GenUnity
Jerren Chang, Co-Founder and CEO
Civic Lab

GenUnity’s mission is to renovate our civic culture by reconnecting people to each other and to their civic power and responsibility. Their issue-focused, community-centered civic leadership programs bring cohorts of diverse residents together to hone their purpose, partnership, and power to make change.
Year Founded: 2021
GenUnity is shifting the relationships, power dynamics, and mental models necessary to foster a flourishing civic culture. Our program model is designed to cut through segregation by curating multi-racial, intergenerational, cross-class cohorts; flatten power dynamics between institutions and residents by creating a space where they can connect first as human beings and peers; and facilitate a transformational learning experience for residents to become everyday civic leaders. As we scale our programs, GenUnity will spark a cultural tipping point, where residents feel a deep sense of connectedness and belonging and harness their agency to shape their community – creating structures (policies, programs, resources) that redress harm and afford equitable opportunity for everyone to thrive.
GenUnity was co-founded by Jerren Chang and Nimisha Ganesh, who–as children of immigrants and working in local government and K-12 education reform–experienced firsthand how barriers to civic engagement stymie community voice, undermine innovation, and constrain long-term reform.
They spent 3 years collaborating with community members, local leaders, and civic experts to design, pilot, and realize an alternative, GenUnity. They saw firsthand that A Community By Everyone, For Everyone is possible.

Jerren Chang
Co-Founder and CEO

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