Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Deep Singh reports on how Jasper Main Street has boosted the development of downtown while encouraging young people to join the movement and help revitalize their hometown.

On August 3rd, the David Mathews Center for Civic Life hosted the fourth annual workshop of the Innovators in Civic Education Fellows. Teacher Fellows assist the DMC in educational programming by providing valuable insight on how to create the most relevant and useful resources for educators, both in the classroom and the community.

The DMC is happy to welcome Lauren Lockhart to our team! Lauren will serve as a McKenzie Civic Fellow at the DMC for 2022-23. During her service year, Lauren will assist in the DMC’s civic education programming for students, educators, schools, and communities. Additionally, she will assist the Center in a variety of roles, including helping plan and run this year’s Civic Institute!

In partnership with the Mobile Creole Cultural and Historical Preservation Society and the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the University of South Alabama JOIPs stepped back in time with their summer project.

In late 2021, the DMC was contacted by Auburn University Outreach to join the Securing Identification for Individuals who are Incarcerated Project (SIIIP) by hosting a series of convenings in Montgomery throughout the spring. Six months later, the project has helped forty-one individuals receive their identification and is poised to help many more in the future.

Jean O’Connor-Snyder intern Brin Allen tells the story of two cousins meeting a local need while creating a welcoming community space through their small business.

The Alabama League of Municipalities hosted its 2022 Annual Conference in Tuscaloosa from Wednesday, May 11 to Friday, May 13. DMC Executive Director Rachel Mosness presented a concurrent session to gathered municipal leaders on “How to Have Constructive Conversations with Citizens.”

Last year, the Mathews Center launched our Annual Fund to better fulfill our mission to strengthen civic life across Alabama. A generous donor came forward with an offer to match the gifts we received, and we are delighted to report that this offer has been extended: all donations received by September 30, 2022, up to a maximum of $85,000, will be matched dollar for dollar.

Applications are now open for the 2022-2023 McKenzie Civic Fellowship. Learn more and apply today!

The David Mathews Center for Civic Life hosted the second virtual JOIP Intern Retreat on Friday, February 25, 2022. Over 20 students and faculty mentors from five universities across the state met via Zoom to get to know each other, learn about the DMC, and share their upcoming JOIP projects for the Spring semester.

The David Mathews Center for Civic Life’s (DMC) Innovators in Civic Education Fellowship provides classroom and community-based educators with the resources and training they need to bring high-quality, civics-forward social studies education to their classroom.

The David Mathews Center for Civic Life is pleased to announce our Jean O’Connor-Snyder Internship Call for Proposals for the 2022-23 academic year!

2021 was a year of exciting transition for the Mathews Center! From welcoming our newest Executive Director to launching our Annual Fund, we are inspired to reach new goals and objectives in the coming years. Join us as we recap 2021 and highlight all our programs and events throughout the year!

The Together book club wrapped up on November 9 with a crash course in deliberative dialogue and community forums. DMC Executive Director Rachel Mosness guided the ACE communities through a typical deliberative forum and what they could expect as potential moderators.

On November 2, the second installment in the DMC and ACE book club took place over Zoom. Following the guidelines listed in Together: Building Stronger, Better Communities, ACE representatives participated in a “Community Checkup” to assess the status of civic life in their towns. According to Dr. Mathews, “Many of the things communities do must be done by citizens working together.”

On Tuesday, October 26, the David Mathews Center for Civic Life and Alabama Communities of Excellence kicked off the first session of an online discussion series with various ACE communities. Each week, groups meet via Zoom to discuss how to become “leaderful” communities based on a forthcoming book by Dr. David Mathews, entitled Together: Building Better, Stronger Communities. The goal of this series is to help community leaders and active citizens strengthen civic life in their communities and connect with other small town leaders across the state.

This grant is one of 83 distributed statewide by the Alabama Humanities Alliance to help cultural organizations bounce back from the pandemic.