Congo institute at Fort Worden
CoNGO Institute at Fort Worden — a permanent, endowed campus for global civil society and the young people who will lead it
United Earth Networks and the PEAC Institute are building the West Coast campus of the CoNGO Institute at Fort Worden Historical State Park — a $140 million investment in renovated historic buildings, new facilities, staffing, programs and a $40 million endowment. It opens in 2027 with the Youth Citizen Journalism Lab and grows into a permanent home for civil-society education, linked to the CoNGO Civil Society Media Desk at the United Nations Church Center in New York and anchored within the Spaceship Earth Campus.
Project snapshot
At-a-glance facts for funder calls. The $140M plan is a working allocation until the master plan and building assessments are complete.
- Project lead
- Marc Katsky, Strategic Director, UEN · [email] · [phone]
- Lead partner
- PEAC Institute (Peace, Education, Art & Culture) — curriculum, peacebuilding and arts faculty
- Institutional frame
- CoNGO — Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the UN; CoNGO Educational Initiative with bicoastal offices
- Total investment
- $140M — facilities, renovation, staffing, programs and endowment
- Endowment
- $40M, sustaining about $1.6–2M a year in programs and scholarships at a 4–5% draw
- Facilities
- [6–8] renovated historic buildings plus a new newsroom, assembly hall and learning commons
- Near-term ask
- $2.5M — pilot programs and campus master planning, 2027
- Committed to date
- In-kind: UEN Fort Worden studio, HubCast production, NYC Media Desk office and facilities
- Timeline
- Pilot & planning 2027 · renovation 2028–2031 · new facilities 2031–2035 · endowment fully funded by 2035
- Site tenure
- Within the proposed 35-year Spaceship Earth Campus lease with Washington State Parks
- Media partner
- HubCast Media — production training, editorial mentorship, distribution
- Fiscal sponsor / EIN
- Buckminster Fuller Institute (for UEN, SPC) or PEAC Institute — confirm · EIN [00-0000000]
The opportunity
Language ready to lift into a letter of inquiry or proposal narrative.
Need
Young people are the heaviest consumers of news and the least represented in producing it. Few have training in verifying sources, interviewing with consent, or reporting constructively on the issues that will shape their lives — climate, peace, democracy, equity. Meanwhile, global civil society does vital work at the UN and in communities that rarely reaches public audiences once the meeting room empties.
Our approach
The Youth Citizen Journalism Lab treats young people as documentarians, interviewers, and contributors rather than an audience. Participants research local and global issues, learn to judge credible sources, interview community knowledge-holders, and practice consent-based, ethical, solutions-oriented reporting. They produce short videos, podcasts, photo stories, and articles in small teams with trained adult mentors. Each residency combines media production with nature immersion on Fort Worden's shoreline and forests, creative practice through PEAC, and civic learning with NGOs and leaders — then publishes the work through HubCast, Architects of a New Dawn, and the CoNGO Civil Society Media Desk.
Who it serves
About 104 young people in the pilot year: 20 per seasonal intensive across four intensives, plus a 24-person summer residency, drawn from Jefferson County, the Olympic Peninsula, and the wider Salish Sea region, with scholarship priority for rural, tribal, and low-income youth. Alumni continue as year-round youth correspondents. Audiences include CoNGO member organizations, NGO committees, and youth delegations who gain coverage of their work.
Why now
The pieces are already in place: UEN, HubCast, and PEAC have opened the Civil Society Media Desk with CoNGO in New York, a CoNGO Educational Initiative with bicoastal offices is launching, and the Fort Worden studio is operating. Funding the pilot turns that infrastructure into a working classroom now; the $140M campus plan makes it permanent, with buildings, faculty and an endowment that outlast any single grant cycle.
Programs & campus
The first class offering is the Youth Citizen Journalism Lab (pilot year 2027); the campus grows from there.
| Offering | Format | Theme | Participants | Outputs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring intensive | 5 days, residential | Peace & dialogue | 20 | Interviews, dialogue-circle podcasts, peace narratives |
| Summer residency — Architects of a New Dawn | 2 weeks, residential | Citizen journalism, music & nature immersion | 24 | Short documentaries, music sessions, public presentation |
| Summer intensive | 5 days, residential | Ecology & place — Salish Sea restoration | 20 | Field reports, audio walks, nature-journal stories |
| Fall intensive | 5 days, residential | Civil society & democracy | 20 | NGO profiles, youth roundtables, public-interest reporting |
| Winter intensive | 5 days, residential or school-break | Music & cultural renewal | 20 | Artist interviews, live sessions, photo essays |
| Weekend workshops | 1–2 days, local | Interviewing, verification, mobile video | [12–15 each] | Skills certificates, local stories |
| Youth correspondents | Year-round, remote | Alumni reporting from home communities | [30] | Monthly feature via HubCast and the Media Desk |
Core curriculum
Research and source verification · interviewing and consent · ethics and solutions journalism · audio, video, and photo production · editing and group critique · publishing with editorial standards.
Safeguarding
Trained, background-checked adult mentors; parental consent; age-appropriate assignments; consent from every interview subject; editorial review before anything is published.
Growing programs
NGO leadership and governance training, UN-facing youth delegations, peace and dialogue fellowships with PEAC, international exchange cohorts, and summer institutes for educators.
Campus facilities
Renovated historic buildings for classrooms, residence halls and offices; a new youth newsroom linked to the NYC Media Desk; an assembly hall for global forums; and a learning commons and archive.
Pathways
Virtual conversations with CoNGO-affiliated leaders and youth peers internationally, a fall showcase at Fort Worden, and routes into UN-facing youth delegations and future exchanges.
Funding opportunities
Leadership gifts for buildings and endowment, grants for programs, and sponsors for the pilot.
Leadership & naming opportunities
| Opportunity | Amount | Recognition | Slots | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding institute partner | $25M | Founding name on the CoNGO Institute at Fort Worden, board seat, permanent recognition | 1 | Open |
| Endowment lead gift | $10M | Named endowment fund for youth and civil-society programs | 2 | Open |
| Building naming — newsroom, assembly hall, learning commons | $5M–$10M | Name on a new facility | 3 | Open |
| Historic building renovation | $2M–$5M | Name on a restored building for the lease term | [6–8] | Open |
| Endowed faculty chair | $2M | Named chair in journalism, peacebuilding or civil society | 5 | Open |
| Endowed scholarship | $100K | Named scholarship in perpetuity | Unlimited | Open |
| Pilot season sponsor | $20,000–$75,000 | Named 2027 intensive or summer residency | 5 | Open |
Funding mix (planning targets)
| Source | Use | Target | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major philanthropy — foundations, families, founding partner | Endowment, new facilities | $70M | UEN + campaign counsel |
| Historic tax credits & state preservation and capital funds | Renovating historic buildings | $25M | Tax-credit advisor + GMA |
| Program grants — journalism, youth, civic engagement, peace | Programs and staffing | $25M over 10 years | GMA |
| Impact investment / program-related investment | Residence halls and revenue-producing space | $15M | UEN + financial advisor |
| Community campaign & sponsors | Scholarships and pilot programs | $5M | UEN |
Crowdfunding
“Give a Young Reporter a Voice” — $25,000 for 2027 scholarships and equipment, growing into an annual community scholarship drive.
Endowment
A $40M endowment funds scholarships, faculty and building reserves, so the institute doesn't depend on year-to-year fundraising.
Earned revenue
Tuition on a sliding scale, school and NGO training contracts, residence-hall lodging, forum hosting, and Civil Society Media Desk production services.
Budget & use of funds
$140M total, 2027–2035 (working allocation).
| Phase | Years | Scope | Investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Pilot & planning | 2027 | Youth Citizen Journalism Lab pilot, master plan, building assessments | $2.5M |
| 2 — Renovation | 2028–2031 | Renovate historic buildings; core staff; programs scale up; endowment seeded | $60M |
| 3 — New facilities | 2031–2035 | Newsroom, assembly hall, learning commons; endowment completed | $77.5M |
Committed
$0 cash. In-kind studio, production and Media Desk facilities in place.
Pending
Campus lease discussions with Washington State Parks.
First step
$2.5M for the 2027 pilot and master plan — the gate to every capital gift.
Impact metrics
Pilot-year and full-campus targets.
Measurement method
Pre/post skills assessments; stories published and their reach; learners and NGOs served by program; alumni retention as correspondents and delegates; scholarship share for rural, tribal and low-income youth; buildings and square footage restored; endowment growth. Data owner: [name].
Reporting cadence
Cohort reports after each program, quarterly reports to leadership donors during construction, and an annual public impact and financial report.
Document library
Link each item to the live file in the UEN shared drive.
Fundraising package
Due diligence & evidence
Contacts & next steps
Named owners for every ask, plus what has to happen before this brief goes to funders.
Project lead
Marc Katsky · Strategic Director, United Earth Networks
Fort Worden, Port Townsend, WA
[email] · [phone]
PEAC Institute
[Name] · [Title]
[email] · [phone]
Role: curriculum, faculty, peacebuilding and arts
Grant Management Associates
[Consultant name]
[email] · [phone]
Scope: prospect research, LOIs, proposals, reporting
- Confirm the CoNGO relationship and how the "CoNGO Institute" name may be used in fundraising — get it in writing.
- Finalize age bands, the safeguarding and consent policy, and editorial standards — youth funders will ask first.
- Confirm the fiscal sponsor (BFI or PEAC) and add the EIN.
- Fit the $140M plan into the Spaceship Earth Campus lease and capital plan so the two are not double-counted.
- Commission building assessments and engage campaign counsel and a tax-credit advisor before seeking capital gifts.
- Lock 2027 dates for the intensives and the summer residency, and the Fort Worden lodging arrangement.
- Recruit two or three school or tribal education partners to anchor enrollment and scholarship priorities.