About Us | Youth Civic Hub

Change Begins With You(Th)

Our Origin Story

Welcome to the Youth Civic Hub! We are dedicated to making every person impacted by systems of government understand that they have a voice and critical role in politics. Civic resources are confusing for experienced professionals to navigate, and yet there significant barriers are helping young people overcome civic engagement. From start to finish, the Digital Youth Civic Hub is created by youth, for youth to bridge the gap between civic education and youth engagement.

Opportunity Board

The Opportunities page, where the power to change the world is in your hands! Dive into a world of opportunities designed for young changemakers like you. From leadership camps to hands-on projects, there's something for everyone.

Civic Glossary

Demystifying the civic space with simple definitions of complex terms, the Civic Glossary hopes to empower youth to have the confidence to comprehend language that is commonly used in civic spaces.

New York Power Map

The Power Map displays the overlap between the roles and responsibilities of different positions with their current holder, teaching youth the most effective means of advocacy to reach positions of power.

Elections portal

Up to date guides & information about upcoming elections, including: Who is on the ballot, Where & when you can vote, How you & your friends can get registered

Org Directory

Supporting civic engagement opportunities for youth, the org directory makes it easy to engage in civics with organizations near you.

Moving forward, we are focused on expanding the Youth Civic Hub to provide in-classroom support, building a robust information resource, and delivering features that can be used outside of the classroom for the 2024 Election!

In the Press

Our Team

Organizing Team

Our team is made up of college and high-school students who share in a passion for promoting civic engagement through technology. Meet our founding team and current team members!

Ryan Manthy

Director of Technology & Founding Engineer (he/him)

Ryan Manthy is the Director of Technology for the Youth Civic Hub. He is a current undergraduate studying Computer Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Ryan also builds civic technology for New Voters, a non-profit that has run voter registration drives at 400 high schools and registered 80,000 people to vote. His civic engagement began in high school, canvassing for local political candidates and creating a Youth Advisory Board for his State Representative. Ryan is a 2023 Civic Digital Fellow and 2022 Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholar.

Yacoub Kahkajian

Product Manager & Engineering Lead (he/him)

Yacoub Kahkajian is an undergraduate studying computer science and statistics at Princeton University. He is currently leading the development of the Youth Civic Hub, where he conceptualizes bespoke features that integrate technology into existing city infrastructure to attract New Yorkers to civic education while using his experience in software development to implement them. Beyond the Hub, Yacoub serves as a Lead Software Engineer for The Daily Princetonian and was previously selected by Google to participate in their 2022 Computer Science Summer Institute.

Luca Moynier

Engineering Fellow (he/him)

My name is Luca and I am born and raised in Brooklyn but I am finishing my undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia studying cognitive systems. I enjoy coding and along with my team I am currently developing the Youth Civic Hub. I am also quite interested in using computational simulations to explore and model phenomena in the world. Aside from coding I enjoy reading philosophy, cartography and playing basketball.

Liam Cummings

Engineering Fellow (he/him)

Liam Cummings is a junior at the Illinois Institute of Technology studying computer science. He is an intern at New Voter's technology department, where he works on various coding projects. Liam strives to make a difference while also honing his technical capabilities. Liam is a 2024 Coding it Forward Fellow.

Marivi Sifuentes

Product Design Fellow (she/her)

Marivi is a graduate from the University of Michigan with degrees in Human-Computer Interaction and Sociology. Before joining the Youth Civic Hub, she worked on designing products at the ACLU and Coding it Forward. She's interested in advancing public interest technology to help make communities stronger.

Mia Payne

Research Fellow (she/her)

Mia is a second-year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying Civil & Environmental Engineering. She’s from the Bronx, NY and is passionate about providing youth and disenfranchised communities with the tools and resources needed to contribute to their local community.

Madina Khasanboeva

Research Fellow (she/her)

Madina is a first-year college student, majoring in computer science and art studio. Outside of work and school her hobbies include listening to music, drawing, and watching films!

Youth Working Group