Community Change Action

Background

In 1968, Community Change Action’s charitable counterpart, Community Change (also known as the Center for Community Change) was founded in Washington, D.C. Later in 2003, the organization launched a predecessor organization to Community Change Action, the Campaign for Community Change, as its 501(c)(4) counterpart. On April 21, 2014, in anticipation of the 2016 presidential election, the organization announced that it would launch Community Change Action to replace the Campaign for Community Change as well as its aligned affiliate, Change Nation. ^{1 2}

Advocacy

Community Change Action supports policies that would mandate higher wages for care workers; end certain detention practices involving illegal immigrants arriving at the southern border; more strictly regulate employers of immigrant laborers; limit the presence of the United States military within the country; expand the definition of the family with regard to immigration applications to whomever a given candidate chooses to designate; eliminate immigration per-country caps and quotas; expand U.S. asylum eligibility; reverse provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act; restrict the ability of immigration enforcement agents to operate in places of worship, courtrooms, and schools; repurpose Department of Homeland Security funding to modernize ports of entry; increase and expand access to the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit; fully fund the Housing Choice Voucher Program; and increase the maximum SNAP benefit by 15 percent. ^{3 4 5 6}

In June 2025, Community Change Action participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against Donald Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform. ^{7 8}

As of August 2025, Community Change and Community Change Action operate Free DC, a “fiscally sponsored special project” created to organize and fund events and protests within Washington D.C to advocate against President Trump’s plan in August to federalize the district’s police department, deploy the national guard, and remove homeless encampments from public spaces. Several of the project’s “guiding principles” include “do not obey in advance,” “take up space,” and “go outside at 8:00 PM and bang pots and pans, sing, chant, or make noise for five minutes [during]…this occupation.” ⁹ Between 2020 and 2023, both Community Change and Community Change Action have received over $20 million in funding from left-of-center organizations including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Tides Foundation, the Pritzker Foundation, nonprofits managed by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors, and Future Forward USA. Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of right-of-center watchdog group Americans for Public Trust, commented “It is ironic that a protest to ostensibly ‘Free DC’ was hosted by Community Change, a group funded by massive amounts of outside dark money to push a pro-crime agenda.” ⁹

Grants

Organizations that have received grants of $40,000 or more from Community Change Action include Casa in Action, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Faith in Minnesota, Family Forward Action Fund, Florida Rising, Gamaliel Faith and Democracy Campaign, Living United for Change in Arizona, Maine People’s Alliance, Make the Road Action, Michigan People’s Campaign, Moses Action, Mothering Justice Action Fund, New Georgia Project Action Fund, Organizers in the Land of Enchantment, Tides Advocacy, and Working Families Organization. ¹⁰

Partners

Partner organizations of Community Change Action include The Fair Immigration Reform Movement Action (FIRM Action), a network of 20 left-of-center pro-immigration organizations, as well as the Black Freedom Collective, a network of critical race theory-aligned organizations. ¹¹

Leadership

Dorian Warren is co-president of Community Change Action, co-president of Community Change, and co-chair of the Economic Security Project, a left-of-center initiative that advocates for the federal government to distribute unconditional payments through a universal basic income program. Previously, Warren taught at the University of Chicago, was the co-director of the Columbia University Program on Labor Law and Policy, and worked at MSNBC as a contributor, host, and executive producer of “Nerding Out.” Additionally, Warren sits on the boards of organizations including Working Partnerships USA, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, the National Employment Law Project, and The Nation. ¹²

Lorella Praeli is the co-president of Community Change Action and co-president of Community Change. Previously, she was the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)’s deputy national political director, national Latino vote director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and director of advocacy and policy for United We Dream. Additionally, Praeli serves on the boards of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, FWD.us, and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. ¹³

Lisa García Bedolla is the chair of Community Change Action’s board of directors as well as the vice provost of Graduate Studies, dean of the Graduate Division, and professor at the University of California, Berkley. ¹⁴