Virtutem Populo, Inc. - Power to the People

A student who understands how Miami works can help change how Miami works.

Who decides what happens in a neighborhood? What keeps a small business open? How can a student bring an idea before a school board or county commission?

Virtutem Populo, Latin for "Power to the People," helps young people answer those questions and practice acting on the answers.

Founded in 2022, we are a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit building civic knowledge, economic understanding, and public leadership across Miami-Dade. High school students - the operational chiefs of the organization - design our programs, organize experiences, teach peers, interview public officials, and develop proposals. A board of directors provides governance and oversight.

Our work connects three areas of a young person’s life:

• Civic education: understanding government, constitutional rights, and how public decisions are made.
• Civic participation and economic leadership: entering public institutions, learning from local businesses, and developing informed ideas for the community.
• Arts and civic expression: using storytelling, media, and creative work to bring young people’s experiences into public conversation.

Across these areas, our approach is simple: Educate. Activate. Advocate. Learn how a system works. Practice using that knowledge. Make a contribution others can hear, examine, or act on.

What that looks like in Miami

Civic Knowledge Bowl brought together 21 schools in 2026 to prepare, compete, and make civic knowledge a source of school pride. Youth Governance Day gives students direct experience inside local government. Constitution Day Quest puts students in charge of teaching constitutional principles through interactive challenges. Our Civic Action Podcast puts public leaders across the microphone from young people asking their own questions.

Our next investment: MOVE Miami

The MOVE Miami Civic Economy Fellowship: Markets, Opportunity, Voice, Economy, builds on our Strive305 Economic Fellowship. Its next cycle is designed for 25 Miami-Dade high school students over 12 weeks, connecting government, business, journalism, and the arts with research and public presentations.

The earlier fellowship shows what this work can produce. Students investigated the challenges facing local businesses, developed a Legacy Business Sustainability Framework, and presented their recommendations to the Miami-Dade County Commission’s Government Efficiency and Transparency Committee.

They had to listen to business owners, reconsider an initial approach, and explain a proposal to people responsible for public decisions. That is civic and economic learning students can use beyond a classroom.

MOVE will build on that foundation through field experiences, workshops, interviews, and coached project development. Fellows will work toward proposals, reporting, and creative work that explain a community issue and make a credible case for action.

Help us raise funds for the next stage of this work.

Your gift will support youth civic and economic leadership, with a priority on MOVE Miami: learning materials, meals during extended sessions, transportation support, field learning, project preparation, and the coordination that makes these experiences possible.

These are practical costs behind a student arriving prepared, staying engaged, asking a better question, and presenting work they can stand behind.

Whether you give $25, $100, $500, or more, you help young people gain knowledge, relationships, and practice they can carry into school, work, and public life.

Give today. Help a Miami student take the next step from learning about their community to contributing to it.