About the Project
Deliberative democracy is a model of democratic decision-making in which decisions gain legitimacy through fair, reasoned dialogue between those affected.
The Carnegie Youth Deliberative Democracy Project (the Project) is grounded in a simple premise: Engagement in deliberative democracy is a learned skill. Launched by the Center for Public Research and Leadership in 2024 with support from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, the Project’s programming and free curriculum guides participants as they deploy and hone democratic competencies to collaboratively improve an institution on which they are experts: their schools.
This website houses both the Project’s suite of free curriculum and resources and the powerful school improvement ideas generated by the program’s 250 middle and high school participants to date.
About the Toolkit
Rooted in the research on deliberative dialogue, democratic experimentalism, collaborative problem-solving, and design thinking—and piloted with over 250 middle and high school students—the Project’s curriculum supports diverse teams as they engage in deliberative democracy to:
Identify, define, and generate solutions to shared problems in modern schooling;
Evaluate perspectives on the history and futures of American education;
Engage in democratic dialogue with peers and adult mentors to codesign Blueprints for their dream school of the future;
Solicit feedback and refine their models to ensure they meet the needs of diverse stakeholders; and
Build action plans to implement key ideas in their schools today.
Young people leave the program prepared to lead democratic change in their communities and beyond.
About CPRL
The Center for Public Research and Leadership at Columbia University (CPRL) develops the next generation of leaders while supporting the education sector in transforming public school systems into learner-centered organizations that provide each and every student exceptional learning experiences. Since its founding in 2011, CPRL has developed more than 900 leaders from dozens of law, business, education, policy, and data science graduate programs, and provided research, policy, and legal expertise to hundreds of school systems and education organizations across the U.S. and internationally.
Project Staff
Meghan Snyder, Erin Hanley, Andrea Clay, Elizabeth Chu, Courtney Todaro, Ezra Morton, Gabrielle Garcia
Graduate Associates
Aeri Iamsirithaworn, Alexander Roman, Alexis Mountcastle, Sarah Smith, Vaibhavi Chafekar
Project Partners
Many partners helped develop, pilot, and recruit students for the Carnegie Youth Deliberative Democracy Project toolkit. Special thanks to:
Cassie Zenner and Savannah Denning — Green River Regional Educational Cooperative
Erika Halstead and Cosette Gutierrez — Minds Matter
Azadeh Jamalian, Maria Eugenia Segovia, and Rebecca Schifilliti — The GIANT Room
Special gratitude to the New York City youth program alumni who conceived of and led Carnegie Deliberative Democracy clubs in their high schools.
Aliyha Crisostomo, Edianny Heredia, and Emely Bello Trinidad (Marble High School for International Studies)
Amanda Shi (Francis Lewis High School)
Ashley Guinto and Magdalene Annoh-Dompreh (Central Park East High School)
Isabel Mateos (High School for Health Professions and Human Services)
Lourdes Mendieta Macías (All City Leadership Secondary School)
Manar Tirouda (Academy of American Studies)
Xinyu Huang (Susan E. Wagner High School)
This Toolkit was made possible by a grant from Andrew Carnegie Foundation, formerly Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.