The Alabama Rivers Alliance (ARA)  is a statewide coalition of diverse organizations dedicated to safeguarding and rejuvenating all of Alabama’s waterways. Through collaboration, community empowerment, and advocacy for effective water policies, ARA aims to protect the state’s water resources. Their strategic plan prioritizes influencing environmental policies, partnering with communities and allies to strengthen collective advocacy, and ensuring the safety, equity, resilience, and ecological health of Alabama’s water infrastructure. ARA is seeking a grant in partnership with Coosa Riverkeeper, whose mission is to preserve, advocate for, and restore the Coosa River and its surroundings, particularly in rural areas where much of the watershed flows through.

L.E.A.D. (Local Environmental Action Demanded) is a grassroots environmental justice organization led by Indigenous people. They focus on safeguarding the health and well-being of residents in Ottawa County and neighboring areas in northeastern Oklahoma, which comprises the territories of various Indigenous nations. The region faces numerous environmental challenges including the Tar Creek Superfund Site, benzene contamination from a former tire plant, poultry waste, and flooding from dam-related issues. L.E.A.D. aims to amplify the voices of those affected by environmental pollution and seek justice for them. Their initiatives include toxic tours, educational programs, surveys, conferences, community events, advocacy campaigns, and support for emerging environmental justice groups. They employ outreach, education, advocacy, and legal action to advocate for community-driven solutions and environmental justice.

The NC Disaster Resilience and Response Network coordinates rural-focused and grassroots initiatives to aid disaster recovery groups statewide. It’s a diverse coalition of local, regional, and statewide organizations working together to address environmental injustices and legacy pollution in affected communities. Through partnerships and direct community engagement, the network advocates for systemic changes to ensure equitable response, recovery, and resilience for all North Carolinians. They serve as a hub for public health information, connecting vulnerable individuals with resources and fostering collective action towards a fairer and more sustainable society.

SOWEGA Rising aims to enhance the quality of life, well-being, and political influence of marginalized residents in Southwest Georgia. Their initiatives include focusing on climate, utilities, and environmental (CUE) justice. They educate the community about the impact of CUE justice on their daily lives, particularly regarding high utility costs that pose significant economic challenges, especially for those already living in or below poverty levels. Through organizing training and advocacy efforts, they empower individuals to address these issues with local leaders and develop solutions and policies. SOWEGA Rising also collaboratively produced a Utilities Justice report and established a Utilities Justice Fellowship to educate, inspire, and empower citizens to enact positive change within their community.

The Peace Garden Project aims to tackle issues of justice by focusing on environmental and food justice. Through education and community involvement, they empower individuals to understand the interconnectedness of environmental issues with broader social problems and encourage collective action for change. They promote growing food as a means to address both individual and communal health and economic empowerment. They recently initiated the Outer Banks Environmental Film Festival to further their environmental education and community engagement efforts, reaching audiences not only in Eastern North Carolina but also across the United States and 23 other countries. While their work spans locations like New York and North Carolina, their current focus is on Manteo, North Carolina. Led by Black, Indigenous, and Latinx individuals, their organization’s leadership and volunteers represent diverse backgrounds, including immigrants, first-generation Americans, and people from various socio-economic statuses. They prioritize accountability through ongoing conversations and surveys with the communities they serve.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition is committed to preserving and restoring West Virginia’s rivers and streams for diverse ecosystems and economies. They engage in policy advocacy, industrial oversight, safe water initiatives, public lands protection, climate action, just transition, and watershed advocacy to advance environmental justice. They advocate for water quality policies, monitor industrial impacts, safeguard drinking water, preserve public lands, educate on climate change, support fair transitions, and improve regional watersheds.

Since 1999, Faith in Place has empowered Illinois people of all faiths to be leaders in caring for the Earth, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities. As a statewide, multifaith 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Faith in Place serves Illinoisans of diverse races, ethnicities, religions, genders, ages, socioeconomic conditions, and geographic regions. Our strong commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion derives from our environmental justice mission and reflects the diverse communities we work with and serve.

Camas to Condors is a restoration and conservation project encompassing the Blue Mountains ecoregion, the Bitterroot Mountains, and the Salmon, Clearwater and Tucannon River Subbasins, all of which are contained within the Nez Perce Tribe’s usual and accustomed areas. It is a tribally-led, collaborative, multidisciplinary response to the dire threats climate change is bringing to places, species and lifeways in our shared home. Our mission is to build culturally relevant conservation power in the Nez Perce homelands. Develop and share a holistic vision for climate + cultural + ecological resilience. Grow an ethical, inclusive, and adaptive restoration economy/a healing economy. We envision a shared home where the time-tested Indigenous relationship with the land is honored as a model of resilience; where land protection is restitution for past harm; where land restoration is an arena for eco-cultural healing and a foundation of the regional economy; and where stewardship priorities shape land management that is responsive, holistic, and just.

‘NAZO’ means to “sound or blow the whistle in alarm” in Lakota. Nazo was formed in 2019, when a group of women came together on the Cheyenne River Reservation to discuss the threat of the man camps which would accompany the TransCanada KXL Pipeline. It has since evolved into a safe space for people to share experiences and community concerns. NAZO seeks justice for women/ children/ relatives who experience sex trafficking and those who are targeted. We aim to educate our communities in preventive action regarding the hazards of the extractive industries that are currently targeting our lands in South Dakota. We organize to build awareness, patrol our rural reservation communities and offer educational presentations to our schools. We also host self-defense training. Our reservations in South Dakota have long been targeted by extractive industries. Indigenous people around the world are on the front lines in fighting against environmental destruction. Women have long held powerful leadership within these resistance movements; a fact that is often unrecognized by larger society. When we fight for the earth, we are fighting for our own survival.

Our Future West Virginia meets folk where they are, helping communities build local power to upend oppressive systems around them. We envision a West Virginia where EVERY person has the justice, dignity, and equity needed to thrive. Our Future West Virginia is a statewide non-profit, working on local and state issues of Civic Engagement, Education, Healthcare, and Environmental, Racial, Economic, and Social Justice. We work to change the balance of power through grassroots led policy change, developing local leadership, and bringing diverse voices together.

Rogue Climate’s  mission is to empower Southern Oregon communities most impacted by climate change, including low-income, rural, youth, seniors, and communities of color, to win climate justice by organizing for clean energy, sustainable jobs, and a healthy environment.

The Center Pole is a Native non-profit organization founded in 1999. The campus is located at the foot of the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. Originally a youth development organization, The Center Pole has expanded their work to include projects for a stronger Crow community. The expansion includes an alternative energy demonstration project, work in the area of food sovereignty, a digital archive, an indigenous media and education center and a radio station to give the Crow people a voice.

The Missouri Rural Crisis Center (MRCC) is a statewide farm and rural membership organization founded in 1985 with over 5600 member families. MRCC’s mission is to preserve family farms, promote stewardship of the land and environmental integrity and strive for economic and social justice by building unity and mutual understanding among diverse groups, both rural and urban. MRCC carries out this mission through its programming areas, each with its own specific role in advocating for family farms and rural communities. Their innovative approach to family farm organizing includes challenging corporate control of the food supply, creating sustainable alternatives to the current farm and food system, and generating community participation to create a just, democratic society based on equity and fairness for all people.

MRCC fights to preserve family farms and independent family farm livestock production, promote stewardship of the land and a safe, affordable high-quality food supply, support social justice and economic opportunity, and engage rural Missourians in public policies that impact their farms, food, families and communities. In addition, MRCC plays leadership roles in national and international efforts for fair farm and trade policies.

Mountain Watershed Association works to preserve, restore, and protect the Indian Creek and greater Youghiogheny River watersheds. These watersheds are located in the Appalachian foothills of Pennsylvania, a region known as the Laurel Highlands. Mountain Watershed Association organization has a unique approach in that they pursue on-the-ground restoration of past coal mining damage while we also advocate to protect our communities from the impacts of continued extraction for coal and, more recently, natural gas. Their work blends environmental monitoring, legal advocacy, and community organizing in order to empower local residents to take action to defend the waterways and communities they love.

Founded in 2009, the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE) advances policies and institutional actions that promote racial equity and shared prosperity for all in the growth of Atlanta and the American South. PSE advances its work through an Equity Ecosystem to grow the momentum for change. The Equity Ecosystem uses equity as the lens to propose and pursue just and equitable solutions. Through Values-Based Organizing, community engagement, coalition building, and leadership development, PSE works with communities to promote just energy policies in Georgia and across the American South. A big part of that is helping people understand where their energy comes from, how that affects them, and how they can get involved. Racial equity is utilized as a framework for mobilizing advocacy around energy equity issues. Mobilization takes on many forms including the Just Energy Circle, which is made up of like-minded frontline community organizations and individuals looking to advance a “New Southern Agenda” in the fight against climate injustice.

The Rural Utah Project is dedicated to increasing civic engagement in rural communities across Utah. We’re a young organization and are motivated to build a powerful movement with our neighbors that fights for a more just and sustainable future for rural Utah’s communities and landscapes. We seek to expand civic participation by breaking down barriers to the ballot box and providing organizing tools to local communities.

The Center for Coalfield Justice is a 501(c)(3) environmental justice nonprofit in Pennsylvania whose mission is to improve policy and regulations for the oversight of fossil fuel extraction and use; to educate, empower and organize coalfield residents; and to protect public and environmental health. Their approach for working with area residents values their knowledge about the land, waterways, and communities. We provide community members with detailed information about proposed projects and potential impacts so they can make informed decisions on individual or collective actions. Their recognition of local expertise is grounded in the belief that people who live with the daily impacts of fossil fuel extraction should be treated with the utmost respect. Center for Coalfield Justice’s work is informed and directed by how local people think these industries should be held accountable for impacts. By blending organizing and legal work, we seek to create an expanded set of options for achieving justice than might be produced by following solely a legal or organizing approach.

Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC) is a grassroots nonprofit organization of 1500 visionaries dedicated to protecting the air, water and foodsheds within the Delta County region of Southwest Colorado from the impacts of oil and gas development and paving the way for a renewable, clean energy future. CHC was established in 2009 by a group of citizens who were concerned about the risks of large-scale oil and gas development to the community’s health.

Good Stewards of Rockingham is a grassroots environmental organization committed to protecting their region from polluting industry. Good Stewards founded the first Dan Riverkeeper in mid 2019 to further their protective reach into their vast water resources and support community rights to a clean environment.

The Iniciativa de EcoDesarrollo de la Bahia de Jobos (IDEBAJO) is an environmental organizing support hub for various grassroots groups in the Jobos Bay area of southeastern Puerto Rico. Members are committed to environmental, climate, and energy justice, rooftop community solar, supporting youth leaders, and other capacity-building and anti-pollution efforts. Rural Cinema participants are members of IDEBAJO and also have affiliations with the Casa Comunitaria de Medios/Community Media House. This communication project focuses on the creation of audiovisual media to advance popular education. The House also advocates for different mutual aid initiatives, rooted in community empowerment.

Menīkānaehkem, Inc is a non-profit organization located on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin. Much of Menīkānaehkem is operated by indigenous organizers who take the lead on a number of different initiatives that Menīkānaehkem works on. Menīkānaehkem is driven to promote a cultural way of life while revitalizing indigenous identity and language.

Menīkānaehkem has the following initiatives: Women’s Leadership Cohort, Energy Sovereignty, Back 40 Mine, Food Sovereignty, Culture Group, Youth Leadership Cohort, and Menominee Men. Menīkānaehkem works on bringing unity to their community by using hearts and minds as one.

Founded in 2003 out of Arctic Village, Alaska, Native Movement’s initial campaign was to help build a collective Alaska Native voice for the recognition of Indigenous hunting and fishing rights. By 2007 Native Movement had become formally incorporated as a 501c3 non-profit and grown to a west-coast collective. Native Movement has provided leadership and support for grassroots-led projects that endeavor to ensure Indigenous Peoples’ rights, the rights of Mother Earth, and the building of healthy and sustainable communities for all. They believe in building equitable and respectful community organizing practices, getting to the root of the matter, uplifting intersectionality, and furthering a healing path. Understanding the impacts of the power and privilege structures of colonialism, racism, patriarchy, and capitalism is essential. Native Movement also recognizes that committing to healing practices both in our work and our lives is essential to the longevity and joy of the work before us.

Native Movement trainings, workshops, and camps are not exclusive to Indigenous peoples; rather their leadership model is shaped from an Indigenous worldview, which emphasizes deep acknowledgment of place-based knowledge and the joy and responsibility of building community.
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Rural Organizing Project (ROP) is a statewide organization that supports a multi-issue, rural-centered, grassroots base of over 65 groups across small-town, rural, and frontier Oregon. ROP works to build and support a shared standard of human dignity: the belief in the equal worth of all people, the need for equal access to justice, and the right to self-determination. Their mission is to strengthen the skills, resources, and vision of primary leadership in local autonomous human dignity groups with a goal of keeping such groups a vibrant source for a just democracy.

ROP began in 1992 as a response to the Oregon Citizens Alliance’s Abnormal Behaviors Initiative, which targeted gay and lesbian Oregonians for legalized second-class citizenship and intentionally built up a base across rural Oregon. Today, ROP and ROP’s member groups lead campaigns and programs at the intersections of economic, racial, gender, and climate justice, centering human dignity and democracy while tackling detentions, deportations, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts, resourcing and connecting rural media-makers, challenging the anti-democratic Right, and organizing for the long haul vision of a rural Oregon where everyone can live their lives fully with safety and dignity. Check out their podcast Rural Roots Rising to hear about ROP members’ work in their own words!