We are a little over halfway through the year, and with the transition into fall comes a time for us to reflect on what this year has brought us so far! Although we are living through some of the most difficult times our country has experienced in recent memory, we are also living through a time where the calling for local leaders to step up and protect their communities is stronger than ever.
This is why we are inspired by the growth and resolve of our Local Progress Texas chapter and are now more than ever committed to developing your leadership and providing you with the support you need to lead in these times!
We have lots to look forward to in our state for the remainder of 2026, so read on to see how you can get involved and get to know our network, your peers, and our partners better through the gatherings and events we have planned! Ready to explore what your leadership looks like before year’s end? Email me or schedule a meeting with me to connect about upcoming opportunities for our local elected leaders across the state!
📚 2026 Texas School Board Collaborative Governance Lab
Our Collaborative Governance Lab (CGL) is officially underway with our virtual sessions full-speed ahead this summer! Back in May, we launched with an in-person kick-off Collaborative Governance Academy (CGA) training in Austin. Alongside our partners Texas AFT, the San Antonio Alliance, and El Paso’s Amanecer People’s Project, we are gathering virtually for bi-monthly sessions where Texas CGL cohort participants get to learn from a variety of public education experts, labor and advocacy partners, and their peers as they navigate the topics and challenges public school boards are facing in our state. Over the next few months, Local Progress Texas school board members will strategize, learn, and plan together, led by Local Progress staff and our amazing public education partners, ahead of the 2027 90th Texas Legislative Session, with an exciting closing event in Houston this September – see Save the Date below!
💧 San Marcos City Council Asserts Local Control, Bans Data Centers
In June, San Marcos City Councilmembers and Local Progress member leaders Alyssa Garza, Amanda Rodriguez, and Lorenzo Gonzalez teamed up to become the first city in Texas to ban data centers within city limits. This is a testament to the collaborative governing approach San Marcos local elected officials and community members have committed to in tackling some of the biggest challenges Texans are facing at the moment. In this test of local control, San Marcos City Council is asserting their local authority to make the decisions they deem best for their community. “You’re seeing a lot of cities in the age of preemption being creative about things,” said Amanda Rodriguez. “All cities are watching what happens to San Marcos,” said Taylor Burge, a council member for Lockhart and fellow Local Progress member.
⚖️ Harris County Commissioner Calls for Independent Investigation in ICE’s Fatal Shooting
In July, the fatal shooting that claimed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s life and shook the community of Houston’s East End left a mark in the immigrant rights movement and led to wider calls for ICE out of our neighborhoods. Harris Co. Comm’s Rodney Ellis called for funding for an independent investigation led by Harris Co. District Attorney Sean Teare. In a joint press conference, Comm’s Ellis said, “history will judge how this moment was handled, and Harris County should be able to say we did everything within our power to preserve the evidence and uncover the facts.” Our immigrant rights partners and labor partners have been leading the calls for ICE out of Houston with memorials and rallies in honor of Lorenzo’s life. We are grateful for Commissioner Ellis’ leadership in these challenging moments.
🦀 TX Delegation to the LP National Convening in Baltimore
Summertime usually means we are looking forward to one thing: our annual Local Progress National Convening! We are still reflecting on the great time we had in Baltimore, where more than 30 Texas chapter members shared laughs, learnings, and strategies on how to strengthen local governance in times of authoritarianism through fearless leadership and joyful liberation. Local Progress Texas had our biggest delegation yet, and our members had the opportunity to connect, create memories, and celebrate our growth at our Friday states’ social! LPTX member leader Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, San Antonio City Councilmember and Public Safety Steering Committee Member, had the opportunity to present at our No Secret Police session on the ongoing battle to prevent detention centers from coming to our communities. Overall, our chapter was excited to recharge in our time together and get ready to return to their communities with the strength to fight for our people! Did we miss you this year? Make sure you are on the lookout for our 2027 ‘Save the Date’ later this year! Read the full recap in our blog here.
🌟 Save the Date: 2026 Texas School Boards CGL End of Program Celebration in Houston
Our Texas School Board CGL cohort is coming to Houston on September 25! Join us to meet our school board members from across the state as they celebrate the culmination of months of learning together alongside our partners, Texas AFT, the San Antonio Alliance, and El Paso’s Amanecer People’s Project!
🤠 Save the Date: 2026 Local Progress Texas Statewide Meeting
This Winter, we have something special coming to our Texas chapter! Local Progress Texas will host its 2026 Statewide Meeting, welcoming partners, members, and friends of the movement from across our state. Our statewide meetings are a special time to spend in community among the people that make Local Progress an organization that lives out its values of racial justice, elected leaders as an organized force, adaptive change from the ground up, and collaborative governance as our North Star. Interested in participating or sponsoring our in-person gathering? Email me so you can learn more about how to be a part of it!
🗳️ Election Protection Webinar Series
Throughout the summer, Local Progress Impact Lab will be launching a series of webinars to prepare the network to protect the 2026 midterms and ensure free and democratic elections in the face of authoritarian threats. Each call will feature guidance from expert partners on key election protection strategies and space for individualized technical assistance. Our first webinar is on Wednesday, August 12, 12pm ET/9am PT.
📄 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.
🗣️ Want to Get More Involved with our Chapter? Let’s Talk!
Local Progress members have access to a slew of policy and strategic resources, but sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. Let’s connect about it. I am based in Laredo, and I would love to meet with you online or wherever you are. Schedule a meeting with me!
🌺 Interested in Stepping Up Your Leadership? Join the Nuestro Caucus Leadership Committee!
Are you interested in developing your leadership in our network and don’t know where to start? Nuestro Caucus is seeking new leadership committee members! To express your interest, fill out this form or email me. If you’re interested in learning more about our Caucuses and upcoming meetings, you can check out our Linktree!
▶️ 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!
❓ 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.
✨ Stephanie Gharakhanian, Austin Community College Board Trustee, LPTX Organizing Committee Co-Chair
Stephanie is a mother, a movement leader, and one of our founding members of the Local Progress Texas chapter. Stephanie first learned about Local Progress in 2014 at a partner convening. Ady Barkan, Local Progress’ founder, presented his vision for creating an organization geared toward local elected officials, which piqued her interest in advocating for an investment in Texas.
Stephanie shared that she was recruited to run for office by now Congressman Greg Casar– a Local Progress founding member. “My early collaboration with Local Progress started in a supporting role as a community partner. As soon as I was elected to the community college board, I called Local Progress to officially join the organization as a member. I love that I was able to experience both that early conversation with Ady in a small room at a worker center in Oregon twelve years ago and the gathering of hundreds of local electeds at a hotel ballroom in Baltimore at LP’s national convening this July. I am so proud of how this organization has grown and all that this network has achieved in the last decade.”
In the next six months, Stephanie shared that her biggest goal is to determine how Austin Community College can sustain the free-tuition pilot our board established in 2024. “This is a program that waives tuition and fees for in-district high school graduates and GED completers. It was initially approved as a five-year pilot. We know that the biggest barrier keeping students from pursuing higher education in our community is the cost.” Due to its overwhelming success, impacting over 10,000 students and with a direct-to-college enrollment increase of 59%, Stephanie shares her hopes in making this a reality for many more years to come, “it is clear that this program is helping students enroll at Austin Community College who otherwise would not be able to pursue a higher education degree or workforce certificate.
Stephanie shared two fun facts about Austin Community College 📚: 1) The service area of the Austin Community College District is roughly the same size as the state of Connecticut – 7000 square miles! 2) ACC’s Highland Campus sits on the site of an old mall. You can still find some relics from the original mall – like a 70’s era giant banana split sculpture – in the campus’s common spaces.
A leader in the labor movement, she now works prosecuting work-related crimes at the Travis County DA’s office and serves as our LPTX Organizing Committee co-chair. Stephanie lives in Austin with her partner and two children.