Evans School of Public Policy & Governance

Build connections for your career in public service

The NextGen Civic Leader Corps is a collaborative effort between the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and the Community Engagement & Leadership Education (CELE) Center in Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

Through coursework, experiential learning, and professional network building, the program allows students to recognize and deepen their commitment to community engagement and public service. The program is part of a growing network of similar program across the country powered by the Volcker Alliance Next Generation Service Corps.

We offer guided advising, programming and financial support to diverse undergraduate students who are socially engaged & community-rooted leaders. The program offers a semi-structured pathway that combines academic coursework, peer networking, and career exploration in government, non-profit, and social venture organizations.

Check out some clips from recent NextGen events including the video of the UW NextGen Launch Event from May 2022 below, as well as information on upcoming events and ways to join!

Follow us on Instagram: @nextgenuw

Signature Cohort Events

Signature cohort events allow NextGen Civic Leader Corps participants to build their networks, engage with new ideas, and consider how others approach pressing social issues and cultural conversations. Events span varied categories, including direct service, network building, and social/cultural events. Many signature events are facilitated specifically for NextGen Civic Leader Corps members and offer direct connections with notable community leaders, public policy practitioners, and/or elected officials.    

We ask program participants to attend at least two signature cohort events each academic year; these events are a great way to get started with the program and meet the advisors! 

Winter quarter events (More will be posted, stay tuned!):

Monday, January 30, 4:00-6:00 PM, meet in front of Mary Gates Hall (North Entrance)

  • Share a Meal with Tent City Residents: join us to deliver and enjoy a meal with residents of Tent City. We’ll plan to meet in front of Mary Gates Hall (feel free to drop off any belongings inside) and walk together to the Waterfront Activities Center, pick up meals and enjoy a dinner together with the Tent City community. Please RSVP here tinyurl.com/TentCityDinner

Saturday February 4th, 10:45am to 1:45pm Mary Gates Hall 171

  • Networking Across NextGen: Networking can be tough, and requires taking steps outside the comfort zone, but can be rewarding. Join the UW NextGen program where we will dive into networking. This is designed to be a low-key event where we facilitate several activities to mix and mingle with other UW students in-person, chat about ways to build connections before switching over to virtual speed-networking with undergraduate students from across the country and learn about resources and opportunities.
  • RSVP here to secure your spot: https://tinyurl.com/nextgenfeb4

Thursday, February 9th, 4:45pm to 8:00pm, meet at Mary Gates Hall 171

  • Louder Than Words: Planning a City for an Equitable Future. Join the NextGen program for a conversation with Rico Quirindongo, acting director of the City of Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development.
  • Event Description: Seattle is in the thick of building a plan for the Seattle of the next two generations. Where we will live and work, how we will move around and whether there will be any green left. The Seattle planning director describes how we can be the place of opportunity and equity despite – or thanks to learning from – past mistakes
  • The NextGen Civic Leader Corps will host a dinner discussion for student attendees after the event.
  • For those located near campus, let’s plan to meet up together at 4:45pm at Mary Gates Hall 171. We will then travel to the UW-Othello Commons via light rail as a group for the event and dinner discussion before leaving the Commons at 8:00p
  • RSVP here: Louder Than Words Feb 9th RSVP

Friday, March 3rd, 2pm to 3pm, Parrington Hall, 320

  • Meet and greet with Isabel Wilkerson: join the NextGen program for an exclusive meet and greet with Isabel Wilkerson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize winner and the National Humanities Medal, is the author of The New York Times bestsellers The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. A gifted storyteller, Wilkerson captivates audiences with the universal human story of migration and reinvention, as well as the unseen hierarchies that have divided us as a nation, in order to find a way to transcend them. She has become an impassioned voice for demonstrating how history can help us understand ourselves, our country and our current era of upheaval. In her writing, Wilkerson brings the invisible and the marginalized into the light and into our hearts. In her lectures, she explores with authority the need to reconcile America’s karmic racial inheritance — a notion she has expressed in her widely-shared Op-Ed essays in The New York Times.
  • (Please note that spots are limited – a wait list will open if there is overwhelming interest). 
  • RSVP to secure your spot here: https://forms.office.com/r/si91iGtzk2

**more events to be announced

Public Policy and Leadership Coursework

NextGen Civic Leader Corps participants are required to take a minimum of one course in the Public Policy or Leadership minor. This coursework provides an academic anchor for your public service career exploration, builds your understanding of theoretical frameworks, and can prepare you to talk about your community-engagement and leadership experiences in job interviews and/or graduate school applications.  

Choose how to complete this requirement:

  • LEAD 100: Learning Leadership (Autumn or Winter)  
  • PUBPOL 201: Introduction to Public Policy & Governance (Autumn or Winter)  
  • PUB POL 302: Public Service Leadership (Spring and Summer)  
  • Many courses outside the PUBPOL or LEAD course headings will also count!  
  • Electives that count for either minor may also count toward this requirement. This includes many courses outside the PUBPOL or LEAD course headings.  

NextGen participants are strongly encouraged to consider a minor in Leadership or Public Policy.  

Career Building Experiences

In addition to the context and connections that NextGen Civic Leader Corps participants will get through courses and peer connections, they also engage in one non-profit or government career building opportunity. These career building experiences will connect participants with professionals in a field of interest, build personal and professional networks, and in many cases allow students to gain practical experience working in a nonprofit or government organization.  

Choose how to complete the requirement:   

A paid or unpaid public service internship  

Career mentorship program  

Fellowship and Scholarship Opportunities

NextGen Public Service Fellowship

The NextGen Public Service Fellowships encourage a life-long commitment to public service by providing undergraduates with the opportunity to develop their civic leadership capacity through work in the non-profit and government sectors. Application and selection processes occur during Winter Quarter, students work with program staff to develop internships in the spring, then complete their community-based work and participate in cohort activities during the summer months. Selected fellows receive a $5000 stipend for completing an internship of 200 hours (or more) between May and September.

The NextGen Public Service Fellowship requires that students are enrolled in Summer Quarter 2023, or enrolled in both Spring and Autumn Quarter 2023 OR Spring and Summer Quarter 2023 classes at the University of Washington.

Fellows are selected based on these criteria:

  • Demonstrated commitment to public service career paths;
  • History of engagement with community-based organizations and/or government initiatives;
  • Ability to articulate how a funded summer internship will contribute to student’s development as a public servant and civic leader; and
  • Orientation and capacity to collaboratively develop a plan for an intensive summer internship or project that balances benefit to the partnering organization with student learning.

Additional consideration is given to students who:

  • Are actively involved in the NextGen Civic Leader Corps at the time of application,
  • Have demonstrated financial need, and
  • Are committing to internships/projects that would otherwise be unpaid experiences

Information and Application can be found here: http://cele.uw.edu/students/opportunities/nextgen-public-service-fellowship/

How to Join & office hours

Join the NextGen community! The program is open to all University of Washington undergraduates. Students with a demonstrated history of work with underserved and underrepresented communities are strongly encouraged to consider participation.  

Interested students can fill out this interest form and we will stay in touch about program opportunities.   

Get in touch with program staff by emailing us—at nextgenleader@uw.edu with questions or set up a time to chat with Andy, the NextGen Civic Leader Corps Coordinator, via Zoom by setting up a time through the NextGen Virtual Office Hours Scheduling Link.

Office location: Mary Gates Hall (MGH)#171