No matter what you believe, where you live or whether or not your agree with your neighbors, civics and citizenship is about finding your power to help build a better world: in your neighborhood, in your community and even in the halls of the State Capitol and beyond.

That's the mission of the Connecticut Public Affairs Network (CPAN), a pioneer in public affairs programming and government transparency that offers a variety of civic programming for Nutmeggers. The force behind Connecticut Network (CT-N), Connecticut's Old State House, Connecticut History Day, and Kid Governor, CPAN has been serving Connecticut for nearly two decades.   

Today, CPAN 's new mission is to make - and keep - civics cool. More than politics, current events, government policy and citizen action, civics is rooted in revolution, passionate debate, and everyone's right and responsibility to be part of a society where your voice can be heard.

Enter the Gawlicki Family Foundation. In 2017, the Foundation awarded a $200,000 grant to help fund the founding and operations of the Connecticut Democracy Center. The CT Democracy Center’s goal is to encourage and facilitate the understanding and practice of positive informed civic participation for everyone. The Center has already secured project and program partners incuding the Secretary of the State, the CT Department of Education, the CT State College and University system, the Connecticut State Library, the State Historian at UConn, and Everyday Democracy.

The Center's current and planned programming and services include: information about our local, state and federal governments, training in the civic skills and practices required for civic health, models of active citizenship from the past and present, historical context for current issues, ideas for putting knowledge to work by taking informed action, and a reason to feel pride in Connecticut’s contributions to the promise of our Constitutional Democracy. 

When people care about the places where they live and work, their civic attachments lead them to civic participation.

To learn more about the Connecticut Democracy Center and CPAN, visit www.ctdemocracycenter.org.