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Plainfield BOE Debates Cultural Responsiveness of its Textbooks, Votes to Resurface Hub Stine

Plainfield Board of Education Commissioner Azim Gray stands up for culturally responsive curriculums.

Workers’ Rights Local Government Round Up | July 2023

Check out some of the landmark workers’ rights policies that passed across the country over the last few months, as well as news of recent enforcement actions!
Photo of Brad Lander standing at the bottom of a staircase by Maria Spann/The Guardian.

‘Suit up for the backlash!’: The battle to regulate New York’s gig economy

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander says efforts to establish a minimum wage for food delivery workers have met well-funded resistance from the sector’s leading players.

New Resource Helps Local Electeds Use Procurement to Advance Equity

Our newly released report – a joint collaboration between In The Public Interest and the Local Progress Impact Lab – offers a roadmap for community advocates and local elected officials to examine how governmental entities can better design their procurement processes to incorporate public values.

📬 The Network Download | Passing rent caps, supporting LGBTQ+ communities & more | June 2023

Check out what our network has been up to this month!

School Board Members Are Organizing to Build a Multi-Racial Democracy

More than 40 school board members from 16 states across the country gathered in Baltimore for two days of strategy, peer learning, community building, and leadership development at our first-ever school board convening. Check out the highlights here!
A group photo of LPMN members, staff, and partners at the 2023 state meeting in St. Paul.

LPMN State Download 🌻 | Tenant protections, legislative recap & more! | June 2023

Check out what LPMN is up to!
LPTX members, staff, and partners posing in front of a sign that says "Fighting for Texas Workers."

LPTX State Download ☀️ | Legislative round-up & exciting announcements! | June 2023

See what our LPTX Chapter has been up to!
Peaceful demonstrators holding up signs saying "Abortion is health care" adn "bans off our bodies."

Republicans Are Systematically Blocking Cities’ Ability to Protect Abortion

As we approach the one-year mark of the devastating Dobbs decision, LP's LiJia Gong & Gaby Goldstein with Sister District sound the alarm on state legislatures interfering with cities' attempts to advance reproductive justice.

LPNC State Download ☀ | ARPA Strategy Meeting, legislative session updates, and more | Summer 2023

Here's some of the latest news and exciting updates from our North Carolina chapter.
Picture from Getty Images of the current Supreme Court Justices

Federal Advocacy Roundup | June 2023

The June 2023 Local Progress Federal Advocacy Roundup breaks down the debt ceiling deal, the Trump indictment, the Supreme Court's decision in Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Teamsters, and the status of asylum seekers post-Title 42.
Group photo of LP Minnesota members and partners at the 2023 state meeting in St. Paul.

Minnesota local leaders strategize for the next wave of change

As Minnesota's 2023 state legislative session comes to a close, local leaders across the state came together last week to strategize on housing policy and narrative, learn from one another, build community, and dream up change.

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:

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The World Cup Is Coming. Our Cities Must Protect Their People.

Op-ed: As elected officials from U.S. host cities, we know that local governments are the last line of defense against human rights abuses during the FIFA World Cup.
Casar has always approached political work with the same mindset forged as a labor organizer. (Robin Jerstad)

Greg Casar Is Organizing to Win

A must-read feature of former LP Co-Chair and now Congressman Greg Casar.

Multiple Cities Across the Country Are Resisting Rent Algorithms

Hoboken and Jersey city are two of the latest localities to join the nationwide movement to tackle corporate greed in the rental market and ban algorithmic rental price fixing.
Portland Street Response crisis worker Angela Sands and EMT Kaya Ascott respond to a 911 call in Portland, Ore. (Kaia Sand)

This Organization Proved There Was an Alternative to the Police. Now It’s Being Defunded.

Portland, OR proved what we all know to be true: we keep us safe. LP's Reynold Graham talks to The Nation about Portland's program.

press Releases

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Local Progress Carries Faith’s Legacy Forward

A group of local elected officials holding a letter in the Colorado state capitol

LP Members & Union Leaders Call To Overturn WPA Veto

Municipal Officials join labor leaders to call out the Governor for rejecting this Common-Sense legislation
An image of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka

Statement: National Network of Local Officials Denounce Unjustified Arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka

In response to the reported arrest and subsequent release of Newark Mayor and Local Progress member Ras Baraka, Essex County Commissioner and Local Progress Board Member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas released the following statement. 
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty who was sworn into office on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023 speaking at the All Square restaurant in Minneapolis on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 where supporters gathered to celebrate her election. Mshale Staff Photo by Panashe Matemba-Mutasa

Statement: Amid Federal Threats, Local Leaders Stand Strong for True Civil Rights

In response to the Trump Administration’s so-called “civil rights” investigation into Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s Office, Local Progress released this statement.
A large group standing around while one person speaks at a podium.

Road To Good Cause Campaign Scores 11 Victories Across Upstate New York

The coordinated campaign of local officials expand critical renter protections to thousands of tenants, setting their sights on Rochester next.