the pillars

Balsz School District, AZ. The school district launched a revised curriculum pilot that incorporates materials from the 1619 Project, an effort to teach the history of slavery in America and how it has shaped our political, social, and economic institutions.

Culver City, CA. The school district developed a strategic plan grounded in equity and is working to implement mandatory ethnic studies as a graduation requirement.

Austin, TX. A multi-year city effort to revitalize a historically Black neighborhood by centering resident priorities.

Chicago, IL. The North Side community, as a result of a 2011 zoning change, is expanding urban agriculture and farming to develop a healthy local economy, particularly for Black and Brown communities

Takoma Park, MD. The city expanded the local franchise to young people ages 16 and 17, in an effort to support life-long voting habits, civic engagement, and accountability to youth voices in local issues.

Berkeley, CA. The city developed a tenant opportunity to purchase (TOPA) ordinance in the hopes that it will help fight displacement, increase tenant stability, and build permanent affordability.

New York, NY. The city runs a participatory budgeting process city wide for 33 of the city’s 50 districts, ensuring that resident preferences inform more than $50 million in capital expenditures annually.

Detroit, MI. This charter revision seeks to center equity, survival, and quality of life, including water access, safety, recreation, and affordable housing.

Chicago, IL. The city’s 35th ward utilized a participatory process to secure a zoning change to build a new development with 100 percent affordable housing.

Portland, OR. The city established an alternative response unit for 911 calls related to homelessness and mental health to ensure residents receive support and services and reduce contact with police officers.

Oklahoma City, OK. The city passed a zoning overlay to ban small-box discount stores in underserved neighborhoods, effectively banning dollar stores in food deserts to help create healthier neighborhoods with access to fresh groceries.

Spokane, WA. The city expanded eligibility for zero fare to increase transit access and use for low-income residents and those with disabilities.

Harris County, TX. The county recently restructured voting infrastructure, centralizing all activities under one office, in order to better serve voters during registration and as they cast their ballots.

Milwaukee County, WI. The county declared racism a public health crisis and passed a series of measures to address inequities across all facets of government, from budgeting and staff training to addressing internal policies and procedures to center racial equity in decision-making.

Durham, NC. An effort to fund affordable housing across the city to support mixed-income neighborhoods and prevent ongoing displacement from the downtown corridor.

Culver City, CA. The city joined a regional collective and met its 100 percent clean energy commitment in 2018.

Brookline, MA. This community-driven process aims to reconceptualize public safety, centering the experiences of those most impacted by police and state violence.

San Marcos, TX. The city passed an ordinance requiring that police officers serve low-level offenses with a citation instead of arrest and jail time. Some offenses will even qualify for some type of diversion instead of a citation. This would allow a person to fulfill some sort of program (such as community service), and once fulfilled their record remains clean.

Milwaukee, WI. Youth organizers won a campaign to ensure the school board would divest resources in school resource officers and redirect those funds towards important programs and investments to address inequities and ensure youth can thrive.

New Haven, CT. The city used its food procurement policy to take important steps towards addressing climate change at the local level.

Nashville, TN. Community leaders backed the city in an effort to establish a robust community benefits agreement as part of a stadium construction project.

St. Paul, MN. passed a groundbreaking tenant protection package. The policies include just cause policies that specify reasons why a landlord may evict a tenant, a security deposit limit, tenant screening guidelines, tenant rights and responsibilities information, and advance notice of sale.

DeSoto, TX. The city laid out new commitments to increase women and minority-owned businesses’ participation in city contracting and ability to secure those RFPs.

San Francisco, CA. The city’s Proposition C implemented a 0.5 percent gross receipts tax on companies that make more than $50 million a year to fund the city’s homeless relief efforts.

Los Angeles, CA. The city is exploring ways to remove law enforcement from traffic enforcement responsibilities and find alternative strategies.

Stockton, CA. The city conducted a two-year pilot to increase economic stability by providing a monthly stipend of $500 for a group of residents in the city through a monthly stipend of $500; a group of social scientists documented the impacts of the regular guaranteed income to be published in the future.

Madison, WI. The city committed $3.2 million dollars over five years to support worker cooperative development. The initiative represents a long-term vision for creating quality and sustainable jobs, contributing to a healthy economy in Madison.