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Eduardo Martinez speaks during a press conference at a homeless encampment in Richmond, California, on September 15, 2022. (Jane Tyska / Digital First Media / East Bay Times via Getty Images)

Richmond Progressive Alliance’s Lessons for Local Organizers

It doesn’t often make national headlines, but the city of Richmond, California, has been home to a successful progressive political reform project in recent years. Here are ten lessons for other municipal reformers from the Richmond Progressive Alliance.

📬 LP Network Download | Anti-gentrification ordinance, abortion travel funds, environmental win & more! | Sept 2024

Here’s a look at some of what’s happening across the Local Progress network this month.
An image of people standing in line to vote from the waist down in the foreground with people voting in the background. Image from All Voting is Local

📎 Federal Advocacy Roundup | Election resources | September 2024

This month, we’re sharing key federal funding reminders and valuable resources as you prepare for the 2024 elections.
LPNY OC posing for a picture

LPNY State Download 🛣️ | Road to Good Cause, Organizing Committee / Strategy session, and more! | September 2024

Check out what LPPA has been up to!
A group of LP school board members posing for a photo

LP School Board Download 📚 | Fully funding public education, sustainable school facilities, & a recap from our National Convening this summer! | September 2024

Check out what LPPA has been up to!
A construction worker shelters from the sun during a water break. Local government ordinances mandating such breaks have been preempted in some states.(Al Diaz/TNS)

When States and Localities Disagree On Worker Protections, What’s the Way Forward?

Local governments across the country are enacting policies that protect workers. Unfortunately, state governments have increasingly acted to preempt these efforts. That's why some local leaders are finding ways to work around such barriers, demonstrating how local power can influence policy even constrained by state preemption.

LPPA State Download 🌲| Your first Pennsylvania newsletter! | Fall 2024

Check out what LPPA has been up to!
The LPMN delegation at the LP National Convening standing in front of a Local Progress step and repeat.

LPMN State Download 📣 | LPMN at the National Convening, Saint Paul climate action case study & more! | September 2024

Check out what LPMN is up to!
A group photo of the LPTX delegation at the 2024 Local Progress National Convening.

LPTX State Download 📣 | Building community and fighting for a better Texas! | September 2024

See what our LPTX Chapter has been up to and how you can get involved this fall!
A group of LPNC members and partners posing for a photo in front of the LP step and repeat at the 2024 National Convening in Oakland, CA.

LPNC State Download 📣 | LPNC at the National Convening, recent policy wins & more! | September 2024

Check out what LPNC has been up to!

We Can Create Real Safety One Step At a Time. Here’s How.

To support our collective work and continue building the world we want to see, we have a variety of communications, budgeting, and policy resources available. Check them out!
Porchá Perry demonstrates with other workers in Lansing, Michigan, in favor of bills restoring local control to pass workforce and labor policies on Sept.13, 2023. A new report finds growing union organizing across the country has triggered an anti-labor legislative response in some states, but cities and counties are increasingly pushing back. (Photo courtesy of SEIU Local 1)

States are pushing back with anti-labor laws as union popularity grows, policy experts say

A new report co-authored by New York University Wagner Labor Initiative and Local Progress Impact Lab details how localities are fighting back against state anti-labor legislation.

Have a Media Inquiry?

Local Progress is a movement of local elected officials advancing a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of local government. We are elected leaders who build power with underrepresented communities and fight to reshape what is possible in our localities all across the country. 

Want to get in touch with us for a story? Reach us at press@localprogress.org.

In The News

At Local Progress, we seek to make the aspirational pragmatic by showing how government can be a tool to create just and equitable outcomes and reshaping peoples’ understanding of governing from an institution to a collective responsibility. Here are some highlights of our media coverage:

Eduardo Martinez speaks during a press conference at a homeless encampment in Richmond, California, on September 15, 2022. (Jane Tyska / Digital First Media / East Bay Times via Getty Images)

Richmond Progressive Alliance’s Lessons for Local Organizers

It doesn’t often make national headlines, but the city of Richmond, California, has been home to a successful progressive political reform project in recent years. Here are ten lessons for other municipal reformers from the Richmond Progressive Alliance.
A construction worker shelters from the sun during a water break. Local government ordinances mandating such breaks have been preempted in some states.(Al Diaz/TNS)

When States and Localities Disagree On Worker Protections, What’s the Way Forward?

Local governments across the country are enacting policies that protect workers. Unfortunately, state governments have increasingly acted to preempt these efforts. That's why some local leaders are finding ways to work around such barriers, demonstrating how local power can influence policy even constrained by state preemption.
Porchá Perry demonstrates with other workers in Lansing, Michigan, in favor of bills restoring local control to pass workforce and labor policies on Sept.13, 2023. A new report finds growing union organizing across the country has triggered an anti-labor legislative response in some states, but cities and counties are increasingly pushing back. (Photo courtesy of SEIU Local 1)

States are pushing back with anti-labor laws as union popularity grows, policy experts say

A new report co-authored by New York University Wagner Labor Initiative and Local Progress Impact Lab details how localities are fighting back against state anti-labor legislation.
The Chevron Richmond Refinery is seen in 2023. In the summer of 2012, a massive blaze broke out at the refinery. | Eric Risberg/AP

California city’s $550m deal with Chevron could be a national model for environmentalists

California cities have a new playbook for beating Big Oil. In mid-August, Chevron caved in the face of a local initiative that would have taxed every barrel it produced within Richmond’s city limits at its century-old, 3,000-acre plant just north of San Francisco.

press Releases

NEW REPORT: How Local Government Can Stand Up for Workers When States Try to Stand in Their Way

This new report for Labor Day 2024 highlights ways local elected officials can advance workers rights even when facing both hostile state preemption and federal labor law preemption.

How Localities Use Community Responder Programs to Keep People Safe

This new video from Local Progress and Local Progress Impact Lab focuses on three specific localities: Durham, Oakland, and Albuquerque to explain what community responder programs are, how they work, and why hundreds of localities are starting to adopt them.

After Grants Pass: organizing to house all our neighbors

In response to the Supreme Court's cruel decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, we will continue to organize for housing for all.

Local Progress Condemns Cruel Supreme Court Decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, Local Progress put out the following statement.

180+ State and Local Elected Officials Urge Congress to Reject the EATS Act

LP and the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) released letters calling on Congress to protect local and state governments ability to create policy that is responsive to the issues their own communities face in the agricultural industry.