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Serve Our Community While Learning

Civic Leadership Initiative

The CGCS conceptualizes, designs and executes projects designed to serve the community. Participants serve alongside their peers to deliver a tangible real-world impact on pressing issues in their community. Further, participants develop professional skills that further their professional aspirations.

The CGCS serves as an incubator and action arm working with students, faculty, staff, as well as public and private organizations. Emerging initiatives focus on the development of generative AI applications for public service and countering human trafficking. We are actively seeking partners for future initiatives.

Our Programs

Badges

TECHNOLOGY & CIVIC LEADERSHIP BADGE

Earn a Technology & Civic Leadership badge by attending three qualifying events and completing a short reflection in Suitable. Be sure to check in with the CGCS! We are working to create more badging opportunities.

Qualifying Event Badges

Attend any 3 events from the options below to earn the Technology & Civic Leadership Badge

Propose a Collaboration

Simulations

The CGCS develops simulations to train specific leadership skills and attributes and based on the specified skills and attributes develops learning and simulation objectives.

The CGCS is eager to work with Students, Staff, and Faculty to run existing simulations or to develop and run new simulations tailored to specific educational desires and needs. If interested, click the "Propose a Simulation" banner.
Each simulation is based on a scenario with roles developed for students to "play" in order to develop and practice leadership skills in a manner designed to provide specific, detailed feedback.
The CGCS offers Skill Building Workshops lasting two hours in length in advance of simulations to teach specific skill sets participants can apply during the simulation. Participation is optional and open regardless of whether scheduled to participate in a simulation or not.
The CGCS is in the process of developing a Civic Leadership Badge and eventually a micro-credential. Stay tuned for details.

86 Participants who completed simulations

344 Total leadership training hours delivered

Catalogue

Virescenia

Focus: Strategic Communication

An Austin based bio-technology company has inadvertently created a novel disease. The Mayor has called a public meeting to address concerns and solicit citizen cooperation. Assume a role on the Mayor's team to prevent panic and obtain support or assume the role of a member of the public trying to shape city policy, influence your fellow residents, or obtain specific information.

Virescenia

SCENARIO

Local biotech company GeneSys created Luxaflora – a genetically modified house plant. It appears that Luxaflora has led to a new disease. Take on the role of either a government official or a member of the public and attend a public meeting called by the mayor to discuss the crisis.

Age 14+ 20+ players 4+ Hours

Learning Objectives

You will learn to:

"Read a room" crafting and delivering messages to obtain information you need
Shape the behavior of either the government or the public
Obtain critical information or influence decision-making in high-pressure settings

GeneSys

Focus: Ethical Decision-Making in Crisis

The Austin based bio-tech company has called a meeting of its board to set priorities in dealing with the crisis (Virescenia). Attend the meeting as a member of the board (e.g. Chief Science Officer, Legal Counsel, etc) and employ ethical decision-making frameworks as you attempt to convince the board to adopt your specific priorities balancing ethics, personal interests, and time and event horizons.

GeneSys

SCENARIO

The Austin based bio-tech company has called a meeting of its board to set priorities regarding the crisis. Attend as a board member (Chief Science Officer, Legal Counsel, etc.) and employ ethical decision-making frameworks.

Age 14+ 5+ players 4+ Hours

Learning Objectives

You will learn to:

Apply ethical theories (utilitarian, deontological) to complex decisions
Negotiate competing interests and stakeholder priorities
Build consensus while balancing personal and institutional ethics

The Dysfunctional Family Dinner

Focus: Conflict Management & Resolution

Join "your" dysfunctional family for a holiday dinner and navigate political debates, emotional dynamics, and hidden agendas. Shape and steer the conversation, manage and resolve conflict, so as to protect or propagate information and relationships.

The Dysfunctional Family Dinner

SCENARIO

Navigate a family gathering with political debates and hidden agendas to manage conflict constructively during a holiday dinner. Shape and steer the conversation to protect relationships.

Age 14+ 8+ players 3+ Hours

Learning Objectives

You will learn to:

Strengthen conflict resolution and de-escalation skills
Adapt communication styles to different personalities
Engineer off-ramps from heated discussions while preserving relationships

Skill Building Workshop

The CGCS develops skill building workshops to teach and train specific leadership skills and attributes. Workshops employ a blend of lectures, video-based learning, limited role playing, and discussion.

The CGCS is eager to work with Students, Staff, and Faculty to run existing workshops or to develop and run new workshops tailored to specific educational desires and needs. If interested, click the "Propose a Collaboration" button.
Workshops are designed to support simulations by teaching and training skills so that they may be further developed in the more rigorous environment of a simulation. One does not have to participate in simulations to participate in workshops.
The CGCS is willing to conduct workshops at each of ACC's campuses.
The CGCS is in the process of developing a Civic Leadership Badge and eventually a micro-credential. Stay tuned for details.

Strategic Communication

Skills include reading a room, establishing a presence, targeting messages, and developing and delivering messages. This workshop supports the "Virescenia" simulation, but one does not have to participate in the simulation to attend the workshop.

Ethical Decision-Making

Skills include an orientation to utilitarian and deontological reasoning, consideration of time and event horizons, balancing personal and professional perspectives, negotiating positions, and building consensus. This workshop supports the "GeneSys" simulation, but one does not have to participate in the simulation to attend the workshop.

Conflict Management & Resolution

Skills include discerning the perspectives of others, building empathy, practicing genuine curiosity, active listening, designing conversations, creating interventions, reconciling perspectives, and engineering off-ramps and exits. This workshop supports "The Dysfunctional Family Dinner" simulation, but one does not have to participate in the simulation to attend the workshop.

Braver Angels

Skills include engaging across political and ideological differences, practicing intellectual humility, recognizing polarization dynamics, articulating values without demonization, and listening to understand rather than to win. This workshop supports Braver Angels-style depolarization dialogues and civic conversations, but participants do not need prior experience or affiliation with Braver Angels to attend the workshop.

Government Partnership

The CGCS launched this mission area in the fall of 2024 by partnering with the City of Austin in the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative aimed at securing commitments from local governments to promote open government, combat corruption, and improve governance. Participants are required to form a monitoring body to report on implementation through the U.S. government to the OGP. In partnership with the city, ACC students have formed the monitoring body and will report on the city's performance at the end of 2025.

The CGCS is working to form other projects with local governments that place students in leadership and substantive positions that build skills and relationships while contributing to improving local governance and communities.

Austin, Texas Open Government Action Plan

Open Government Partnership participants

Austin Homelessness Advisory Council document

Explore City of Austin Open Government Partnership