River Valley Organizing (RVO) is a nonprofit which focuses on left-of-center issues relating to environmentalism, mass incarceration, public safety, drug policy, and civic engagement. The organization is specifically opposed to incineration plants, toxic waste dumps, and natural gas exploration. It seeks to increase in the number of Black people in leadership roles politically and commercially. RVO claims that environmental degradation, racism, classism, the war on drugs, and incarceration are focused on limiting autonomy of marginalized communities in the United States. RVO also suggests that the poor economic conditions in Ohio’s Appalachian region derives from “pharmaceutical companies making money off selling us drugs and prison profiteers making money off locking us up.” ¹

Background

River Valley Organizing was founded in 2014 in Ohio and received its tax-exempt status in 2021. In 2020, RVO’s co-executive director, Amanda Kiger, helped file a lawsuit against the United States Defense Logistics Agency for accepting toxic waste at an incineration plant in East Liverpool, Ohio along with Save Our County and the Sierra Club. RVO helped citizens of West Point, Ohio stop a landfill from bringing radioactive waste from a fracking site into the landfill.  ^{2 3}

Campaigns

Voting

River Valley Organizing runs a civic engagement campaign focused on increasing voter registration and turnout. RVO claims to do this in a nonpartisan way and wants to increase civic engagement no matter what party someone is affiliated with. ⁴

Drugs

Unharming Ohio is a drug program run by RVO in conjunction with the East Liverpool Health Department. The program works on drug reform policies and treatment programs. The program had fentanyl testing strips declassified as drug paraphernalia and helped pass the Mainstream Addiction Treatment Act (MAT Act). RVO claims to have saved over 6,000 lives with this program and diverted over 1,000 police interactions with drug users. The program includes physical offices where people can get medical supplies such as wound care kits and emergency contraception. ⁵

Environment

RVO created community groups and alliances following the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. It claimed the chemicals spilled in this derailment have caused thousands of Ohio residents to become sick and has partnered with universities to perform soil and water testing in the region. RVO claimed the mishandling of the situation, such as allowing people back into their homes before testing water, soil, and air quality, resulted from corporate greed and government negligence. ⁶

RVO has also publicly opposed the building of the West Point Super Dump, a dump which would allow for storage of fracking materials in what RVO claims is one of the Valley’s most “naturally sustainable” areas. RVO has challenged Vogel, the fracking company, and the EPA for the location which they proposed the dump be built and has gotten citizens from the West Point community to oppose the project along with RVO. ⁷

Criminal Justice

RVO has suggested creating a police oversight committee for the city of East Liverpool. Police oversight committees have the power to address public complaints about the police department, investigate those complaints, and recommend actions for the police department to take. ⁸

Financials

Nine of the 13 organizations known to have donated to River Valley Organizing claimed assets above $100 million on their tax documents. Of those nine organizations, four claimed assets above $1 billion. Those organizations are the Minneapolis Foundation, ⁹ Tides Foundation, ¹⁰ The Chicago Community Trust, ¹¹ and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. ¹²

1.  “About Us.” RVO. Accessed August 16, 2024. https://www.rivervalleyorganizing.org/about_us.
2. “About Us.” RVO. Accessed August 16, 2024. https://www.rivervalleyorganizing.org/about_us.
3. Wilkinson, Summer. “Lawsuit against East Liverpool Incinerator Company to Be Heard next Week.” WTOV, August 31, 2020. https://wtov9.com/news/local/lawsuit-against-east-liverpool-incinerator-company-to-be-heard-next-week.
4. “Campaigns.” RVO. Accessed August 16, 2024. https://www.rivervalleyorganizing.org/get-involved.
5. “Unharming Ohio.” RVO. Accessed August 16, 2024. https://www.rivervalleyorganizing.org/about-4.
6. “Campaigns.” RVO. Accessed August 16, 2024. https://www.rivervalleyorganizing.org/get-involved.
7. “Campaigns.” RVO. Accessed August 16, 2024. https://www.rivervalleyorganizing.org/get-involved.
8. “Campaigns.” RVO. Accessed August 16, 2024. https://www.rivervalleyorganizing.org/get-involved.
9. The Minneapolis Foundation, Form 990, 2021, Part I Line 20.
10. Tide Foundation, Form 990, 2021, Part I Line 20.
11. The Chicago Community Trust, Form 990, 2020, Part I Line 20.
12. Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Form 990, 2021, Part I Line 20.