iCivics is a nonprofit digital educational platform that provides online civics education programming tailored to K-12 students. The organization was founded by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2009 and has a network of tens of thousands of teachers across 50 states.

The organization claims that over 7.6 million students use its resource library which includes over 260 programs, courses, games, and literacy tools annually. iCivics also leads the CivXNow coalition, a group of over 150 organizations that promote left-leaning civics reforms. iCivics has stressed a focus on left-of-center conceptions of racial equity through its programs and has been accused of promoting critical race theory in schools. It holds up left-leaning civics education laws such as one passed in Illinois as models for the nation. ^{1 2}

Background

iCivics was founded in 2009 as a project to promote American civics education by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who cited a need for a renewal of civics teaching which she felt was lacking and uninspired. Since its founding, iCivics has developed a curriculum library of over 260 lessons and games for students and reached a claimed 7.6 million students annually through its network of over 70,000 teachers across the nation. ^{3 4}

One program offered by the organization is Win the White House, a game that allowed students to strategize their own hypothetical 2020 presidential campaign. The game was played over 2.6 million times and led to a growth of the organization’s total student engagement. Another program operated by iCivics is the Youth Equity Fellowship, a paid program where students get training on activism. The organization promoted one instance of a fellowship participant lobbying his local school board to adopt left-leaning climate change guidelines. ⁵

The group is funded in part by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which has funded a variety of the organization’s programs. iCivics received a $750,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2015. ⁶

Since 2020, the organization has seen a dramatic growth in revenue, reporting $5.6 million in 2020 and $21.1 million in 2022. ⁷

Activity

iCivics conducts a variety of civic education programs, often incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) themes. In 2023, the group provided a curriculum to pair with a campaign led by Nickelodeon and ATTN: that was unveiled by First Lady Jill Biden called “Well Versed,” which the group describes as “a brand-new animated musical short-form series that aims to help teach kids about democracy and the U.S. Bill of Rights in fun and imaginative ways through original pop songs.” ⁸

The group also partners with state and local bar associations in addition to colleges and universities. In 2023, the group partnered with Texas Women’s University and the Tarrant County Bar Association to host a panel on the life of Sandra Day O’Connor. The group also leads the Texas Civics Education Coalition. ⁹

CivXNow Coalition

iCivics leads an organization called the CivXNow coalition, which was founded in 2018 as a coalition of 150 organizations calling for “systemic change” ¹⁰ to promote “equitable civic education” in the United States. ¹¹ iCivics also received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to lead a coalition of 300 individuals at organizations and universities including Harvard, Arizona State, and Tufts. ¹² Through such work, the organization has received criticism from right-leaning sources for its alleged embrace of Ibram X. Kendi-style “anti-racist” ¹³ curricula and critical race theory. ¹⁴

As of January 2024, the CivXNow webpage stated that the project was funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. ¹⁵

In the 117^th Congress, the CivXNow coalition supported the Civics Secures Democracy Act, which would provide $1 billion annually to support nonprofit organizations and develop curricula for schools. ^{16 17}

The Civics Secures Democracy Act would initially use COVID relief funds to fund the $1 billion annual cost of the bill, which would be broken down to include $585 million for state education agencies, $200 million for nonprofits, $150 million for higher education institutions, $50 million for researchers, and $15 million to create a civics fellowship program. ¹⁸

The right-of-center National Association of Scholars opposed the legislation stating that it would allow for the federal funding of “both Critical Race Theory and ‘Action Civics’—vocational training for ideologically partisan protest and lobbying—upon America’s schools.” ¹⁹ At the state level, the CivXNow Coalition has distributed model legislation to “enact comprehensive, research-based civic learning legislation” in the states and has supported similar legislation in 13 states. ²⁰

The CivXNow Coalition lists dozens of organizational supporters on its website including America Forward, the American Historical Association, the American Political Science Association, the Arizona Civic Coalition, Arkansas Project Citizen, California Center for Civic Participation, Center for Civic Education, DemocracyReady NY, Discovering Justice, Dodd Human Rights Impact, League of Women Voters, Population Connection, Rainey Center Freedom Project, Rock the Vote Action Fund, and the College Board. ²¹

Critical Race Theory

iCivics has faced criticism from the right for its perceived embrace of critical race theory and teachings on “systemic racism.” ²² The organization held up a controversial civics education mandate passed by the Illinois state legislature as a model for the nation and has expressed a commitment to “pointing out institutional systemic racism in teaching about our institutions.” ²³

One of the key employees of iCivics in Amber Coleman-Mortley, the director of social engagement for the organization. Coleman-Mortley began hosting webinars promoting critical race theory following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 including one titled “Culturally Responsive Teaching to Promote Anti-Racist Classrooms.” ²⁴ Coleman-Mortley’s webinars endorse critical race theory and “culturally responsive teaching,” ²⁵ an outgrowth of critical race theory that encourages teachers to call America systemically racist and to organize protests and student demonstrations for left-of-center advocacy causes. ²⁶

1. “Who We Are.” iCivics. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.icivics.org/who-we-are
2. Kurtz, Stanley. “Reply to Louise Dube of iCivics.” National Review. February 3, 2021. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/reply-to-louise-dube-of-icivics/
3. “Our Founder.” iCivics. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.icivics.org/our-founder
4. “Who We Are.” iCivics. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.icivics.org/who-we-are
5. Davis, Kathleen. “How the nonprofit iCivics inspired millions of kids to try to win the White House last year.” Fast Company. August 10, 2021. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.fastcompany.com/90651858/most-creative-people-2021-louise-dube
6.   “iCivics: 2015 Grant Recipient.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://www.macfound.org/maceirecipients/2015/icivics
7. “iCivics.” NonProfit Explorer. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/383796793
8. “First Lady of the United States Jill Biden and Former First Lady of the United States Laura Bush Join Nickelodeon, ATTN: and iCivics to Unveil Well Versed – New Animated Musical Short-Form Series Designed to Help Revitalize Civic Education for Kids.” Business Wire. October 27, 2023. Accessed November 26, 2023. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231027797785/en/First-Lady-of-the-United-States-Jill-Biden-and-Former-First-Lady-of-the-United-States-Laura-Bush-Join-Nickelodeon-ATTN-and-iCivics-to-Unveil-Well-Versed-%E2%80%93-New-Animated-Musical-Short-Form-Series-Designed-to-Help-Revitalize-Civic-Education-for-Kids
9. “TWU partners with iCivics to celebrate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s life.” Texas Women’s University. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://twu.edu/institute-womens-leadership/news-and-successes/twu-partners-with-icivics-to-celebrate-justice-sandra-day-oconnors-life/
10. “Who We Are.” iCivics. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.icivics.org/who-we-are
11. “Who We Are.” iCivics. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.icivics.org/who-we-are
12. “Who We Are.” iCivics. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.icivics.org/who-we-are
13. Kurtz, Stanley. “Reply to Louise Dube of iCivics.” National Review. February 3, 2021. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/reply-to-louise-dube-of-icivics/
14. Kurtz, Stanley. “Reply to Louise Dube of iCivics.” National Review. February 3, 2021. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/reply-to-louise-dube-of-icivics/
15. “A PROJECT OF ICIVICS.” CivXNow. Accessed January 5, 2024. https://www.civxnow.org/
16. “Senators Coons, Cornyn introduce bipartisan bill to invest $1 billion annually in civics education.” Senator Chris Coons. June 14, 2022. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://www.coons.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-coons-cornyn-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-invest-1-billion-annually-in-civics-education#:~:text=The%20Civil%20Secures%20Democracy%20Act,for%20civics%20and%20history%20initiatives.
17. “Federal Policy.” CivXNow Coalition. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://civxnow.org/our-work/federal/
18. Senators Coons, Cornyn introduce bipartisan bill to invest $1 billion annually in civics education.” Senator Chris Coons. June 14, 2022. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://www.coons.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-coons-cornyn-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-invest-1-billion-annually-in-civics-education#:~:text=The%20Civil%20Secures%20Democracy%20Act,for%20civics%20and%20history%20initiatives.
19. “Open Letter: Congress Must Oppose the Civics Secures Democracy Act.” National Association of Scholars. March 30, 2022. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/open-letter-congress-must-oppose-the-civics-secures-democracy-act
20. “State Legislation Examples.” CivXNow Coalition. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://civxnow.org/our-work/state-policy/state-legislation-examples/
21. “Supporters.” CivXNow Coalition. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://civxnow.org/our-work/federal/supporters/
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23. Kurtz, Stanley. “Reply to Louise Dube of iCivics.” National Review. February 3, 2021. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/reply-to-louise-dube-of-icivics/
24. Kurtz, Stanley. “Reply to Louise Dube of iCivics.” National Review. February 3, 2021. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/reply-to-louise-dube-of-icivics/
25. Kurtz, Stanley. “Reply to Louise Dube of iCivics.” National Review. February 3, 2021. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/reply-to-louise-dube-of-icivics/
26. Kurtz, Stanley. “Reply to Louise Dube of iCivics.” National Review. February 3, 2021. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/reply-to-louise-dube-of-icivics/