National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd (NAC) is a left-of-center Roman Catholic advocacy organization that focuses on issues pertaining to women and children. Its website directs users to NAC’s 2018 position paper that details NAC’s support for wealth redistribution to fund welfare and social safety net programs, environmentalist policy that would restrict consumer spending, and eliminating immigration restrictions. ^{1 2}

The group has opposed the use of zero carbon nuclear energy. ³

Background

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd is a Catholic advocacy nonprofit organization. It advocates for left-of-center social programs for poverty issues. ^{4 5}

NAC has an advocacy handbook that guides individuals on how to influence public policy by contacting elected officials. The handbook also refers activists to a list of left-of-center advocacy organizations for information on political issues Children’s Defense Fund, Center for Law and Social Policy, National Low Income Housing Coalition, and Jubilee USA Network. ⁶

Advocacy

Wealth Redistribution

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd has criticized economic expansion, associating it with the existence of poverty, and advocates for wealth-redistribution policies at the international level to fund social programs. It also advocates for a Social Protection Floor that would subsidize welfare programs providing “food, water, sanitation, shelter, health, education, and social supports” to all persons who would not otherwise have such resources. ⁷

Environmentalism

In NAC’s 2018 position paper, it voiced its support of the 2015 Paris Climate Accords as well as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Furthermore, it advocated policy that would “convert individual and communal behavior” to what it claims would be more ecologically advantageous behaviors, dictating how people can use “energy, technology, water, diet, practice(s) of waste and consumption, [and make] economic investments.” The position paper goes on to say that spending behaviors of individuals and “communal investments” should be scrutinized based on how they impact supply chains, arguing that consumerism creates “unjust structures” regarding the environment. ⁸

Immigration

NAC’s 2018 position paper advocates for eliminating restrictions on immigration. It alleges that efforts to prevent “mass migration” are xenophobic and discriminatory. NAC also advocates for allowing immigrants without any documents clarifying their identity or background should be allowed to immigrate as well. ⁹

Gun Control

NAC’s website claims there should be restrictions on firearms rights in cases where it argues is necessary to protect women and domestic violence victims. It endorses the Violence Against Women Act, which funds investigations of reported cases of domestic violence and restricts rights to firearms for those found guilty of committing domestic violence. ^{10 11}

Election Integrity

NAC’s website claims election integrity laws are “unjust” and should be changed to achieve racial equity. It claims federal -ntegrity policies restrict ethnic minorities from voting. ¹²

NAC is a member of Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD), which advocates for legislation such as the John R. Lewis Act, Disclose Act, and Honest Ads Act that would restrict campaign finance speech and election integrity laws. ¹³

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

In May of 2021, National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd was one of 715 groups and businesses listed as a co-signer on a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House and Senate that referred to nuclear energy as a “dirty” form of energy production and a “significant” source of pollution. The letter asked federal lawmakers to reduce carbon emissions by creating a “renewable electricity standard” that promoted production of weather dependent power sources such as wind turbines and solar panels, but did not promote low carbon natural gas and zero carbon nuclear energy. ¹⁴

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 19 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ¹⁵ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ¹⁶

Funding

As of February 2023, National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd’s most recent publicly available tax return was from 2011. In 2011, NAC reported receiving $8,164 in contributions, its sole source of revenue for the year; $8,164 in total expenses, and $4,478 in net assets. ¹⁷

1. “Our Issues: National Advocacy Center – Sisters of the Good Shepherd.” National Advocacy Center. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/issues.html.
2. “Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd 2018 Position Papers.” National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, June 8, 2018. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/uploads/5/5/6/0/55602515/2018_position_papers_final__1_.pdf
3. Letter from Center for Biological Diversity et. al. to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Joe Manchin, and Rep. Frank Pallone. “RE: CONGRESS SHOULD ENACT A FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD AND REJECT GAS AND FALSE SOLUTIONS.” May 12, 2021. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/energy-justice/pdfs/2021-5-12_600-Group-Letter-for-RES.pdf?_gl=1*1c9h3t8*_gcl_au*MTc3NjM3MTM1Mi4xNjg5OTU1MzAz
4. “About: National Advocacy Center – Sisters of the Good Shepherd.” National Advocacy Center. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/about.html.
5. “Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd 2018 Position Papers.” National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, June 8, 2018. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/uploads/5/5/6/0/55602515/2018_position_papers_final__1_.pdf
6. “Advocacy Handbook.” Nation Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, October 2015. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/uploads/5/5/6/0/55602515/15nac_handbook_v3.pdf
7. “Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd 2018 Position Papers.” National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, June 8, 2018. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/uploads/5/5/6/0/55602515/2018_position_papers_final__1_.pdf
8. “Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd 2018 Position Papers.” National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, June 8, 2018. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/uploads/5/5/6/0/55602515/2018_position_papers_final__1_.pdf
9. “Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd 2018 Position Papers.” National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, June 8, 2018. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/uploads/5/5/6/0/55602515/2018_position_papers_final__1_.pdf
10. “Fact Sheet: Reauthorization of the Violence against Women Act (VAWA).” The White House. The United States Government, March 16, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/16/fact-sheet-reauthorization-of-the-violence-against-women-act-vawa/.
11. “Our Issues: National Advocacy Center – Sisters of the Good Shepherd.” National Advocacy Center. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/issues.html.
12. “Our Issues: National Advocacy Center – Sisters of the Good Shepherd.” National Advocacy Center. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.gsadvocacy.org/issues.html.
13. Admin. “Declaration of American Democracy.” Declaration for American Democracy, October 20, 2022. https://dfadcoalition.org/.
14. Letter from Center for Biological Diversity et. al. to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Joe Manchin, and Rep. Frank Pallone. “RE: CONGRESS SHOULD ENACT A FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD AND REJECT GAS AND FALSE SOLUTIONS.” May 12, 2021. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/energy-justice/pdfs/2021-5-12_600-Group-Letter-for-RES.pdf?_gl=1*1c9h3t8*_gcl_au*MTc3NjM3MTM1Mi4xNjg5OTU1MzAz
15. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
16. “The Science of Sustainability.” The Nature Conservancy. October 13, 2018. Accessed July 25, 2023. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/
17. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax(Form 990-EO). National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. 2011. Part I, Lines 1-21.