Scott Warren ‘09 has been appointed as Democracy Fellow in the Swearer Center for Public Service.  Scott will be working with the Center to examine the role higher education institutions can and should play in building and maintaining healthy democracies.

Scott is excited to dig into this question, and to consider how to build a 21st century democracy, over the course of the year.

“There is nothing I’m more passionate about than democracy,” Warren said. “We have an opportunity, and perhaps moral imperative, to use this current moment to explore some of the thornier and more challenging issues of a concept that may be at risk.”

Warren, who served as a Social Entrepreneur in Residence at the Swearer Center in the Spring 2017 semester, co-founded the national nonprofit Generation Citizen (GC) while a Brown undergraduate. Since then, GC, which provides civics education and tools to participate in American democracy, has grown alongside Warren’s passion to expand action civics throughout the country.

“Every day I see students in the classroom through GC, I am reminded that our democracy can work,” Warren said. “I am excited to explore how to bring together the best scholarly thinking on democracy with the most innovative practitioners in the country, and am grateful that Brown and the Swearer Center want to dig into the topic.”

Swearer Center Executive Director Mathew Johnson is excited to have Warren join the Swearer Center for AY2017-18.

“Scott has significant expertise in the civics and democracy space, where he and Generation Citizen have established themselves as leaders and innovators,” Johnson said. “We feel that Scott will provide unique insight into creating an effective pilot program, while setting the framework for Brown to be a leader in the democracy and civic engagement space in the future.”

Warren will work with Swearer Center staff and Brown faculty to create a range of activities including facilitated conversations and convenings, speakers and panel presentations, and trainings and programs for students interested in learning more about democracy in practice.

Warren has also been an Echoing Green Fellow (2010) and Draper Richards Kaplan Fellow (2012).