Ami Desai

Mikva Challenge develops youth to be informed, empowered, and active citizens and community leaders. We do this by highlighting the value and results of consistent civic engagement that elevates youth voice through our programs and encourages lifelong participation in our democracy. Core Values: Our values challenge the status quo. Traditional schooling emphasizes adult lectures and students as passive learners. Mikva Challenges adheres to the following core values when implementing our mission: We believe that by providing high-quality programming in under-resourced communities and schools, we can eliminate the civic achievement gap. We believe that if youth voice is included in decision-making, policymakers will make more informed decisions. We believe that the best way to learn democracy is to do democracy. We believe civic engagement is an essential tool to help young people develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to be informed, empowered, and active citizens. We believe youth are not apathetic and that by inviting them into the political process, they will become powerful and thoughtful citizens. We believe that Mikva Challenge always needs to be nonpartisan to allow young people to formulate their own opinions and choose the candidates and issues they want to support. Vision: Mikva Challenge envisions a world where: Citizens are informed, empowered, and active Youth voice is valued in decision-making Civic leaders reflect the nation’s diversity Civic engagement is prioritized in education