We provide community members with the research and advocacy tools they need to reclaim power over local decision making and hold corporations and government accountable.
Fighting Corporate Control
We identify, develop, and promote policies at all levels of government that help build healthy, sustainable communities, pushing back against pro-bigness policies that perpetuate inequality.
Nurturing the Movement Ecosystem
With our coalition partners and allies, we conduct research, run trainings, produce podcasts, and create popular education tools that support local campaigns and projects.
ILSR Initiatives
We believe that democracy can only thrive when economic and political power is widely dispersed. ILSR works to achieve this vision through four key initiatives that center local communities, giving citizens the authority, capacity, and responsibility to exercise power over their lives.
The Community Broadband Networks Initiative promotes locally rooted, democratically accountable broadband networks that provide fast, affordable and reliable Internet access to all Americans.
Our Composting for Community Initiative is advancing local composting to create jobs, enhance soils, protect the climate, and reduce waste through advocacy, training, research, demonstration sites, and coalition building.
Our Energy Democracy Initiative empowers households and communities to produce their own local, clean, and renewable energy and oppose the excessive power of monopoly utilities.
Our Independent Business Initiative champions locally owned businesses, leads efforts to fight the unchecked power of corporate giants like Walmart and Amazon, and seeks to reverse the government policies that work against these small, independent businesses.
Featured Topics
Each of our initiatives have identified critical issues that unlock our ability to drive change towards vibrant, equitable, and sustainable communities. From reducing the power and influence of corporate giants to closing the digital divide to promoting distributed infrastructure, the topics we've organized our work around show what local self-reliance means in practice.
These stores are not merely a symptom of economic distress; they’re a cause of it. Learn how your community can stop dollar stores and join us in calling for federal action to rein in their predatory tactics.
Big Tech monopolies pose threats to local communities and democracy by controlling information flow, stifling competition, and wielding immense influence over politics and societal discourse, undermining democratic principles and local autonomy.
Monopolies stifle competition, limit consumer choice, and concentrate wealth, undermining local economies and communities. They hinder innovation, raise prices, and reduce economic opportunities, leading to dependency and inequality.
Closing the digital divide is crucial for equitable access to information, education, and economic opportunities, ensuring that all individuals have the tools and resources to thrive in the digital age.
By minimizing waste generation, reusing materials, and recycling, it mitigates pollution, preserves ecosystems, and strengthens social bonds, promoting a more sustainable and equitable future.
Impact Areas
Our vision of thriving, diverse, equitable local communities requires our work have an impact to bring about greater participation in our democracy and advances justice, equity, and security. See our work that is helping to realize this vision.
Advocating for climate and environmental justice is crucial to address the unequal burdens borne by communities most affected, fostering fairness and resilience.
Democratic governance empowers communities to counter corporate dominance, ensuring local control over resources, decision-making, and policies, fostering equitable development and sustainable cities and towns.
Economic justice is essential for ensuring fairness, equality, and opportunity, empowering individuals and communities to thrive and participate fully in society.
Food security is critical for public health, social stability, and economic resilience, requiring proactive policies and community action to ensure equitable access to nutritious food.
Racial equity is crucial for vibrant local economies and sustainable futures, fostering inclusivity, innovation, and resilience while addressing systemic injustices that hinder community prosperity.
Get Involved
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.
