Welcome to our first-ever Local Progress Midwest Regional Download! Since I joined the Local Progress staff last year, we’ve been envisioning the next chapter of our work in the Midwest, investing in organizing infrastructure not only through state chapters but also by leveraging the power of regional connections. Whether we’re tackling surges of ICE, housing affordability, attacks on our public schools, or the demands of Big Tech, there is so much we can learn from one another. Local electeds in the Midwest represent nearly 20% of LP’s total membership, and I’m excited for even more people to connect to this powerful community.
If you know a local elected official who would benefit from this network, invite them to join Local Progress today.
Don’t forget! The priorities of our organizing at LP are determined by the conditions and needs of our members on the ground. Email me to share what’s going on in your jurisdiction or schedule a meeting today.
🤝 Ohio Collaborative Governance Academy
In partnership with Ohio Working Families Power, we co-hosted a Collaborative Governance Academy for Ohio local electeds in Columbus, Ohio from January 30-31. At the start of the training, half the participants were LP members, and by the end, all had joined our network! The eight participants represented cities, villages, and school boards, some of whom have been in office for a few years, and many of whom are brand new. Participants included Fran Wilson, newly elected to the Akron City Council, Tanmay Shaw from Cleveland, and Angie Hsu with Senay Semere from Yellow Springs. Trainers Shakeyla M. Ingram and Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell led participants through identifying their leadership style, setting values-driven priorities in relationships with grassroots partners, and taking care of themselves along the way. The training closed with deeper conversations about issues, yielding clarity on collaborative next steps and solidifying relationships. Check out this op-ed published by Yellow Springs Council Vice President Angie Hsu and Councilmember Senay Semere.
🛑 Pushing Back on Abusive State Preemption
LP partners and member leaders from Michigan joined the Local Power, Shared Solutions Summit in Nashville from May 4-7, hosted by Local Progress and Local Solutions Support Center. The convening brought together local elected leaders, organizers, labor partners, and advocates from across the country to strategize around challenging abusive state-level preemption laws and expanding local governing power. Participants engaged in conversations focused on worker protections, housing justice, environmental policy, and proactive “seed ordinance” strategies that can help municipalities prepare now for major policy opportunities in 2027.
🎙️ Listen to the Preemption Download
If you haven’t tuned in, check out our Preemption Download! We have featured several midwestern members who are contesting for power, organizing alongside community members to fight back against abusive state preemption, while identifying proactive, affirmative strategies to protect local democracy and governance.
- EP 2: Two for One in Ypsilanti with Councilmembers Amber Fellows and Desirae Simmons
- Ep 4: Preemption as Revenge with St. Louis Council President Megan Green
- Ep 6: An Organizer’s Perspective with Delhi Township Treasurer Tom Lenard
- Ep 8: Coopting Local Benefits with Detroit Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero
✊ Organizing with Local Power: Resisting Authoritarianism
In May, LP members and partners gathered in Los Angeles to confront the hard lessons and realities of growing authoritarianism in our communities and the actions required of us. This was a space marked by brilliant insights and courageous stories, paired with raw memories and daunting forecasts heading into the 2026 election.
The convening surfaced the broad range of tactics needed in this moment: community safety patrols, mutual aid, mass mobilization, litigation, policy enforcement, the use of procurement power, and more. As we already see the federal administration attempting to weaken our election structures through intimidation tactics (recently in Wisconsin and Ohio), we know that we are safest and strongest together.
🤖 Data Center Push-Back
Across the region, LP members have been pushing back against data center projects that threaten air and water quality and community decision-making, and further obligate our local resources to the needs of billionaires rather than communities. LP members in Saginaw and Pontiac, Detroit, and Minneapolis have passed moratoriums on data center development. In April, Lansing Councilmembers Clara Martinez and Ryan Kost successfully partnered with grassroots leaders to squash a data center project. LP member, Anne O’Connor, led on passing a resolution from the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors that elevates the connection between rate hikes from WE Energies and the data center boom in Wisconsin. Check out these new resources to learn more:
⚡ 2026 National Convening
With nearly 80 attendees from the Midwest joining us in Baltimore, the 2026 National Convening strengthened our regional organizing and prepared us for the work ahead. Thank you to all who joined to celebrate, learn, and connect.
Sessions led by Midwest partners and members included timely topics such as leading in emergencies, tenant organizing, organizing against abusive state preemption, and housing finance. Read the full recap in our blog.
📸 Regional ALPR Strategy Huddle
Across the country, cities and counties are reconsidering their use of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs). As concerns grow over flimsy privacy controls, Flock’s courting of Trump’s FBI, and ICE’s use of access to target schools despite contract terms, more and more jurisdictions like Columbia Heights, Cleveland, St. Paul, Detroit, and Saginaw are taking a second look and often moving toward canceling their contracts. Join us for a regional strategy call to learn more about ALPRs and connect with resources to support the safest route for your jurisdiction.
🍎 Wisconsin Public Education Network Summer Summit (Superior, WI)
Wisconsin Public Education Network is a leader in advocating for fully funding and strengthening our public schools, and Local Progress is a proud sponsor of the 2026 Summer Summit in Superior. Join us there on Friday, July 24 to connect with advocates and school board members (and shop for some of the best pro-public school merch out there).
☑️ Ohio Election Protection Summit
There is a role for everyone in making sure our upcoming election is fair and accessible. The Ohio Voter Rights Coalition (OVRC) will hold the Ohio Election Protection Summit on September 19 in Columbus to prepare for free and Democratic elections in November. Please note: OVRC engages in non-partisan civic engagement, so when engaging, it cannot collaborate with candidates currently running for office.
🗳️ Election Protection Webinar Series
In America, most of us believe voters should pick our leaders, but this regime wants to keep people from voting so they can control our elections and seize more power. We want every voter to vote and every vote cast to be counted. Join this national webinar with Local Progress Impact Lab on August 12 to learn more about connecting to election protection resources. This webinar will include a regional breakout for Midwest LP members.
📄 You Deserve to Feel Safe While Serving, Develop Your Personal Safety Plan Today!
Over the past two years, Local Progress Impact Lab (the Impact Lab) has been collaborating with Women’s Democracy Lab (WDL) to develop a set of resources for our Local Progress members. As local leaders, your communities are calling on you to take bold action and fearless leadership in this time of increasing authoritarianism. However, wielding your power can also put a target on your back. You and your loved ones deserve to feel safe while serving in elected office!
WDL has developed this personal safety plan, serving as a starting point for assessing your safety preparedness, identifying any potential gaps, and outlining your personal action plans. Download it, work your plan, consult your loved ones. We keep each other safe!
💻 No Buildout for Billionaires: A Local Guide to Stopping, Slowing, and Restricting Data Expansion
Big Tech is spending billions in its race to build data centers across the country – and local communities are paying the price. From strained water and energy resources to spiked utility bills and drained public budgets, the costs fall on working people while corporations pocket the profits.
But local governments have real power to fight back. Whether you’re getting ahead of proposed data centers, updating existing laws, or mitigating the impacts of harmful data centers in your community, you’ll leave with tools to strengthen public participation, build community power, and ensure decisions about land, water, air, and technology benefit people, not corporations. Check out our guide to stopping, slowing, and restricting data center expansion.
▶️ Pay It Forward! Recruit a New Member Today!
With more than 550 members and partners from 41 states, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, the 2026 national convening in Baltimore is now in the record books as our largest gathering to date! During the convening, we learned new strategies, shared new resources, and strengthened our bonds and community. As many of you have shared, this network is your political home, where you find the strength and courage to be bold and brave, particularly in this moment! Now, we are asking you to pay it forward! Recruit a member today by sharing the join us form. For movement and labor partners, we’ve also developed this guide to support connecting the pipeline from campaign to governance!
🏡 Your One Stop for Caucuses
Trying to remember when the next Pride 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!
❓ Need Support? Contact the Help Desk
Have a policy, strategy, or communications question? The Local Progress Impact Lab Help Desk is here to help. Through the Help Desk, members can access policy research, strategic guidance, communications support, connections to fellow Local Progress members, and expertise from trusted partner organizations. Simply email your question and timeline, and an Impact Lab team member will follow up with resources, recommendations, and next steps tailored to your needs.
Meet Our Midwest Members!
✨ Caroline Gómez-Tom, Supervisor, Milwaukee County, WI
Caroline Gómez-Tom has served on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors since 2023 and is a Local Progress member leader on the Immigrant Justice Steering Committee. She was first introduced to LP by her colleague on the Board and attended the Oakland National Convening in 2024. For Caroline, LP is a place where people from across the country with community-driven values put their work ethic to action to deliver for their communities.
As the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a longtime public health advocate, Caroline ran for office to ensure families like hers could access the resources they need to thrive. “I now get to serve as a bridge between my community and the policy that impacts our everyday lives. I get to make room at the table and make sure more people’s voices are heard.” Right now, Caroline is working to advance local protections against federal overreach. “As the Chair of the Milwaukee County Intergovernmental Relations Committee, I know how important it is for local government to be the first line of defense against unconstitutional action by this federal administration.”
✨ Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, Alderwoman, City of Chicago, IL
Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez was first elected to the Chicago City Council in 2019 and is currently a member-leader of the Local Progress Public Safety Steering Committee. Right now, Rossana is working to expand the Crisis Assistance Response & Engagement (CARE) Program to make unarmed crisis response available to more residents, at more times of day, in more areas of the city, and to advance Overdose prevention programs. The development of Rossana’s public safety work also mirrors how she has grown and connected with Local Progress over her time in office.
In 2023, Rossana and her community partner, Dr. Arturo Carillo joined a dozen other LP members and partners on an immersive learning experience in Portland to unpack unarmed crisis response programs. Arturo and Rossana had been working together on the “Treatment Not Trauma” campaign in Chicago, which aimed to reopen shuttered mental health clinics, develop an unarmed crisis response, and transform the City’s response to Chicagoans experiencing crisis. Following their time in Portland, Rossana, Arturo, and many others continued to put their learnings into action, supporting the launch of the CARE Team. At the 2025 LP National Convening in Chicago, it was LP members’ turn to learn from Rossana and Arturo through sessions and site visits featuring the story CARE and a visit from one of the team’s emergency response vans. Since then, Arturo has been named Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services, and the CARE program continues to expand. For the LP network, this story offers an example of collaborative governance in action, revealing the positive impacts of deep, values-driven collaboration between electeds and community partners.
Rossana treasures her neighborhood, Albany Park, in Chicago’s 33rd Ward, for being one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country, where over 32 languages are spoken at the high school, and you can eat food from a different country every day.