In a new PBS documentary series, American Creed: Citizen Power, “extraordinary, ordinary” young community leaders gather together across major divides to take on what they see as increasingly urgent challenges. (Watch the trailer here.) Half-hour episodes for PBS, along with a series of shorter films for classrooms (part of an ongoing PBS LearningMedia roll-out) and for PBS YouTube, explore how these young leaders discover their power to take action.

Each PBS half-hour interweaves stories set in communities across the country with an on-camera dialogue between young leaders. These dialogues are facilitated by two scholars of American democracy who don’t always agree with one another. Political scientist and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David M. Kennedy ask what the country’s founding ideals require of citizens today.

Across PBS channels and in classrooms and community centers across the United States, the new season of American Creed: Citizen Power continues a successful ongoing initiative that has engaged well over 1 million people, including students in all 50 states, in exploring ideals that have fueled the expansion of democratic participation and civil rights at key moments throughout our nation’s history. With the help of our partners listed below, documentary episodes and associated curricula invite large and diverse audiences to engage in reflection and dialogue.