Ohio civic groups plan expanded youth exchange in 2027

By AI, Created 4:34 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Civic Futures Institute, America 250-Ohio and American Exchange Project are launching an Ohio civic exchange push at the Statehouse on May 13, with plans to reach up to 20 communities in 2027. The effort ties youth travel, local community hosting and America’s 250th anniversary work to broader goals of civic connection and cross-ideological understanding.

Why it matters: - The Ohio effort aims to turn civic exchange into a recurring experience for new high school graduates. - Organizers want more young adults to build relationships across geography, class and ideology through direct community immersion. - The program is positioned as part of Ohio’s 250th-anniversary commemoration, linking civic celebration with civic renewal.

What happened: - Civic Futures Institute and America 250-Ohio gathered leaders at the Ohio Statehouse on May 13 to introduce American Exchange Project in Ohio. - The organizations said the partnership will bring a new vision and investment in civic connection to up to 20 Ohio communities in 2027. - The reception is intended to introduce civic, education and elected leaders to an expanded Ohio cohort. - Cleveland City Schools and Bellefontaine Local Schools hosted exchanges in 2025. - An official announcement of the America 250 Ohio Commemorative Cohort is planned for this fall.

The details: - American Exchange Project is the country’s first free domestic exchange program. - The program was founded in 2019 as a nonpartisan response to growing divisions in the United States. - The exchange gives high school seniors one week in an American community different from their own and another week hosting students from across the country. - The model is designed to create lasting connections, foster empathy and help young adults see themselves and their country in new ways. - The partnership combines Civic Futures Institute’s work to restore civic imagination, American Exchange Project’s national exchange model and America 250-Ohio’s statewide commemoration work. - Lisa Duty, founder of Civic Futures Institute, said the partnership starts from the premise that the country is still knowable to itself when people meet through real communities and shared experience. - Duty said the effort invites Ohio communities to help shape the next chapter of the American story by investing in young people, hometowns and relationships that strengthen civic life. - David McCullough III, cofounder and CEO of American Exchange Project, said young Americans need the chance to encounter their country and the people in it directly. - McCullough said the team is proud to bring the first-of-its-kind program to Ohio as the nation reflects on its past and imagines its future. - Todd Kleismit, executive director of America 250-Ohio, said the commemorative effort is about participation as much as remembrance. - Kleismit said the partnership carries the 250th anniversary work into hometowns, public spaces and relationships that remind Americans they belong to something larger than themselves. - Early survey data from an independent university study found participants became substantially less biased toward people with different ideological views, made an average of three new friends and grew more hopeful about the future of the United States. - The long-term goal is to make American exchanges a rite of passage for new graduates, as common as senior prom. - The only explicit social link in the source points to Civic Futures Institute on LinkedIn.

Between the lines: - The program is being framed less as a one-off youth trip and more as civic infrastructure. - The 250th-anniversary timing gives the initiative a larger public narrative and may help attract schools, communities and funders. - The early survey results suggest the exchange model is being sold not just on experience, but on measurable changes in bias, friendship and optimism.

What’s next: - Ohio communities are expected to be selected for the expanded 2027 cohort. - Leaders will continue building toward the official America 250 Ohio Commemorative Cohort announcement this fall. - Organizers appear to be aiming for broader adoption across the state if the pilot-to-expansion path holds.

The bottom line: - Ohio is becoming a test case for whether youth exchange can scale into a durable civic ritual tied to America’s semiquincentennial.