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Non-profit

Local Progress (Local Progress Policy Action)

Website:

localprogress.org/
Location:

Washington, DC
Tax ID:

87-2098657
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)

Type:

Left-Of-Center Policy Advocacy Group
Formation:

2012
Executive Director:

Ivan Luevanos-Elms
Executive Director's Salary (2022):

$166,477

1

References

  1. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Local Progress Policy Action. 2022. Part VII, Section A, Line 19. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/872098657/202333139349302628/full
Budget (2022):

Revenue: $691,312

Expenses: $599,711

Assets: $458,425 1

References

  1. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Local Progress Policy Action. 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/872098657/202333139349302628/full

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

 Local Progress (officially Local Progress Policy Action) is an advocacy group advancing left-of-center policies and ideologies at the municipal level across America. 1

Together with its charitable arm Local Progress Policy Institute and with the support of labor unions and major left-of-center foundations, Local Progress encourages local elected officials to extend the reach of municipal governments and implement policies on topics such as immigration, foreign policy, product safety, abortion, and environmental issues. 2

History, Leadership and Organization

Local Progress was founded in 2012 as a project of the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), a left-of-center organization focused on voter mobilization and policy development. In 2022, Local Progress was spun off from CPD as two organizations – the lobbying arm Local Progress Policy Action and the charitable arm Local Progress Policy Institute.  3

Local Progress executive director Ivan Luevanos-Elms is the former director of the Community Engagement Division of the New York City Council and previously worked for the far-left union-funded Working Families Party. 4

As of February 2024, Local Progress has state chapters in Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, and Texas and is developing a chapter in Florida. 5 Its Board of Directors includes current and former municipal officials from California, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. 6 The board also includes representatives of the Communications Workers of America and Service Employees International Union, as well as the former director of the Ford Foundation’s Cities and States Program. 7

Identity Caucuses

Local Progress organizes “identity caucuses” within itself, offering a Black Caucus and a Women’s Caucus. The Women’s Caucus “is open to both current and former LP members who identity as a woman, who identify as a combination of genders, or who do not subscribe a gender binary and feel that this space could serve them.” 8

Programs and Policies

Local Progress encourages municipal elected officials to govern based on left-of-center principles and to advance left-of-center national policy priorities at the local level. 9

These policy priorities include rent control, a “right to lease renewal” for tenants, local-level universal basic income programs, municipal government adoption of electric vehicles, decreased policing of homeless populations, removal of traffic enforcement from police department responsibilities, and other left-of-center municipal governance policies. 10 11 12 13 14 15

Local Progress’s preferred policies align with those of labor unions that support it, such as the regulation and unionization of “gig economy” jobs, opposition to privatization of government services, restrictive regulation of short-term rentals, and local school board control of public charter schools. 16 17 18 19

Local Progress also encourages municipal governments to engage on issues that have traditionally been the responsibility of the federal government such as immigration, foreign policy, product safety, abortion, and environmental policy. 20 21 22 23 In support of this strategy, it promotes “Home Rule” policies that block state governments from overriding municipal government actions that conflict with state or federal laws. 24

One policy supported by Local Progress, “Cite and Release,” encourages local police departments not to alert federal immigration officials about illegal immigrants who have committed crimes such as shoplifting, marijuana possession, or driving without a license. 25

Funders

Local Progress receives funding from unions and left-of-center foundations. After it was spun off from the Center for Popular Democracy, the majority of donor funding shifted to the charitable arm Local Progress Policy Institute, which also bears most shared expenses. 26

In its tax returns for 2022, Local Progress reported that its five executive staff members received no reportable compensation from the advocacy arm Local Progress Policy Action, while receiving a combined total of $726,779 in reportable compensation from the charitable Local Progress Policy Institute. 27

Since 2019, Local Progress Policy Institute’s most notable supporter has been the Ford Foundation, which announced $5,479,546 in grants between 2019 and 2023. 28 Other major Local Progress Policy Institute funders include the AFL-CIO, 29 Communications Workers of America, 30 William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, 31 Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, 32 Arnold Ventures, 33 and McKnight Foundation. 34

References

  1. “About Us,” Local Progress, accessed February 4, 2024, https://localprogress.org/about/.
  2. “Issues.” Local Progress. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://localprogress.org/issues/.
  3. “Strategic Framework 2022,” Local Progress, 2022, https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/LP-Strategic-Framework-2022.pdf.
  4. “About Us,” Local Progress, accessed February 4, 2024, https://localprogress.org/about/.
  5. “State Organizing.” Local Progress. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://localprogress.org/state-organizing/.
  6. “About Us,” Local Progress, accessed February 4, 2024, https://localprogress.org/about/.
  7. “About Us,” Local Progress, accessed February 4, 2024, https://localprogress.org/about/.
  8. “Caucuses.” Local Progress. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://localprogress.org/about/caucuses/.
  9.  “Issues.” Local Progress. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://localprogress.org/issues/.
  10. Pennington, D’Ana, and Christina Rosales. “Stable Rents, Rooted Communities.” LocalProgress, August 2023. https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Stable-Rents-Rooted-Communities.pdf.
  11. “Local Elected Leaders Urge Federal Government to Protect Tenants.” Local Progress, July 31, 2023. https://localprogress.org/2023/07/31/local-elected-leaders-urge-federal-government-to-protect-tenants/.
  12. “Municipal Cash Transfer Programs and Direct Cash Assistance.” LocalProgress, September 2021. https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Local-Progress_Municipal-Cash-Assistance-Programs.pdf.
  13. “Taking the High Road to Cleaner Air for Kids and Communities.” LocalProgress, August 2022. https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/LP-JMA-Policy-Memo-EV-Procurement-Aug-2022.pdf.
  14. Pennington, D’Ana. “Policy bulletin: Homeless response” Local Progress, November 2023. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DlmPfj18qIfwplp70z9LGSWmAbl2Pt3rEt5v7EHJfds/edit.
  15. Ttaro. “New Resource Helps Local Electeds Create Real Traffic Safety.” Local Progress, January 9, 2024. https://localprogress.org/2024/01/09/creating-traffic-safety-policy-memo/.
  16. “Strengthening Our Public Schools” Local Progress, January 2019. https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Strengthening-Our-Public-Schools.pdf.
  17. “Using Federal Funds for Racial and Economic Justice.” Local Progress, August 2023. https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Local-Progress_Federal-Implementation-Memo_2023.pdf.
  18. “Regulating Short Term Rentals.” Local Progress, April 2023. https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/LPIL-Policy-Brief-Short-Term-Rental-Apr-2023-2.pdf.
  19. Zhou, Naaman. “‘Suit up for the Backlash!’: The Battle to Regulate New York’s Gig Economy.” The Guardian, July 13, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jul/13/suit-up-for-the-backlash-the-battle-to-regulate-new-yorks-gig-economy.
  20. “Immigrant Justice.” Local Progress. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://localprogress.org/issues/immigrant-justice/.
  21. “Hundreds of Local Elected Officials Call for a Ceasefire.” Local Progress, January 24, 2024. https://localprogress.org/2024/01/05/hundreds-of-local-elected-officials-call-for-a-ceasefire/.
  22. Poutasse, Rebecca. “Dozens of Local Electeds in Texas Sign Amicus Brief in Support of Reproductive Rights.” Local Progress, November 22, 2023. https://localprogress.org/2023/11/22/dozens-of-local-electeds-in-texas-sign-amicus-brief-in-support-of-reproductive-rights/.
  23. “Local Electeds Call on NHTSA to Recall Kia & Hyundai with Theft Vulnerabilities.” Local Progress, February 1, 2024. https://localprogress.org/2024/01/31/local-electeds-call-on-nhtsa-to-recall-kia-hyundai-with-theft-vulnerabilities/.
  24. “Home Rule.” Local Progress. Accessed February 5, 2024. https://localprogress.org/issues/home-rule/
  25. “Cite and Release: Protecting Immigrants and Disrupting Carceral Systems.” LocalProgress, April 2021. https://localprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2020-LP-Policy-Brief-Cite-and-Release.pdf.
  26. “Local Progress Policy Institute IRS Form 990 – 2022.” Nonprofit Explorer, November 9, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/863590543/202343139349302629/full.
  27. “Local Progress Policy Action IRS Form 990 – 2022.” Nonprofit Explorer, November 9, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/872098657/202333139349302628/full.
  28. Author’s calculation from search of publicly available Ford Foundation grant reports at https://www.fordfoundation.org/?s=local+progress.
  29. “FORM LM-2 LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORT.” US Department of Labor, September 28, 2022. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=844060&rptForm=LM2Form.
  30. “RECEIPTS FOR: LOCAL PROGRESS POLICY INSTITUTE.” Union Facts. Accessed August 8, 2023. https://www.unionfacts.com/payeeDetail/Communications_Workers_of_America/2955337.
  31. “Local Progress Policy Institute – for General Operating Support.” Hewlett Foundation, January 27, 2022. https://hewlett.org/grants/local-progress-policy-institute-for-general-operating-support/.
  32. “Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Grants Awarded Fall 2021 State-Level Systemic Change Strategy.” Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, 2021. https://www.zsr.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20Grants%20Awarded_Fall%202021%20Grant%20Cycle_Jan%202022.pdf.
  33. “Local Progress Policy Institute.” Arnold Ventures. Accessed August 8, 2023. https://www.arnoldventures.org/grantees/local-progress-policy-institute.
  34. Westbrock, Gretchen. “McKnight Strengthens Democratic Participation in First-Quarter Grantmaking.” McKnight Foundation, November 21, 2022. https://www.mcknight.org/news-ideas/mcknight-strengthens-democratic-participation-in-first-quarter-grantmaking/.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: April 1, 2022

    • Available Filings

    No filings available.

    Local Progress (Local Progress Policy Action)

    1200 18TH ST NW 700
    Washington, DC 20036-0000