Citizen University

Citizen University is a left-leaning activist training organization based in Seattle, Washington. The organization was founded by Eric Liu, an official in the Clinton and Obama administrations and a well-known liberal author and public intellectual. Citizen University aims to promote a culture of liberal activism, providing training and mentorship to activists around the country. Its main program, “Civic Saturdays,” emulates religious services to promote local activist networks in the Seattle area.

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Issue Areas: Multi-Issue Advocacy
Website: citizenuniversity.us
Formation:

2012

President/CEO:

Eric Liu

Location: Seattle, WA View on map
Tax ID: 46-4270721
Most Recent Filing: 2025
Budget (2025): Assets: $2,305,735 Revenue: $2,016,776 Expenses: $2,223,986

Contents

    Founding and History

    Citizen University was founded in Seattle, Washington in 2012 by Eric Liu, a son of Chinese immigrants and official in multiple Democratic administrations. 1 Liu previously worked in the Clinton administration in speechwriting and advisory roles, and was appointed to the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service during the Obama administration. He also runs the Citizenship and American Identity Program for the Aspen Institute, is a fellow at Ashoka, and has written a variety of books on his Asian identity and liberal theories of democracy. 2

    Liu began Citizen University as an annual conference in Seattle, adopting the name and the focus on civic engagement in 2012 and gaining nonprofit status in 2014. It founded its “Civic Saturdays” program in response to the election of President Donald Trump. Since then, it has expanded to multiple national programs. 3

    Programs

    Citizen University operates a variety of programs to promote its concept of citizenship. Its most prominent program, “Civic Saturdays,” emulates church services, complete with hymns, readings, and sermons focused on civic engagement. 4 The gatherings, which Citizen University calls “civic rituals” and “a civic analogue to a faith gathering,” promote activism, especially left-leaning activism, as a source of community and personal meaning in lieu of traditional religion. 1

    Citizen University has also expanded to nationwide programs of activist trainings, youth mentorship, and conferences. 5 These programs focus less on specific policy outcomes and more on promoting activist culture and teaching effective activist techniques for liberal causes. 6

    Funding and Affiliations

    Citizen University has received grants from the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the National Philanthropic Trust. In addition, its board of directors includes Kristen Campbell of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE). 7 Citizen University describes itself as working within a network of similarly-minded organizations, including New Pluralists. 6

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2025 $2,305,735 $2,016,776 $2,223,986 View
    2024 $2,511,327 $785,220 $2,136,086 View
    2023 $3,861,512 $2,274,988 $1,659,509 View
    2022 $3,238,244 $2,808,134 $1,081,609 View
    2021 $1,244,231 $1,504,794 $828,153 View
    2020 $644,997 $716,957 $893,963 View

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 13

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Eric LiuCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER$166,140
    Chris Hayashida-KnightCHIEF ADMINISTRATION OFFICER$123,168
    Kayla DemonteCHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER$96,461

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $9,736,040
    • Number of Grants: 67
    • Number of Funders: 33

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $1,000,0002022 Robert Wood Johnson FoundationTo support Citizen University's programmatic work to (1) grow the practice of citizenship and strengthen civic health in communities around the nation and (2) embed and support global learning and the cross-border circulation of knowledge and civic culture-building practices in Citizen University's programs and strategy on locally rooted, place-based work.
    $500,0002021 The Ford FoundationFor general support to build a culture of powerful, responsible citizenship across the United States
    $500,0002020 The Ford FoundationFor general support to build a culture of powerful, responsible citizenship across the United States
    $400,0002025 The David and Lucile Packard Foundationcore support for the Civic Collaboration project, an intiative designed to bring together leaders in support of democracy
    $400,0002021 Rockefeller Brothers FundFor general support
    $300,0002024 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT & CAPACITY BUILDING
    $288,7852024 John Templeton FoundationPOWER + CHARACTER CURRICULUM AND EDUCATOR TRAINING
    $250,0002022 Stand Together FoundationGENERAL OPERATING
    $210,0002024 John E Fetzer Institute IncIN SUPPORT OF CIVIC SATURDAYS AND CIVIC FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS
    $210,0002023 John E Fetzer Institute IncIN SUPPORT OF CITIZEN UNIVERSITY'S CIVIC SATURDAYS AND CIVIC FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS
    $210,0002022 John E Fetzer Institute IncIN COLLABORATION AND TO LEARN FROM CIVIC SATURDAYS AND CIVIC FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS
    $200,0002023 The Hearthland Foundation C/o Breslauer Rutman & Anderson IncBRIDGING DIVIDES
    $200,0002022 John E Fetzer Institute IncTOWARD GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $151,7002023 Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundFor grant recipient's exempt purposes
    $151,2002022 Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundFor grant recipient's exempt purposes
    $150,0002023 The William and Flora Hewlett FoundationFOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $150,0002023 The Ford FoundationGeneral support to build a culture of powerful, responsible citizenship across the United States
    $150,0002022 The William and Flora Hewlett FoundationFOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $150,0002021 The William and Flora Hewlett FoundationFOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $150,0002020 The William and Flora Hewlett FoundationFOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $125,0002022 New ProfitPROGRAM EXPANSION
    $125,0002020 New ProfitPROGRAM EXPANSION
    $112,5002021 National Philanthropic TrustEDUCATION
    $100,0002022 Tides FoundationHEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES
    $100,0002022 National Philanthropic TrustEDUCATION

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “Our Story.” Citizen University. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://citizenuniversity.us/about/story/
    2. “Bio for Eric Liu.” Citizen University. Accessed December 23, 2022. https://citizenuniversity.us/eric-liu/bio/
    3.  [1] “Our Story.” Citizen University. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://citizenuniversity.us/about/story/
    4. Sarah Ruiz-Grossman. “If Sunday Is For Church, This Group Wants Saturdays For Activism.” HuffPost. March 20, 2017. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/citizen-university-civic-saturday_n_58d0132ee4b0be71dcf6ca8b
    5. “Programs.” Citizen University. Accessed December 23, 2022. https://citizenuniversity.us/programs/
    6. “Our Task.” Citizen University. Accessed December 23, 2022. https://citizenuniversity.us/about/our-task/
    7. “Citizen University.” Cause IQ. Accessed December 23, 2022. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/citizen-university,464270721/