Forward Montana Foundation (FMF) is a youth-led and youth-driven civic engagement organization dedicated to building power with and for young people across the state. Our mission is to educate, engage, and organize young Montanans to shape their democracy to improve their lives and the lives of their fellow Montanans. We believe that when young people are given the tools and support to become active civic participants, they will transform their communities and drive systemic change that will benefit everyone.
Young people today face numerous challenges, including the climate crisis, economic instability, and threats to their fundamental rights. Our work at FMF is to meet the challenges of our generation with empathy and show that collective knowledge and power are the antidotes to individual frustrations. We engage our peers where they are, building relationships that result in a lifetime of action. Instead of simply asking them to vote, we create a community that connects their lived experiences to the civic process.
Year after year, Young Montanans that register to vote with our team show up to vote at higher rates than their peers. In 2024, this led to a 21% increase in turnout! Even more powerful are our Pledges-to-Vote, where folks write down their “why” and form a plan to vote. This led to a 23% increase in turnout!! We know what works.
Forward Montana Foundation partnered with Civics Under the Big Sky (CUBS) to increase civic education in Montana’s high schools. Too many young people—especially in rural communities—lack consistent access to high-quality, nonpartisan civic learning. We believe young people deserve civic education that prioritizes critical thinking, historical grounding, and informed participation—not ideological sorting.
Check out the links below to learn more about our partner organization Civics Under the Big Sky, sign up for Democracy Days, and access civic templates for educators.
OUR THEORY OF CHANGE:
If we deepen young Montanan’s’ culture of civic engagement and build the knowledge, skills, and leadership of young Montanans who reflect the diversity of our state to create change in their communities, more young people will become lifetime voters and activists, run for and win public office, and advance issues and conversations that address the complex challenges facing young Montanans today and tomorrow.
HOW WE GOT OUR START
HOMEGROWN & GRASSROOTS
Forward Montana Foundation was founded in 2004 by a group of passionate students at the University of Montana who felt there were a lot of barriers getting young people involved in politics. Their first fights were at the university and the local level and focused on recycling, renewable energy, sexual assault and tenant rights. We’ve now grown into the largest youth civic engagement organization in Montana, with year-round staff in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Glendive, Missoula and the Flathead.
