The Guiding Lights Network, founded by Eric Liu, specializes in the art of the gathering, creating experiences that spark civic imagination and social change.
Guiding Lights Network brings together leaders, catalysts, and innovators in creative ways to generate new solutions to collective challenges. Our mission is to restore community and compassion through mindful mentoring, imagination and passionate engagement in public life.
Projects
Citizen University
(formerly The Guiding Ligths Weekend)
The Guiding Lights Network is best known as producers of Citizen University (formerly The Guiding Lights Weekend), the nation's most vital conference on the art of great citizenship.
Hundreds of Americans from left, right and center gather at Citizen University for a day of learning, inspiration and action with country's most creative thought leaders, change makers and culture shapers. We aim to cultivate the values and skills needed to be an effective member of civic life.
Founded in 2006 as The Guiding Lights Weekend, the conference has attracted over 5,000 attendees. Over the years, our focus at the conference has evolved from mentoring and life-long learning to reflect our current work and passion to reimagine what it means to be an American.
We believe citizenship is about showing up for community and country — and we believe anyone can be a great citizen. This is a pivotal moment for Americans from left, right, and center to reclaim responsibility for solving problems together.
Civic Collaboratory
The Civic Collaboratory is a national, bipartisan gathering focused on reviving the culture of citizenship in the United States. Catalytic leaders and thinkers from education, business, law, media, politics, technology, science and art are meeting every few months to develop a plan for pushing civics to the forefront of the national conversation. The collective energy, resources and synergy of these invitation-only gatherings have created platforms, programs and campaigns to innovate and elevate the teaching of great citizenship.
Sworn-Again America
What would it look like for all of us to take an oath, to renew our civic vows? To become sworn-again? Eric Liu and The Guiding Lights Network have created an experiential, educational project called Sworn-Again America to enable Americans to see citizenship with new eyes and to educate and inspire people to know more and to do more.
The Sworn-Again America ceremony debuted at the 2012 Guiding Lights Weekend and has been performed at The 2012 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, The National Constitution Center, The National Conference on Citienship and Seattle Center's Next50Closing Ceremony and in communities large and small.
Visit SwornAgainAmerica.us to find out how to host a ceremony in your community.