Our Mission
When we lift up the most marginalized and disenfranchised among us, everyone benefits, even those who already have access to wealth and power. At Louisiana Progress, we seek to cut through the noise and nonsense that too often contaminate our politics, and dig into the details of government and policy to identify and solve real problems, especially the problems that disproportionately harm people at the bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum. We believe that when community leaders and elected officials come together and focus on solving problems, we can make Louisiana safer, cleaner, and more prosperous for all.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Letter from Birmingham Jail
Our Work
We research issues, develop policies, build coalitions, and achieve results that help make Louisiana a better place to live for all of its citizens. From decriminalizing poverty to building a thriving labor movement to fighting for clean air and water to bringing greater transparency to government, we have proven our ability to make meaningful change in our state and to build deep relationships and partnerships with advocacy organizations, community leaders, elected officials, and administrative staff all across Louisiana.
None of our work would be possible without our exceptional College Fellows. Drawn from Southern University, Louisiana State University, and Tulane, their research, organizing, and advocacy are crucial to our ability to improve the lives of the people of Louisiana.
Our Priorities
Most of the problems facing Louisiana are intersectional. We have high crime and incarceration rates because we have high poverty rates, which are largely due to the fact that we’ve always had poor education outcomes. That’s why our priorities at Louisiana Progress are so extensive: We recognize that making our state safer, cleaner, and more prosperous necessarily entails working across a lot of different issues.
You can find in-depth breakdowns of our policy work and priorities in our annual legislative reports and through our newsletters and press releases.
Our topline priorities include:
Decriminalizing poverty
Reforming public sector debt creation and collection practices
Labor rights
Government and campaign finance transparency
Public transit
Our History
The Coalition for Louisiana Progress was formed in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) organization, with the goal of providing policy analysis and strategic communications, and increasing civic engagement. Since then, we have worked with partner organizations to frame issues effectively, helped pass several pieces of legislation, sponsored public forums, and published numerous journals, reports, and policy briefs.
The Louisiana Progress Action Fund was formed in 2011 as a 501(c)(4) organization to advocate for progressive ideals and policies, and to oppose policies that hold our state and our people back. We advocate at the state legislature and in local government bodies by building relationships with elected officials, administrative staff, and other stakeholders so we can help better inform them about the problems they are tasked with solving.
In 2021, we expanded our staff and our Board of Directors and refocused our mission around developing policies in coalition with partner organizations and through our in-house team. We also added a College Fellows program, where we work with college students on policy development, organizer training, leadership skills training, and campaign strategy.