channels them into strategic action. With project groups already formed, teams dive into two essential planning tools: SMART goals and logic models. Through guided activities and real-world examples, teens learn how to transform a big idea — like "I want to help people who don't have enough food" — into a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound plan. By the close of the session, each team has a working roadmap that connects their resources and activities to tangible outcomes and community impact.
Workshop 3: Messaging
Workshop 3 is all about bringing a project's story to the world. Participants revisit their project development outlines, completing their budgets by thinking critically about needs versus wants and pricing out the resources their projects require. Then comes pitch deck creation — teens learn how to hook an audience, communicate the urgency of their issue, present their solution and plan, and close with a clear call to action. The session also introduces trifold display planning, helping each team think visually about how they'll communicate their cause at the April 25th Showcase Summit. With three workshops down and three to go, participants leave with serious momentum.
Workshop 4: Creating Our Displays
Workshop 4 transforms planning into tangible, visual storytelling. Armed with their vision plans and printed materials from previous sessions, participants work with their teams to physically construct the trifold displays that will anchor their presentations at the April 25th Summit Showcase . Teams focus on balancing text with visuals, ensuring their issue is clearly communicated to someone with no prior knowledge, and creating displays that are compelling enough to stop a passerby in their tracks. It's a creative, collaborative session where the projects really start to look — and feel — real.
Workshop 5: Guest Speaker Session with YoungExekutive Carl Michel
Workshop 5 gives participants a chance to step back from project work and get fired up for the finish line. YoungExekutive Carl Michel joins the group for an inspiring session aimed at motivating and empowering young people to believe in their ability to create change. It's a chance for teens to gain perspective, connect their personal growth to their project work, and build the confidence they'll need to take the stage at the April 25th Showcase Summit. Equal parts motivational and practical, this workshop reminds participants why they started — and what they're working toward.
Workshop 6: Dress Rehearsal
Workshop 6 is the final step before the big day. Participants gather for a full dress rehearsal, practicing their pitch deck presentations and walking through every element of their Showcase display and delivery. Teams receive feedback, tighten their talking points, and build the confidence they need to present their community action projects in front of a live audience. By the end of the session, every participant is prepared, polished, and ready to show Westchester County what teen changemakers can do.