Lisa Woods worked as an intern at CAC in 2002, and its legacy for her is a faith in democracy, something she believes interns still learn there. 

“It is very valuable for them to see how local government can and should work, particularly given the extremely divisive nature of national politics right now,” she said. Woods said many have only seen gridlocked national government, “which can lead to a feeling of powerlessness or hopelessness.” 

CAC provides one remedy for that, by “teaching people how government can and should work at the local level. It gives them a blueprint—a vision of what government should look like that they can carry with them when they are the leaders. It gives them an opportunity to feel they have some agency, some power.” 

Woods, now a full-time instructor at a law school, helped promote those goals during her internship, working on curricula for schools to use to teach civics participation and the layers of local government.

 The curriculum was intended to supplement civic education, and later CAC worked to change state law to require more of it. 

Woods said citizens need civics education because it enables them to participate in government and hold government leaders accountable.

CAC also was helpful to her on a professional level.

 “As an intern working with the Center, I was able to get legal skills I used in future positions,” said Woods, who worked as an attorney for both state and local government in Illinois before teaching law.