Greetings! As we move deeper into 2026, I’m excited to connect with you through this quarterly newsletter. In this edition, you’ll meet me, Kay Brown, the new Southern Regional Director and learn about the resources Local Progress has to support your work.
đź‘‹ I’m Kay Brown & I Can’t Wait To Get To Know Y’allÂ
I am Kay Brown, MBA, a community organizer and activist based in Greensboro, North Carolina, where I am deeply committed to building grassroots power and creating pathways for collective action. With a background in organizing that centers the leadership of those most impacted by systemic injustice, I approach my work with both urgency and a long-term vision for transformative change.
Guided by Fannie Lou Hamer’s declaration that “nobody’s free until everybody’s free,” I believe that true liberation requires solidarity across struggles and the dismantling of all systems of oppression. I practice an organizing philosophy of Beloved Community Center that emphasizes bringing everyone we can with us. Leadership to me looks like making sure communities have the tools, resources, and support to lead their own movements rather than depending on top-down leadership.
As we look across our South, a place where my ancestors faced one of the worst genocides in global history and my grandmother still talks of Jim Crow and segregation, I still call this land home. This is a place where your skin color or accent could dictate your future and label your past, where Indigenous roots were erased and mocked. But from the earth that white supremacy sought to scorch came seeds of hope. Freedom and joy bloomed into grassroots resistance. In this new season of cultivation and harvest, we are the fruit that blooms from our ancestors’ labor.
I’m very familiar with North Carolina’s political landscape and will always exercise my deep love for the South, its people, its resilience, and its potential. I want to hear from you! You can schedule a 1:1 with me or email me.Â
❤️ Govern With Your Values
This past November, we saw momentum turn away from the political horrors of 2024. In places like my home city of Greensboro, we had true progressive grassroots organizers win their elections. From Charlotte to Salisbury, we are also seeing more progressive champions come on the scene. So let’s make sure we are prepared with the tools, resources, and relationships we need to govern with values, dignity, and honor.Â
Collaborative governance is a collective act, and at Local Progress we want to make sure that you have all of the tools in your tool box that you need to move your agenda forward. Learn more about the Collaborative Governance Academy. This training is for elected officials who want to build skills, strategy, and deepen relationships with movement partners to govern effectively.Â
đź“… North Carolina State Strategy Meeting: Coming Soon!Â
Now that we have a new North Carolina staffer it’s time to get strategic! Local Progress will be hosting our annual LPNC State Strategy Meeting. Local Progress is ready to bring together our key partners and members to not only learn what’s happening across North Carolina but to shape local priorities for 2026 and beyond. We will bring together leaders from housing, immigrant rights, environmental protection and climate justice, and economic justice.
The fight for democracy and to stop Trump’s authoritarianism starts with local leaders and communities holding the line. Please continue to connect with us as we support you in building stronger communities and relationships with your peers across the state.
If that is you and you have the capacity to lead, learn more about our North Carolina Organizing Committee. If you like what you read, apply to join the LPNC Organizing Committee.
📜 Introduce a Resolution to Demand: ICE OUT!
Congress failed to meet their February 13 deadline to reach an agreement on how and whether to fund DHS, including ICE and Border Patrol, triggering a partial shutdown of the department. Negotiations are ongoing as some members of Congress try to leverage funding for more restrictions on immigration enforcement. As local elected officials, we must use our power and our voices to turn the pressure up and together say: ICE OUT.Â
Local Progress members have been calling on Congress to use the power of the purse to stop ICE. Last month, Local Progress member Teresa Mosqueda (King County, WA) introduced and passed a first-of-its-kind resolution calling for funding restrictions and regulations for DHS. We are following her lead and organizing members like you across the country to pass resolutions of your own. We’ve created sample resolutions for cities, counties, and school boards to give you a head start. Will you join our organized force to protect our communities and stop ICE and DHS from wreaking more havoc?
This funding impasse gives us a chance to restrain their barbaric tactics. The resolution calls on Congress to:
- End enforcement surges in places like Minneapolis;
- Prohibit masks and end racial targeting and targeting of daycares and schools;
- Place strong guardrails on ICE including requiring judicial warrants and allowing localities to investigate misconduct;
- End detention center abuses and restore people’s access to bond hearings; and
- Make deep cuts to the $170 billion dollars given to DHS in last year’s funding legislation.
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➡️ From Campaigns to Governance: A Partner’s Guide to Building Our Base Together
Do you know someone who won last November? With nearly 1,800 members, Local Progress continues to be the best place for values-aligned local elected officials to be in community with one another. As one member shared in our survey last year, “The support and friendship I have built over the years are what keep me going!” With your help, we can identify new members to join the network and have the community you have come to cherish. Check out our partner’s guide.Â
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🎙️ Listen to the Preemption Download
Across our membership, nearly every local official has faced some form of preemption or encroachment on local control. From state capitals to D.C., state and federal representatives continue to pass new laws that strip local governments of their powers. But across our network of nearly 1,800 local officials, there are many incredible stories of resistance and new strategies for fighting back.Â
Local Progress is proud to launch our new audio series, “The Preemption Download”! Over the course of ten episodes, we’ll introduce you to ten local elected officials who have faced preemption and came away with a stronger understanding of how to fight it. For our first episode, we spoke with Tallahassee City Commissioner Jack Porter about the everyday preemption battles she faces as a local elected official in Florida. You can listen here on our Instagram.
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🏡 Your One Stop for Caucuses
Trying to remember when the next Nuestro Caucus General meeting is? Want to join the Black Caucus signal group chat? Or find your caucus playlist? Look no further! Your one stop shop for all things caucus is right here!Â
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📨 Help Us Find the Next Collaborative Governance Academy Director!
With our recent re-launch of the Collaborative Governance (CGA), formerly known as Progressive Governance Academy or PGA, we are looking for a deeply collaborative and strategic leader to evolve and elevate this joint initiative, both as a model for progressive leadership development and as a model for collective impact. The CGA Director will bring their vision and expertise to shaping and formalizing the CGA as an enduring program by setting a renewed strategy with a focus on scaling for impact. Click here to share the posting!
⚡️ National Convening Registration is Now OPEN for Members & Alumni Leaders!
Are you ready for this year’s convening? We can’t wait to see you in Baltimore, MD on July 9-11! Over the past year, the community care amongst the incredible Local Progress network in this moment makes crystal clear what we’ve always known – that even in the midst of relentless attacks on immigrants, Black and Brown folks, LGBTQ+ people, workers, youth, and our communities – localities are not only at the forefront but serve as the bedrock of transformative change. It is this movement of local elected officials leading fearlessly to build a world where all of us can be grounded in our joy and freedom that inspires our 2026 theme: Fearless Leadership * Joyful Liberation. Check your email for your personalized invite link and register today!
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🤝 Get Involved with LPNCÂ
We are activating a bold, action-oriented chapter in North Carolina, and we need your energy, ideas, and leadership! Here’s how you can get involved:
- Recruit a new member today! Do you know a values-aligned local elected? Whether they are newly elected or a seasoned professional, we want to hear from them!
- Are you a leader that leads the leaders? Please apply to join the LPNC Organizing Committee.Â
- Email me with any questions or ideas you have to make North Carolina stronger, or schedule a meeting today!Â
Together, we’ll learn from one another, celebrate victories, and support each other through the tough moments. We’ll strengthen connections, share ideas, and create a space where everyone’s voice matters. I’m excited for the journey ahead and grateful to be working alongside such passionate, committed people.
Here’s to the work we’ll do and the community we’ll strengthen along the way.