Congo institute at Fort Worden
CoNGO Institute at Fort Worden — training young people to report on the world they will inherit
United Earth Networks and the PEAC Institute are opening the West Coast campus of the CoNGO Institute at Fort Worden Historical State Park. Its first offering is the Youth Citizen Journalism Lab: seasonal intensives and a summer residency where young people learn to research, interview, and produce ethical, solutions-focused stories on peace, climate, and civil society — and publish them through HubCast and the CoNGO Civil Society Media Desk at the United Nations Church Center in New York.
Project snapshot
At-a-glance facts for funder calls. The pilot budget is a working estimate and should be confirmed with PEAC and HubCast before submission.
- 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
- Media partner
- HubCast Media — production training, editorial mentorship, distribution
- Locations
- Fort Worden campus & studio, Port Townsend, WA · Civil Society Media Desk, UN Church Center, New York
- First offering
- Youth Citizen Journalism Lab
- Pilot year budget
- $285,000 (estimate)
- Committed to date
- In-kind: UEN Fort Worden studio, HubCast production, NYC Media Desk office and facilities
- Current gap
- $285,000
- Timeline
- Curriculum & safeguarding Q1 2027 · first intensive spring 2027 · summer residency · showcase fall 2027
- Fiscal sponsor / EIN
- Buckminster Fuller Institute (for UEN, SPC) or PEAC Institute — confirm · EIN [00-0000000]
- Ages served
- [14–24] — confirm age bands and safeguarding policy
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 West Coast classroom — and gives the Media Desk a steady pipeline of youth-produced content from day one.
Initial class offering
Youth Citizen Journalism Lab — pilot year 2027.
| 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.
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
Every revenue path, with amount, funder benefit, and next-step owner.
Sponsorship tiers
| Tier | Amount | Recognition & benefits | Slots | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding institute partner | $75,000 | Founding credit on the CoNGO Institute at Fort Worden, recognition on all youth-produced content for the pilot year, showcase remarks, briefing at the NYC Media Desk | 1 | Open |
| Summer residency sponsor | $40,000 | Named sponsor of the Architects of a New Dawn summer residency, credit on its documentaries and public presentation | 1 | Open |
| Season intensive sponsor | $20,000 | Underwrites one seasonal intensive; named cohort, credit on its published stories, invitation to the closing session | 4 | Open |
| Newsroom equipment partner | $15,000 or in-kind | Named supplier of cameras, audio kits, or editing software; case-study story produced by the youth | 2 | In conversation |
| Youth correspondent sponsor | $2,500 | Funds one young person's full scholarship and a year as a correspondent; named in their published work | 40 | Open |
| Community partner | $1,000–$5,000 | Program listing, local story feature, showcase invitation — for local businesses, media outlets, and civic groups | Unlimited | Open |
Grant targets & pipeline
| Funder type / target | Program fit | Request | Deadline | Stage | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journalism, media literacy & news-information funders | Youth journalism training, verification, ethical reporting | $75,000 | [LOI-based] | Prospect research | GMA |
| Youth development & out-of-school learning funders | Residential intensives, mentoring, scholarships | $60,000 | [Rolling] | Concept note drafting | GMA + PEAC |
| Civic engagement, democracy & global citizenship funders | Civil-society reporting, UN-facing pathways, youth voice | $50,000 | [Cycle TBD] | Prospect research | GMA |
| Peace & arts education funders | PEAC peacebuilding and music/culture tracks | $25,000 | [Cycle TBD] | Cultivation | PEAC |
| Washington State education & regional community foundations | Rural and tribal youth access on the Olympic Peninsula | $25,000 | [Cycle TBD] | Eligibility check | UEN |
Crowdfunding
Goal: $25,000 — "Give a Young Reporter a Voice" · Window: [spring 2027]
Funds scholarships and equipment. Tiers at $25 (youth story dedication), $100 (a field audio kit), $500 (one intensive scholarship), $2,500 (a year-long correspondent).
Major & recurring gifts
Named scholarship funds, multi-year pledges to grow the Lab into an annual program, and monthly "newsroom" sustainers at $25/mo. Stewardship: a curated feed of the youth's published work and a seat at the fall showcase.
Earned revenue
Sliding-scale tuition with scholarship offsets, school and district partnerships, and Civil Society Media Desk production services — packages from $250 Zoom support to $1,500+ multi-camera hybrid production, with youth teams assisting under supervision.
Budget & use of funds
Pilot year 2027 — $285,000 (working estimate).
Assumes four 5-day intensives of 20 youth, one 2-week summer residency of 24, and a year-round correspondent program. In-kind studio, production, and office contributions from UEN, HubCast, and the NYC Media Desk are additional.
Committed
$0 cash. In-kind studio, production, and Media Desk facilities in place.
Pending
No requests submitted yet — first LOIs targeted for Q4 2026.
Gap to close
$285,000. If funded partially: start with the summer residency and two intensives (~$150,000).
Impact metrics
Pilot-year targets.
Measurement method
Pre/post skills assessments in verification, interviewing, and production; participant confidence and civic-agency surveys; count and reach of published stories; alumni retention as correspondents; scholarship share by rural, tribal, and low-income youth; and feedback from NGOs covered by youth reporters. Data owner: [name].
Reporting cadence
A cohort report after each intensive, a quarterly dashboard for sponsors, a year-end impact report with a showcase reel, and funder-specific narrative and financial reports on each funder's schedule.
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.
- 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.