Cultivating Civic Imaginations
A Yearlong Community of Practice at Monticello
In November 2026, Monticello will launch Cultivating Civic Imaginations: Educating for American Democracy, a yearlong community of practice for civic learning organizations. The initiative begins with a two-day summit at Monticello, where practitioners from across the country will develop projects that strengthen civic learning, democratic engagement, and public history in their own communities.
The summit grows from Monticello’s work with the Educating for American Democracy Community Learning Partners Network, a national community of informal educators in museums, libraries, and historic sites working to strengthen civic learning in the United States.
The inaugural cohort will bring together 50 professionals from organizations in 29 states and the District of Columbia. With support from the EAD-CLP Task Force and leaders in democracy, public history, museums, and education, participants will refine civic projects and connect their work to a broader national field.
2026 Summit Participants
How It Works
The initiative begins with an in-person civic learning and planning summit at Monticello on November 11 and 12, 2026.
After the summit, participants will meet virtually each month in small groups to share feedback, strengthen their projects, and support one another’s work.
In November 2027, a larger summit at Monticello will share the cohort’s work with audiences in person and online. Participants who remain active in the virtual cohort throughout the year are likely to be invited back.
Summit Purpose
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the summit asks how civic and cultural organizations can help communities imagine and practice democracy more fully. It invites participants to consider how museums, historic sites, libraries, humanities councils, and other public institutions can serve as civic infrastructure in their communities, states, and country.
At Monticello, this work is grounded in honest engagement with the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, the lives and labor of the people Jefferson enslaved, and the enduring questions those histories pose for American democracy. Together, these histories invite participants to ask: What ideals will guide our civic work now?
Intended Outcomes
By the time the cohort reconvenes in November 2027, participants will:
- Develop clearer ways to describe how the EAD Roadmap can support community learning settings;
- Test and refine civic learning projects at their own organizations;
- Strengthen a cohort of participating sites ready to share their work locally, statewide, and nationally;
- Share their learning with broader audiences in person and online; and
- Create shared stories that help civic and cultural organizations speak more clearly about their public work.
“ When clambering a mountain, we always hope the hill we are on is the last. But it is the next, and the next, and still the next.”
Project Background
The Educating for American Democracy Roadmap debuted in 2021 as a framework for strengthening history and civics education through inquiry-based learning. Since then, the EAD-CLP Network has helped museum and community learning professionals explore the Roadmap, identify the civic dimensions of their work, and learn from one another in practice. The Cultivating Civic Imaginations Summit is the next step in that shared work.