Citizenship Counts

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)

This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

Citizenship Counts

Established| 2008
Founder| Gerda Weissmann Klein
Location|

* PO Box 805, Voorhees, NJ 08043

Executive Director

| Alysa Cooper
Website| citizenshipcounts.org

Citizenship Counts is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization based in Arizona.

## History[edit]

In October 2004, Gerda Weissmann Klein was asked to speak at a naturalization ceremony that was hosted by Three Rivers Middle School in Cleves, Ohio.[1]

Klein shared her experience with her granddaughter, Alysa Ullman Cooper, and her friend, Rita Schaefer, then President of McDougal Littell, a publisher of educational materials for middle- and high-school students. After learning that Klein and Ullman were invited to attend a special naturalization ceremony at the White House, Schaefer encouraged Ullman to author a civics-based curriculum about the naturalization process. In February 2008, The Path to Citizenship was published and in August 2008, Citizenship Counts was founded to implement the program in schools across the United States.[1][2]

On March 23, 2009, the inaugural naturalization ceremony under the stewardship of Citizenship Counts was held at the Phoenix Convention Center. Fifty new citizens from twenty-six countries took the "Oath of Allegiance," which was administered by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. [1]

## Board members[edit]

Citizenship Counts has a variety of educational, political, business, and community leaders who serve on its advisory or governing boards. [citation needed]

### Advisory board[edit]

* The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice
* Kirk Ankeney, Executive Director for Curriculum and Instruction for the San Diego Unified School District
* Dr. Jesus Garcia, former President of the National Council for the Social Studies
* Carlos M. Gutierrez, former United States Secretary of Commerce 35th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce
* Sam Harris, former President of Northbrook United Way of America, author and Holocaust survivor
* Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association
* Thomas H. Kirk, Jr., former Deputy Commander of Special Forces in Europe
* Carrie Martz, former CEO and Founder of The Martz Agency
* Ted McConnell, Executive Director of the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools
* Marney Murphy
* Jason Steinagle

### Board of directors[edit]

* Roger Cohen
* Dr. Eric Mondschein
* Syd Golston
* Don Streets
* Jim Ullman

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/03/23/daily13.html. Retrieved 2023-07-12. `{{cite web}}`: Missing or empty `|title=` (help)
2. ^ "Flag Day ceremony welcomes 20 new U.S. citizens". National Museum of American History. 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2023-07-12.