Impact
Before we measured anything, we had to decide what we were actually claiming. Most youth nonprofits count attendance and call it impact. We separated the two on purpose, and the figures below are split into what we delivered, what changed for students and what young people went on to build.
One student who moves another, who moves another, who will never know our names but will eat the fruit of our labor. That is the chain of custody. If it stops at us, we did not build anything. We just held an event.
Clint John, Jr., Executive Director
Reach
21
schools competing in the 2026 Civic Knowledge Bowl, up from twelve.
23
Miami-Dade municipalities have hosted Youth Governance Day. Nineteen took part this year.
2,063
students reached through Civic Action Podcast episodes.
400+
guests at the Civic Excellence Gala.
30
scheduled experiences in a single fellowship cohort. Twenty three in person and seven virtual.
$120,000+
raised for civic programming since 2022.
Growth
12 → 21
schools competing in the Civic Knowledge Bowl, a seventy five percent increase.
More schools are treating civic knowledge as something worth preparing for, competing over and celebrating.
Growth
13 → 23
municipalities have hosted Youth Governance Day since it launched. Nineteen took part this year.
More local governments are treating student presence in the chamber as useful rather than ceremonial.
Change
Virtutem Populo measures outcomes in five categories: civic knowledge, communication confidence, leadership identity, economic understanding and civic action. Instruments include pre and post questions, reflection cards, public speaking and pitch rubrics, competition performance, facilitator observation and student work samples.
We report what the records support. Where the organization has not run pre and post assessment for a program, no percentage appears here, because a confident number without an instrument behind it would be worth less than the honest absence of one.
Civic knowledge
Students demonstrate stronger understanding of government, constitutional rights, public policy and local decision making.
Communication
Students become more comfortable speaking, writing, asking questions, interviewing leaders and defending their thinking.
Leadership identity
Students begin to see themselves as contributors, organizers and problem solvers rather than as an audience.
Economic understanding
Students show stronger grasp of small business, workforce readiness, affordability, public finance and local economic systems.
Civic action
Students take a next step, whether that is another program, a volunteer role, a public meeting, a project of their own or a fellowship application.
Contribution
A Virtutem Populo microgrant went to a student named Isabella, who used it to start a community project called Blissful Hands (opens in a new tab).
$200
A microgrant funded by supporters in one room at one event.
2,000+
pieces of clothing distributed to Camillus House.
300
books delivered to Nathan B. Young Elementary.
100
children reached through mindfulness and breathing programming at a local daycare.
300
children served at a community Thanksgiving event, alongside sessions for families at a hospital neonatal unit and residents at a senior day center.
The impact did not stay two hundred dollars in size.
Two hundred dollars is not a grant. It is a test of whether we actually believe what we say about young people. She passed it. The question is whether the adults in the room will keep taking the test.
Clint John, Jr., Executive Director
Long term
Students understand public systems earlier. They build communication confidence before college or career. Students from underrepresented communities gain access to civic, media, economic and leadership networks they were not born into.
Schools and municipalities begin treating student voice as useful rather than decorative. Students produce work that can inform public conversation. Student leadership becomes a pathway rather than an exception.
Participation figures are drawn from Virtutem Populo program registration and attendance records. Partnership figures represent participating institutions within the identified program cycle. Financial figures are based on organizational sponsorship and contribution records and reflect cumulative support since 2022. Growth percentages are calculated from the participation figures shown. External civic indicators are independently sourced and identified where they appear, drawn from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Annenberg Public Policy Center and CIRCLE at Tufts University. Where the organization has not administered a formal pre and post instrument, no outcome percentage is reported. Last updated 2026.
