Welcome to Civitas,

Civitas is based on the principle that people of good will and ability are more likely to become involved in their communities if they have information about and an understanding of how local government operates, where the money comes from, how it is spent and how decisions are made. To date, nearly 300 Dane County citizens have been taken behind the scenes of local government by our outstanding faculty of the most experienced administrators and former elected officials in Dane County.

If you would like to nominate someone or yourself for Civitas, please contact Julie Buss at julie.buss@wcgpr.com or 608-259-0757.

Civitas offers a variety of discounts to qualified applicants, supporting groups and nonprofit organizations. There are also a series of early application incentives available.

• Leadership Greater Madison (LGM) alumni who apply for Civitas will receive a 10 percent discount off of the current applicable program fee.
• Applicants nominated by Civitas or LGM current participants or alumni will receive a 10 percent discount off of the current applicable program fee.
• Members of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Madison MAGNET, Junior League of Madison or Downtown Madison, Inc. will receive a 10 percent discount off of the current applicable program fee.
• Regular program tuition fee for employees of nonprofit organizations is $250.
• Regular program fee incentives are available for early applications as follows: applications received between September 1 and November 1, 2011 are eligible for program tuition of $300, applications received between November 2 and December 1, 2011 are eligible for program tuition of $325. After December 2, the program fee is $350.
• Applicable discounts will be applied to early applicaton incentives.

Click here to see a video of the presentation by Todd Berry, president of Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, to the Feb. 8, 2006, Civitas forum (42 minutes). Videos of presentations are available to Civitas participants.
Democracy depends on citizens who are informed and involved in the civic life of their communities.  Civitas is an exciting educational and informational approach to stimulating greater civic understanding and involvement in Dane County.

Civitas and Leadership Greater Madison are leadership education and training programs for people who live and work in the Greater Madison Area through a joint effort of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and Wood Communications Group. Click here to learn more about Leadership Greater Madison.

Click to download the 2011 Annual Report/Directory

Click to download the Program PDF