What is the Southern Civic Spark Project?

The Southern Civic Spark Project is a research-driven initiative designed to tackle one of America’s most persistent challenges: youth political disengagement.

Through academic research, fieldwork, and partnerships with local government, we design low-cost, high-impact civic internship programs for high school students.

Founded by Sid Ram, a student researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill, this project combines academic research with actionable outcomes, ensuring that youth involvement is truly fueled throughout America.

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Mission

We believe that local government is where civic habits begin. By giving high school students the chance to shadow departments, lead community projects, serve their neighbors, and learn from their elected officials, we empower them to become lifelong civic participants and future community leaders.

Examples of projects that interns have completed:

  • Community Gardens

  • Trash Clean-Ups

  • Policy Briefs

  • Virtual Town Tours

  • Town Social Media Posts

  • & Many More!

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Join us. Let’s build the next generation of leaders, together.

Next Steps:

1) Contact us via email or contact box

2) Connect & schedule a meeting to learn more about the program/tailor to town’s needs

3) Design & implement a civic internship program in your community!

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Contact us

Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!