The Impact of the Civic Actor Studio

The Civic Actor Studio transforms how participants think about leadership and the roles they play. Learn about how the Civic Actor Studio creates meaningful change, forges connections, and fundamentally shapes how we show up in community for one another.

The Ripple Effect of the Civic Actor Studio

The Civic Actor Studio has supported 180+ civic actors – individuals engaged in civic action– through a series of creative retreats that build civic trust. Hear in their own voices the “ah-ha moments” and the longstanding impact this community has had and continues to have in Chicago. The Civic Actor Studio is a new civic innovation that can help restore civic trust in America.

Hear from Past Participants

“There’s a depth that didn’t exist before… it leads to the type of trust and respect that, if Jonathan called me and said, ‘Oh, Daniel, I need you to… can you help out with something?’ that I would do whatever I could.”

– Daniel O. Ash (Cohort 1), President of the Field Foundation

There’s a series of connections that happen with being a part of Civic Actor Studio. They’re not just friends, they’re not colleagues, they’re family. And those people have significantly opened my world.”

– Pinqy Ring (Cohort 4), Puerto Rican rapper, activist, and U.S. Hip Hop Cultural Ambassador

“I don’t think I would have been chosen to be on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah or with President Obama if I hadn’t realized that I could reconnect with my authentic, imaginative self through the Civic Actor Studio.

– Dekevious Wilson (Cohort 4), Regional Manager of Becoming a Man at Youth Guidance; Obama Scholar, graduate of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy

“And then I got promoted to my dream job. The Civic Actor Studio process was 100% related to that, and the shift in me.”

– Barbara Lee Williams, PhD (Cohort 3), MACRM Program Director at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy

“I appreciate the intentionality that Joanie Friedman has in picking, cultivating, and curating these specific experiences… she has this amazing way of getting people to trust in unconventional experiences.”

– Senyah Haynes (Cohort 3), Artist, youth development practitioner, children’s book author; facilitator for Cohorts 5–7

“It has enriched my life not just in my work life, but also in my social life… I think overall it was about building the confidence to move into the next stage of my career.”

– Maira Khwaja (Cohort 2), Director of Public Strategy, Invisible Institute

“The Civic Actor Studio provided that starting soil for me to say, ‘Alright, let me spend this week really committing to… making this about my leadership.”

– Cecily Relucio (Cohort 4), Founder, Umuwi Ethnic Studies

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