Youth Leading Civic Action: Exploring how young people have contributed to civic life over time and how their leadership shapes the future of democracy.
Empowering young leaders to build teams, dig into their local history, and design impactful exhibits that connect local stories of service to the broader national narrative. This Civic Learning Week, tell your community’s story of youth service.
A partnership activation with the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) and the National Museum and Center for Service (NMCFS).
How it works
Bringing your local civic action story to life is a fully supported, three-phase journey. Rather than a rigid assignment, teams have the creative autonomy to decide how best to tell their community’s story.
Before the 5-day design sprint, we’ll help you recruit your local team and secure a high-impact public venue. During the sprint itself, you’ll join daily virtual workshops and drop-in office hours alongside a nationwide network of fellow curators to share ideas and refine your narrative. Afterward, you will debut your exhibit locally as part of a nationwide Volunteer Month celebration, with your communities stories being featured on the national stage across NMCFS and National Youth Leadership Council platforms.
Virtual makerspace, workshops and technical assistance
Our team is here to help you through your exhibit creation journey. Join free virtual markerspaces and workshops, or connect 1:1 with our program team. You are not alone on this journey.
Sign up
Ready to uncover local service stories, bridge cultural and ideological divides, and develop genuine youth leadership? Sign up today to build your team and design an exhibit that exposes the public to the vital, hidden social infrastructure of your neighborhood.
FAQ
A Museum of Service is a local, community-designed exhibit that transforms public spaces (like libraries, civic centers, or schools) into storytelling hubs. These exhibits showcase stories of local service, volunteerism, mutual aid, and everyday civic leadership.
It is a national activation that empowers young leaders to recruit teams in meaningful civic inquiry and service-learning. Teams will design impactful public exhibits that connect local stories of service to the broader national story of civic action.
An everyday local leader—such as a student, youth organizer, business owner, nonprofit representative, or active volunteer—who guides a local team through collecting stories and co-designing a neighborhood “Museum of Service” exhibit.
Anyone passionate about their local community! The opportunity is open to students, youth group leaders, nonprofit representatives, local business owners, neighborhood organizers, and active volunteers. No professional museum experience is required.
Participation in the program is entirely free—giving you no-cost access to all tools, curriculum, and technical assistance—while exhibit production costs vary by community, offering flexible design options ranging from low-cost community setups to professional-grade installations.
Teams share one mandate: the final product must be installed or presented in a public place for the local community to view. Ideas include:
– Physical posters: High-impact graphic displays or poster series set up in high-traffic community hubs.
– Exhibit installations: Professional, standalone physical structures using templates provided by NMCFS.
– Video exhibits: Short documentary films or oral history compilations for public screening.
– Websites / digital timelines: Interactive multimedia platforms accessible via local QR code campaigns.
During Civic Learning Week (March 8-12), you and your team will participate in a 5-day virtual co-design sprint. NMCFS will host daily virtual workshops and drop-in office hours so you can work at your own pace to finalize print-ready exhibit files using turnkey Canva templates. Attendance to the sessions are optional and design to support your Museum development process.
Exhibits are meant to transform high-traffic public spaces into civic hubs. Ideal host venues include public libraries, civic centers, local museum spaces, schools, businesses or community hubs.
Completed physical and digital exhibits can be displayed at any time that suits your community, however we will be hosting a nation wide debut in April, honoring National Volunteer Month.
A welcoming, virtual gathering where Community Curators connect, exchange ideas, ask questions, and find support as they bring their local stories of service to life.
About the partners
National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC)
NYLC blends research-backed service-learning pedagogy with authentic youth leadership. By empowering youth to learn to lead by leading, NYLC helps young people transition from being recipients of programming to architects of solutions.
National Museum and Center for Service
The National Museum and Center for Service (NMCFS) exists to inspire hope and connection by making service to others visible and valued in all its forms. Driven by a vision of a nation united through service, NMCFS creates exhibits, experiences, and partnerships that publicly and prominently honor service in every school and community—strengthening our social fabric through collaboration, belonging, and shared action.