For Jeannette Wang ’26, democracy is more than a system. It’s a habit, a culture and a shared responsibility.

Wang, a political science major and newly named 2025-26 Newman Civic Fellow, has spent her time at Stanford creating spaces where students can participate in civic engagement, whether or not they see themselves as political.

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a yearlong program that recognizes students who show a strong commitment to public problem-solving and civic leadership. Fellows are nominated by their university president and gain access to mentorship, networking, and professional development opportunities designed to help them grow as changemakers on their campuses and beyond.

“Engagement doesn’t have to be your full-time job,” Wang said. “It just means paying attention to the issues you care about and speaking up when it matters.”

That belief shaped her leadership as chair of Democracy Day, a campus-wide celebration of civic life held each year on Election Day. Established in 2021 by Stanford’s Faculty Senate, Democracy Day encourages civic participation through diverse programming such as faculty-student dialogues, public service career mixers and election watch parties.

Under Wang’s leadership, the event grew from a one-day event to something deeper: a culture. In 2024, she and her team organized over 40 events with 47 partners, drawing over 2,000 participants, according to Wang. The committee also helped organize events before Election Day such as an inter-collegiate civic engagement gathering that brought together students from multiple institutions the week before.

Wang left a strong impression on those she worked with during Democracy Day, leading the event like an orchestral “conductor,” said Peggy Propp, senior program director for campus partnerships and an advisor to the Democracy Day team. “She was constantly checking in on everyone, making sure things ran smoothly and that people felt supported.”

Yuqing Jiang ’25, who served alongside Wang on the Democracy Day planning team, recalled that her leadership helped create “a fun team” that grew close throughout the planning process. “She really leads by example,” Jiang said. “She doesn’t care about recognition or authority; she just wants to make sure people feel supported and excited about what they’re working on.”

Karina Kloos PhD ’24, Wang’s advisor for Democracy Day and executive director of Stanford’s  Democracy Hub, pointed to Wang’s broader vision for the event. “She didn’t just focus on the day itself,” she said. “She was thinking about how to build momentum beforehand and how to include as many corners of campus as possible.”

This led to events such as Democracy and Donuts with the Haas Center, a data privacy workshop co-hosted with the computer science department and dialogue circles focused on student activism in STEM.

“She’s a very motivated and passionate person,” Kloos said. “She didn’t just lead the event. She helped build something more enduring.”

That “something more” became Stanford Stands for Democracy, a coalition of nonpartisan civic groups working together year-round. The goal, Wang said, was to build civic habits that lasted beyond election season and felt accessible to all students, “STEM majors and political junkies alike.”

Wang’s interest in public service began in high school, where she co-founded AAPI Silicon Valley and helped lead a 500-person Stop Asian Hate rally during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also served on the Mountain View Public Safety Advisory Board and later interned with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a congressional campaign.

Alongside her civic leadership on campus, Wang has also pursued research with the Politics and Social Change Lab and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), where she studied democratic backsliding and polarization in South Africa and Botswana.

“Research helps us test what works,” Wang said. “One of my favorite moments was turning an academic intervention about depolarization into an actual event on campus — bringing students with different ideologies together to connect face-to-face.”

She’s also guided peers through programs like the Summer of Civil Dialogue and designed new events focused on values-based leadership and cross-aisle conversations.

After graduating from Stanford, Wang hopes to work at the intersection of policy, law and technology to help protect civic spaces and information ecosystems. She’s especially interested in how emerging technologies like AI will challenge democratic systems and require new kinds of leadership.

Wang emphasized the importance of mentorship, curiosity and collaboration in civic work. “None of this happens alone,” she said. “The most important work is always relational.”

As she looks ahead, Wang said she hopes to leave behind not just events or titles, but a stronger foundation for the next generation of civic leaders at Stanford.

“It’s easy to think people don’t care, or that they won’t listen,” she said. “But I’ve seen over and over again that people want to talk. They just need spaces where it feels safe to do so.”