Getting Civic with Gen Z: A Q&A with Caroline Klibanoff of Made By Us

As museum staff, our workdays are filled with time-consuming tasks, our to-do lists constantly expanding with emails to write, memos to produce, projects to advance, and programs to put on. In all of this, it’s easy to lose the forest for the trees and feel our efforts are more like churn than currents. For me, the force that helps shake this mindset is the Made By Us collective, an alliance of museums working to strengthen their role as civic hubs. On many days, Made By Us is what motivates me to see the trees and the forest—the full potential for museums and the museum field, and all of our cultural, social, and educational organizations alike. Why? Because Made By Us is a bridge that connects our organizations with our current audiences and the public, with a particular focus on Gen Z. It creates a two-way dialogue for the betterment of our communities and society, moving all of us together towards an optimistic 2026, the 250th anniversary of the nation.

All currents have a source: the organizations participating in Made By Us , their amazing team, and Caroline Klibanoff , their Executive Director, who is a friend, former team member, and my go-to for all things civic-related. To learn more about the initiative, I spoke with Caroline about what the team has accomplished and learned so far. The following is an excerpt from our conversation.

Adam Rozan: Caroline, Hello. Can you introduce yourself and share what you do?

Caroline Klibanoff: I’m the Executive Director of Made By Us, a senior fellow at New America on the US@250 project, and an Eisenhower USA Fellow.

AR: And a Smithsonian Research Associate!

CK: Yes, I’m a proud Smithsonian Research Associate, thank you, Adam.

AR: How did you get into this type of work? What’s your background? And what keeps you motivated?

CK: I’ve always been interested in the American story, how it is understood, and how we might use digital tools and pop culture to invite more voices. My training is in public history, but I have worked in the civic engagement and bridge-building sector, so bringing these worlds together through Made By Us has been very rewarding.

What motivates me is helping institutions prepare for an uncertain future, and create the capacity and agility to meet people’s real needs.

AR: And for those who are unfamiliar, what’s Made By Us?

CK: Made By Us is an incredible alliance of historic sites and history museums around the country that have stepped up to serve as civic hubs for younger generations, specifically Gen Z adults ages eighteen to thirty. We know that to shape the future, we must understand the past. But it’s not always easy to find credible, timely, accessible information about “how we got here” as a nation.

History museums can help, especially when working together as a vast repository of stories, voices, evidence, and perspectives. As we approach the US 250th, it feels more urgent than ever that young people have a say in our country’s future, and some of that power can be gained from access to institutions and from understanding our past.

AR: And how do you do that?

CK: Working across hundreds of history institutions, we develop and share content and programming that puts the day’s news in a historical context. Through trivia nights, pizza parties, festivals, Instagram and TikTok posts, Teen Vogue articles, public radio podcasts, personality quizzes, and zines, we meet young people where they are with history—sourced from credible institutions. Along the way, we’re transforming our institutions’ capacity to better serve young people by offering training and collaboration opportunities. This all comes together in national programming like Civic Season, our flagship program held from Juneteenth to July 4th every year since 2021.

AR: How did the project come to be? ?

CK: As far back as 2015, museum directors were gathering to discuss how to serve younger generations better and equip them with civics education to be more informed, empowered citizens.

Fast forward, when I came on as program manager in 2019, seated at the Smithsonian, I shared a vision with the steering committee—including the CEOs of Monticello, National Museum of American History, National Archives, Heinz History Center, HistoryMiami and Atlanta History Center—that expanded the network into a nationwide coalition, produced shared but modular elements that allowed for a range of usage, and worked to harness different organizations’ strengths and inputs to learn faster and build bigger. Innovation pioneers like Kaz Brecher and Valerie Donati led us to a structure that was audience-first, iterative, and had rigorous and vibrant branding. The operations and infrastructure of Made By Us took root, with help from the staff at the steering committee organizations and our first public program, My Wish For U.S., was launched in 2020.

AR: Besides the steering committee, museum folk, like me, are also involved. What role do museum people play here?

CK: None of this would have been possible without our museum and historic site partners, who form the foundation of the Made By Us coalition. Local historic sites and museums are the gas in the tank that powers this engine with their ingenuity, commitment, and participation.

Hundreds of organizations have raised their hands to say yes, we want to engage younger folks and are willing to get to work doing that. Museum leaders and staff, like yourself, lead advisory committees, regional working groups, and public programming; they share what they are learning so others can save a step; they collaborate to get broader input when experimenting with a new idea or hot topic. The participation ripples out to our Fellows, Youth Bureau, and youth community, who gain access to consulting, speaking, and writing opportunities to improve museums’ offerings.

AR: What has Made by Us learned in doing this work?

CK: We’re still learning by design, but three key points come to mind.

One, plan to iterate. Our first strategic plan was visualized by a cyclone, looping year over year. We expected backslides, muddiness, and experimentation as we evolved and grew. We’ve tried, learned, tried again, learned, tried bigger.

Two, work together. We iterate smarter and faster because hundreds of museums file data points and case studies about what they’ve tried and learned for the benefit of others. We share templates and tools, and we also share risk and exposure—safety in numbers. In short, we can do more together than any institution alone.

And, three, make it joyful. Why shouldn’t participating in democracy be fun? There’s a reason we have an “I Voted” sticker. Sticking stickers on things is fun. There’s a need for gravitas and seriousness, profound critique, and thoughtful reflection. There’s also a need to reflect the current zeitgeist and its aesthetics.?We strive for celebration, joy, and maximalism because we see the American story as ever-evolving, pluralist, and multi-perspective.?

AR: In your opinion, and from doing this work, can museums shift to being more audience- and Gen-Z-focused?

CK: Yes. We’ve seen it in small, volunteer-run museums and large federal entities. We’ve seen it in rural communities in red states and urban centers in blue states and military museums and state museums and historic houses and living history sites and with landmark markers and trails. Gen Z isn’t the only audience that matters, but they should be part of your museum’s inclusion strategy.

This is a matter of future sustainability—the ability to evolve to meet people’s real needs in real-time.

AR: Let’s talk Civic Season. What is it, and when is it?

CK: One of our largest and best-known programs is Civic Season, which has occurred every summer since 2021. Between Juneteenth and July 4th, two watershed moments in US history, we invite millions of Americans nationwide to school up on history and skill-up on civics and self-discovery. Civic Season is a vital civic ritual to learn more about yourself and your country through events, resources, and activations at hundreds of historic sites, libraries, community organizations, and online.

Everyone should know about Civic Season; every organization is invited to participate and join.

AR: What should organizations know? Audiences?

CK: This is your moment to make your own. We see Civic Season as the ultimate “test kitchen” for America’s 250th. It is a way for museums to try new approaches and programs, using the many resources, templates, and materials we share to engage new audiences. It’s been amazing to see communities from coast to coast deliver creative programming, from bird-watching at Conner Prairie in Indiana (yes, that’s a civic act!) to bystander intervention training at the Historic Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum in Florida, to walking tours at King Manor in New York, to a festival at the Wyoming State Museum. This past summer, we held “Slice of History” pizza parties in thirty locations, bringing a fun, social, IRL aspect to learning together in the community. Thirty-five thousand people created a custom Civic Season itinerary on the website, 570 organizations participated, and we’ve reached fifty million nationwide over the last four years.

I am proud of this flexibility and scale as we approach the U.S. 250th anniversary. This was precisely why we designed Civic Season in this way. We’ve now proven the concept, activated it, and streamlined the operations. Let’s do it again for 2025 and 2026.

AR: Speaking of 2026, what’s on deck for the U.S. 250th?

CK: We want to ensure youth input in the plans for how America commemorates 250 years, and we are building Youth250 to address that gap. In the fall, we will hold intergenerational workshops, distribute a toolkit for institutions, and launch the first-ever national youth advisory board. Young advisors will lead institutions in ensuring their 250th plans are Gen-Z-friendly. This is a pilot for an advisory body that our country would benefit from, not just in museums but across sectors.

AR: Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that with every new generation, there is always the conversation about how to engage, learn from, and, importantly, work with them. Would you agree, and what are your thoughts on working with Gen Z?

CK:?I heard a powerful phrase from two fellows in my New America US@250 cohort, Jaha Cummings and Joan Ai of the Blanchard House Institute, who are building an innovative trail comprised of communities that had historic Black business districts across the US. When these business districts were destroyed through the urban renewal policies implemented between the late 1950s and early 1970s, communities were hollowed out,?interrupting?the continuity of the transmission of values, wealth, and opportunity. Among these values was hope. Younger people lost out on the transmission of the hope that sustained the community in past years from the older generations.

Older generations contribute to our future by ensuring that the ideals of hope, excellence, and resilience get passed on. That’s a critical role. Without seeing the continuum, we’re individual data points, a blip in time. We think “this is a bad moment” without the context of yesterday and the hope of tomorrow. In some ways, that’s where we are now. Sixteen percent of Gen Z are proud to live in the United States. Trust is eroded, cynicism at an all-time high. It’s squashing our creativity, imagination, and will to build a better world.

We need younger generations’ passions and ideas to shape the future, and we need older generations to carry the hope and lend a hand. My hope is that Youth250 will begin to build this bridge, so we can write the next chapter together.

AR: You spend your day-to-day working with museums, civic organizations, and above all of that, Gen Zers. I have a few quick questions about this work, almost a lightning round. Can we try it?

CK: Sure!

AR: What advice do you have for museums that want to partner with Gen Zers and Gen Z groups?

CK: Invite them to weigh in.

AR: Gen Z as an audience?

CK: Pragmatic, curious, savvy.

AR: Gen Z as an employee?

CK: Action-oriented.

AR: A donor?

CK: Focused on impact for the world, not the org.

AR: Final question: what’s your hope for 2026?

CK: I hope this moment brings Americans closer to their country and makes them more curious about it. We have a crisis of belonging, of trust, of care. People feel pushed to the brink on so many fronts, with very few avenues to be heard or make change. This was true in 1976, 1876, and 1776, too.

The civic leader Eric Liu , whose Civic Collaboratory group I’m a part of, tells a story about a billboard that says, “YOU’RE NOT IN TRAFFIC—YOU ARE TRAFFIC.” That’s how I think about the United States. We are this country. We are this democracy. The story is not already written—it’s up to us.

I hope 2026 helps people celebrate that power.

Note: Originally published Friday, October 11, 2024, on the American Alliance of Museums blog. https://www.aam-us.org/2024/10/11/getting-civic-with-gen-z-a-qa-with-caroline-klibanoff-of-made-by-us/