Carrying We the People around the world (literally!)
As we enter our 40th year of We the People, we're spotlighting alumni who carry the program’s lessons with them (sometimes literally).
For Katherine Ntiamoah, that meant packing her original We the People textbook to all 11 of her diplomatic postings as a U.S. Diplomat.
Katherine credits We the People as her first hands-on encounter with constitutional philosophy and civil discourse. As she recently shared with the Center, "It transformed civics from a textbook subject into a dynamic practice," she says, "teaching me how to interrogate foundational principles and construct rigorous arguments."
“I carried my original We the People textbook with me to every embassy assignment and consistently pulled it off the shelf ahead of election cycles or civics talks.”
That grounding proved useful far beyond the classroom. “Every four years while serving as a diplomat at U.S. embassies around the world, we would host presidential election watch parties for local audiences, private sector representatives, civil society leaders, and foreign counterparts. Those events were always a prime opportunity to explain the mechanics of U.S. presidential elections and civic participation overseas. I carried my original We the People textbook with me to every embassy assignment and consistently pulled it off the shelf ahead of election cycles or civics talks.”
As Katherine reflected how We the People influenced her path to eventually becoming the director for policy engagement and strategic partnerships at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University, she said, “democratic engagement is an ongoing global responsibility.”
Her testimony about the program is a powerful one, but not all that different from the millions of students who have been similarly impacted by their experience.
Have a similar story to share to celebrate our 40th year of the program? Email Michael Blauw at blauw@civiced.org and as we compile compelling stories about the lasting impact of We the People.
