Your contribution at ilsr.org/donate will help us unleash the power that communities have to build a more democratic, equitable, and sustainable future. Donate Today.
A Message from the Co-Directors
On May 1st, we had the profound honor of celebrating 50 years of ILSR at the historic Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., just over a mile from the Adams Morgan neighborhood where David Morris, Neil Seldman, and Gil Friend gave ILSR its start.
The moment allowed us to reflect –– with many of our partners –– on our accomplishments over the last 50 years, to renew our commitment to build vibrant, sustainable, and equitable communities, and to look ahead.
What we see ahead is an emerging consensus, despite a climate where the political parties seem separated by a lava-filled ocean more than an aisle.
Leaders from across the political spectrum increasingly share the sense that the root of many challenges facing our communities and economy is the dominance of corporate entities only interested in enriching their shareholders. We see this increasing accord when communities of all political persuasions embrace municipal broadband to connect their residents to a world of information and opportunity, to health, and to each other. We’ve witnessed a similar trend as local composting grows increasingly popular on farms and in urban centers alike. This year, ILSR continued exposing corporate utility monopolies, as well as the ongoing legacy of racism used to build monopoly power and exploit communities, regardless of how red or blue those communities are.
These truths reveal a path forward for our country and communities. There is common ground in our cities and towns that simply want the freedom to chart their own futures, unshackled from the whims of corporate bosses, allowing residents to build lives and livelihoods that embody the character of the community. Having been on this journey for 50 years, we know the road before us is long, but the next step is sure, and we thank you for continuing to be by our side along the way.
In gratitude and solidarity,
Stacy Mitchell & John Farrell ILSR Co-Executive Directors
“We’re all in on this together — at the end of the day, we all share the same home.”
Domingo Morales, Compost Power Founder
David Morris reflects on 50 years of fostering local self-reliance and ILSR. Photo Credit: Ruby Ella
50 Years of Pioneering Work and Impact
Those of us who were lucky to have worked with ILSR’s co-founder David Morris over many decades invite you to join us in celebrating his many accomplishments and his impact on us and in the fields that ILSR has worked in over these last 50 years. Organization co-founder, vice president, board member, researcher, program director, analyst, public speaker, author, activist, columnist, and mentor are some of the many hats that David wore over the years. We salute his many talents and accomplishments, and send him our love and best wishes as he enters into his new career of retirement!
We launched a new Composting Policy Resource Hub that amplifies successful policy models and provides template legislation, policy guides, and ready-to-use advocacy tools for decentralized composting. The hub sparked a series of webinars hosted by ILSR with hundreds of attendees, many representing policymakers and local governments.
Our influence on the national media narrative about the impact of chain dollar stores remained strong, creating opportunities to provide technical assistance to more than 50 rural and urban communities rejecting the chain stores and charting a path forward.
We held six more Tribal Broadband Bootcamps and published a new report making a powerful case for correcting failures in prioritizing Tribal consultation and consent in federal funding programs.
“Amazon and other Big Tech monopolists get a lot of deserved attention in the antitrust space, but electric utilities are at least as harmful within their own industry. Luckily, the solutions to both are similar.”
ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell
A Shared Antimonopoly Vision Rooted in Local Solutions…
No matter the industry, monopolies use their outsized control to stifle competition and evade accountability — at the cost of our communities, climate, and democracy. This year, our blockbuster report Upcharge: What the Monopoly Utility Model Really Costs Us placed investor-owned utilities into the same platform monopoly league as Amazon and Google. It highlighted the staggering costs of the monopoly utility model, from soaring electricity prices and debilitating shutoffs to producing nearly one-third of annual energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.
Grounded in Racial Equity
Our 2024 report, Power Play: How Monopolies Leverage Systemic Racism to Dominate Markets, argues that racial disparity is not merely an outcome of monopoly power — it’s a tactic corporations leverage to obtain it. Incorporating case studies spanning four different industries and hosting a lively virtual discussion with more than 300 registrants, the report’s release was a significant contribution to the racial justice conversation, expanding the understanding of how monopoly power is situated in the topic of race in America.
Each of these reports continued the work ILSR has been doing for the past 50 years — beginning in 1974 with solar panels on the roof of a D.C. townhouse where three friends shared a vision of community resilience. Journey through time with the resources below to see how our work has fought for resilient, equitable, and sustainable communities for half a century and will continue to shape the trajectory of economic and environmental justice movements transcending industries, geographic divides, and partisan lines.
A short film tracing the journey from three DC neighbors piloting pioneering local solutions for food production, energy, and waste to the ILSR of today.
Exploring how ILSR’s history, ongoing work, and mission intersect with the movement for racial equity.
Vanessa Hall-Harper accepts the Economic Justice Champion award. Photo Credit: Ruby Ella
Building Local Power
Despite the rancor of the political discourse at the national level, our work reminds us of the commonalities that bind most people and communities. These are the places determined to control their own destinies and create more choices in how to fulfill their needs beyond the corporations dominating our markets today. We’ve continued standing with these communities, providing the research, resources, and training to help them harness the momentum turning in our favor.
Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust was one of ten awardees of ILSR's mini-grant program that distributed $165,000 in funding for projects using composting to reduce food waste, carbon emissions, creating green jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals, and improving soils for Indigenous households to grow their own food. Pictured is Musquant Nompashim Netas (Rocky Johnson), Chief of the Ninigret Nehantick Nahaganset Clan and Leader of Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program. Image Credit: Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust, 2023
Community composters from 26 states plus the District of Columbia, and 5 other countries, attended our 8th National Cultivating Community Composting Forum in Cleveland to network and strategize on surviving and thriving in a changing landscape for recycling wasted food.
Our Community Broadband Networks Initiative held six Tribal Broadband Bootcamps, teaching participants how to build their own networks and fostering interpersonal connections that provide ongoing support. Several participant Tribes credited the event with helping them receive multi-million dollar grants to build needed networks.
Town Hall Featuring FTC Chair Lina Khan Draws Hundreds of Small Businesses
Local power-building Independent businesses from across the country tuned into a lively and informative virtual town hall featuring Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan.
The Antimonopoly Movement is the Best Chance We Have
Stacy Mitchell's rousing address to the 2024 Bioneers Conference arguing that the growing antimonopoly movement is our best hope at outrunning the forces of authoritarianism.
Engaging in Policymaking for Food Systems, Waste, and Climate: Tips, Strategies, and Best Practices
Elected officials and advocacy groups share best practices for engaging in waste, food systems, and environmental policy advocacy at the state and local level.
Innovation, Adaptation, and Connection at the 8th National Cultivating Community Composting Forum
Composters, haulers, farmers, regulators, researchers, public servants, industry leaders, and allies united to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the community composting movement.
“The [Racial Justice Storytelling Project] article is absolutely fantastic! It should be required reading for every decision maker in Toledo — and for anyone hoping to understand the history and consequences of urban policy over the last 100 years in America.”
Illustrating the explosive growth of municipal broadband networks across the country as an alternative to the giant telecom providers and pinpointing other helpful data for local leaders, researchers, and journalists.
Providing a detailed roadmap for an equitable clean energy transition and exposing current state policy shortcomings. Illinois’ governor’s office touted their nation-leading grade.
We worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to create a variety of accessible resources to broaden recognition of community composting as a sustainable and equitable climate solution.
Stacy Mitchell delivering remarks at the 2024 Bioneers conference, which was later featured on Bioneers’ popular YouTube channel and podcast, in addition to airing on NPR stations across the country. Photo Credit: Nikki Ritcher
Fighting Corporate Control
Our work to turn the page on decades of policy promoting a “bigger is better” mentality can be daunting. The status quo in favor of corporate giants with a seemingly endless flow of money and armies of lobbyists will not go quietly. But by nurturing the movement ecosystem — from Small Business Rising and the Athena coalition to the Community Composter Coalition and more — and supplying changemakers on the ground with training, research, and resources, we are able to match the deep pockets of monopoly giants with a deeper sense of purpose amongst advocates fighting for more choice and greater self-determination in our lives and communities.
Our advocacy resulted in many of ILSR’s approaches to decentralized composting being reflected as action steps in the White House’s National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss.
Our role in shaping the media narrative surrounding the destructive Kroger-Alberstons merger, and our research and advocacy for Robinson-Patman Act enforcement and new merger guidelines, promoted food equity in rural and low-income neighborhoods.
We added support for the historic case by exposing Amazon's secret profits in The Atlantic and continuing to detail how antitrust action will make the marketplace, consumers, and communities stronger and more resilient.
Changing the world often starts with changing the nature of the conversation. ILSR continues to successfully change the narrative from bigger is better to distributed, local power in the hands of the people is paramount.
Our work and our experts are frequently cited in the country’s largest and most respected publications, and we publish think pieces regularly with these same outlets. We also engage with reporters and content creators who reach target audiences most energized to build a more just economic system and more sustainable communities.
118,300
ILSR Podcast Streams
1,578
ILSR Citations in News Stories
1,050
Media Outlets Citing ILSR
12
Commentaries Published in Media Outlets
“The work of ILSR and — more specifically — your work with Connect This! has been foundational to #OaklandUndivided’s & the City of Oakland’s approach to community connectivity.”
Look Past Shade Utilities Throw on Community Solar
John Farrell argues that the profit motives and shareholder allegiance of Xcel energy requires skepticism of their community solar claims.
First student cohort of ILSR's Digital Opportunity Lab
Engage With Us
The need to decentralize economic power and reinvigorate democracy is stronger than ever. Join us today. With your support, ILSR can continue working to build an American economy driven by local priorities and accountable to people and the planet.
Only by relying on one another, cultivating a spirit of togetherness, and taking big, collective action in our communities can we win the future we all deserve. A future where we all have the freedom to control our own destinies, unshackled from the whims of corporate bosses, liberated to build lives and livelihoods that embody the character of our communities. If you believe in this future, support our work today.
