Get Involved: A Directory of Local Progressive Organizations

Posted-onBy lineBylineRyan Gomez

Many of my neighbors ask where they can get involved. Here are a list of progressive organizations that work in the New Orleans area. These are neither my formal endorsements nor a list of organizations that formally endorse my campaign. Instead, it’s a directory I share in hope we can all work towards a better world. I wish to get to know all of them much better. Please let me know if there’s any more I should add.

  • ACLU Louisiana
    • Local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.
  • Birthmark Doula Collective
    • “Birthmark Doula Collective is dedicated to supporting, informing and advocating for pregnant and parenting people and their families in New Orleans… We offer childbirth education, birth doula and postpartum doula services, lactation support and placenta encapsulation.”
  • BARE NOLA
    • “BARE NOLA is a stripper-led group in New Orleans advocating for the safety, civil and labor rights of strippers and sex workers. We emphasize community healing and advocacy using a harm reduction approach.”
  • Bike Easy
    • Bike Easy makes bicycling easy, safe, and fun for everyone in Greater New Orleans
  • Central City Renaissance Alliance
    • “The Central City Renaissance Alliance (CCRA) honors and supports the collective voice and collaborative strength of Central City residents as we create neighborhoods that are powerful and economically vibrant.”
  • Congress of Day Laborers – Congreso de Jornaleros
    • A project of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice. “The Congress of Day Laborers is an organization of immigrant workers and families founded by the day laborers who helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It is a hub for immigrants across the Southeast region, and a leadership pipeline for hundreds of immigrant workers and families into public life and social movement participation.”
  • European Dissent – New Orleans
    • “We are a group of white people organizing for collective liberation from racism as part of a multiracial movement for a more just society.”
  • Extinction Rebellion New Orleans
    • “Non-violent rebellion against the US Government for its criminal inaction on the ecological crisis.”
  • Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children
    • “FFLIC is a grassroots, state-wide, membership-based, inter-generational organization working to transform the systems that put children at risk of prison. Through empowerment, leadership development, and training we strive to keep children from going to prison and support those who have and their families.”
  • The Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance
    • “GNOHA is a collaborative of home builders and community development organization advocating for the preservation and production of affordable housing.”
  • Healing Minds NOLA
    • “To bring residents, families and stakeholders together to explore alternatives to incarceration, homelessness and death for those who suffer from the myriad forms of mental illness.”
  • Indivisible New Orleans
    • Formed as resistance to the Trump administration.
      “Indivisible NOLA promotes civic and community engagement through non-partisan, grassroots activism that centers on inclusivity and intersectional justice. “
  • Innocence Project New Orleans
    • “Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) frees innocent, life-sentenced prisoners.”
  • International Union of Operating Engineers Local 406
    • “Local 406 represents a wide variety of working men and women in such fields as Heavy Equipment Operators, Crane Rental, Heavy & Highway Construction, Pipeline Construction, Stationary Engineers, Casino Workers, Public Works, Ship Building, Offshore Fabrication, and Stevedoring.”
  • Jane Place Sustainability Initiative
    • “JPNSI is a Community Land Trust (CLT) and housing rights organization committed to creating sustainable, democratic, and economically just neighborhoods and communities in New Orleans.”
  • Jesuit Social Research Institute
    • “The Jesuit Social Research Institute works to transform the Gulf South through action research, analysis, education, and advocacy on the core issues of poverty, race, and migration. The Institute is a collaboration of Loyola University New Orleans and the Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus, rooted in the faith that does justice.”
  • Jewish Voice for Peace New Orleans
    • “Jewish Voice for Peace opposes anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab bigotry and oppression. “
  • Louisiana Bucket Brigade
    • “The Louisiana Bucket Brigade uses grassroots action to create an informed, healthy society that holds the petrochemical industry and government accountable for the true costs of pollution to hasten the transition from fossil fuels.”
  • Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
    • “We fight to keep children out of the justice system so that they can thrive in their homes and communities. We are a nonprofit law office that defends young people in Louisiana’s justice system through both direct representation and policy advocacy.”
  • Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center
    • “LaFHAC’s work throughout Louisiana includes educational offerings, free legal services for victims of housing discrimination, policy advocacy, and foreclosure prevention counseling.”
  • Music and Culture Coalition New Orleans
    • “Since 2012, the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MACCNO) has been organizing, empowering, and advocating with New Orleans’ musicians, artists, traditional culture bearers, and other members and allies of the cultural community.”
  • New Orleans Abortion Fund
    • “Working with local medical providers, we provide compassionate and empowering assistance to patients seeking abortions who are unable to fully fund their abortion, and distribute pledges as available.”
  • New Orleans DSA
    • Local branch of the Democratic Socialists of America
  • New Orleans Hospitality Workers Alliance
    • “We fight for better working conditions, both for workers currently in the industry and the children in the community who will inherit the industry.”
  • New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice
    • “Over a decade [since Hurricane Katrina], the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice continues to be a vehicle for black and immigrant workers to come build grassroots campaigns with a local and national impact.”
  • New Orleans Workers Group
    • “A multi-national organization of revolutionary workers seeking to end capitalist exploitation and build a genuinely socialist society.”
  • Puentes New Orleans
    • “Our work is dedicated to overcoming economic, racial, and cultural divides and to providing Latin American families and communities with the resources, knowledge, and hands-on opportunities they need to thrive.”
  • Ride New Orleans
    • “Ride New Orleans envisions a region in which taking transit enables full access to jobs, education, health care, and other needs that ensure the equitable, thriving community that all residents deserve.”
  • Shift Change
    • “A non-profit organization providing sexual violence prevention education to the hospitality industry.”
  • Step Up Louisiana
    • Political advocacy organization includes work on “Ban the Box, Equal Pay, and $15 minimum wage with the New Orleans and East Baton Rouge Councils and work on School Transportation with the Orleans Parish School Board.”
  • Take ‘Em Down NOLA
    • “Take ‘Em Down NOLA is committed to the removal of ALL symbols of white supremacy in New Orleans as a part of a broader push for racial & economic justice.”
  • UNITE HERE Local 23
    • Affiliated with the AFL-CIO, “Local 23 was founded in September 2009 to represent approximately 4,000 UNITE HERE airport workers in 10 cities across the country. “
  • VAYLA
    • “VAYLA is an intersectional AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) nonprofit organization based in New Orleans focused on advocacy through providing climate and reproductive justice education, community organizing education, comprehensive civic engagement and pathways to citizenship.”
  • VOTE – Voice of the Experienced
    • “VOTE is a grassroots organization founded and run by formerly incarcerated people (FIP), our families and our allies. We are dedicated to restoring the full human and civil rights of those most impacted by the criminal (in)justice system.”
  • Women With a Vision
    • “Created by and for women of color, WWAV is a social justice non-profit that addresses issues faced by women within our community and region. Major areas of focus include Sex Worker Rights, Drug Policy Reform, HIV Positive Women’s Advocacy, and Reproductive Justice outreach”
  • Workplace Justice Project at Loyola Law Clinic
    • “The Workplace Justice Project (WJP) builds resources and enforces workers’ rights, cultivating legal and economic opportunities to uphold and respect the dignity of all workers.”
  • Youth BreakOUT
    • “BreakOUT! seeks to end the criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth to build a safer and more just New Orleans.”