General Information
- Volunteer Opportunities / Responsibilities: In over 50 Mikva DC classrooms across the city, students are getting up on their "soapbox" and delivering powerful and moving speeches on issues of importance to them and their community. And we need adult allies to be there to listen to them, encourage their civic leadership, and provide feedback on their public speaking.
Mikva’s Project Soapbox speech competition is a program that helps teens develop communication skills – such as persuasive writing, issue research, and compelling delivery – that are critical to a young person’s ability to ‘get on a soapbox’ and become an advocate for pressing community issues. In their classrooms and after school clubs, close to 1,200 local students are preparing short speeches about the most important issues facing them and their community, and proposing unique solutions to those community issues.
As an example, you can see one of last year's winning speeches here: https://vimeo.com/248016760
Please join us this fall as a Project Soapbox guest judge in one of our participating classrooms. You can reach out to our program director, Justine Hipsky, for more information. - Types of Volunteers Needed: individual/adult
- Hours Needed: business hours during the week
Events seeking volunteers
Youth Civic Leadership Summit
Join DC youth as they use their voices to inspire real change and action in the District! Hosted by Mikva Challenge and more, the Youth Civic Leadership Summit brings together young leaders, civic partners, and decision-makers to highlight youth-led civics projects and advance solutions that support safer, stronger school communities.
- When: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 (4:30 PM - 8:00 PM)
- Where: Trinity University Main Hall, 125 Michigan Avenue Northeast, Washington, DC 20017 map
- Volunteer Info: Interested in registering as a civic partner? If you're an adult community member with issue expertise, a decision maker, and/or leader in DC, attend to share your issue expertise and ideas on how students make a tangible difference in their community!
- Contact: Voncia Monchais, (215) 868-8453
- For more information: click here