The world is going through great disruption. As the 2020s unfold, traditional institutions are being upended, once-sturdy systems are being strained, and trust is on the decline. On top of it all, an unprecedented amount of noise surrounds our daily lives and threatens to unravel our shared reality – and our democracy.

Disruption, though, isn’t inherently bad. It’s how we react to it and engage with it that matters in the end. If our history is any guide, this current era of turbulence will eventually give rise to a period of change and positive progress, a time that is more efficient, equitable, and durable than what came before it.

Every day in so many ways, Civic Nebraska makes sure this future is realized.

Since our founding in 2008, we have become a trusted guide toward a more inclusive and representative democracy, even during near-constant tumult, crisis, and change. On our streets, in our schools, and in our government institutions, we have lifted up Nebraskans to connect, organize, and advocate. We’ve employed groundbreaking tools and ways of thinking so that the “new normal” includes everyone. And when our democracy is threatened, we don’t hesitate to act. We do this loudly and proudly as a powerful signal of hope and empowerment to all who strive for a better future.

In the pages of our 2023-24 Annual Report, you’ll learn about:

›› Our Voting Rights Initiatives and Public Policy teams advocating relentlessly at the statehouse this year to pull a harmful voter ID bill away from the fringes, where it would have disenfranchised untold thousands of Nebraska voters;

›› Our Youth Civic Leadership programs’ innovative approach in connecting students to civic power and providing them the skills and agency to create change in their communities; and

›› Our Civic Health Programs’ intensive, personalized, on-the-ground coaching in towns, cities, and neighborhoods across the state, providing ways to set aside political fighting and reclaim the power of the common good.

America is noisy. But because of support from people like you, Civic Nebraska cuts through the clutter to remind everyone who we all are, where we all came from, and what we can still be as a people. As this signal continues to spread, more and more of us have gone from unheard to heard, from misunderstood to understood, and from unequal to equal. With your help, we’re coming in – loud and clear.