Community Organizing, Community Lawyering & Policy Advocacy
CRPE is unique in how we carry out our mission of achieving environmental justice and healthy sustainable communities because of our Theory of Change and our commitment to develop community leaders and grassroots organizations at a local level, along with building power at the state and national level.
Locally, our programs build the individual capacity of community residents, foster community power vis-à-vis decision-makers and address the environmental issues facing the community. We combine community education, community organizing, community lawyering and policy advocacy to assist communities facing environmental harms such as climate change, oil extraction, industrialized agriculture, air quality issues and toxic waste siting.
Community Organizing
Community organizing is one of our core strategies in the fight for environmental justice. We work directly with residents in frontline communities to build grassroots power and grow local leadership. Through this work, communities identify the environmental injustices they face, develop solutions, and hold decision-makers accountable. Whether confronting toxic pollution or pushing for a worker and community-led transition, our organizing approach centers on the voices and experiences of those most affected. By supporting residents as leaders and advocates, we help create lasting change driven by the people who live with these challenges every day. This community-led model keeps the path to environmental justice firmly in the hands of those who know it best.
Community Lawyering
CRPE does legal advocacy differently.
From the beginning, CRPE has operated with the unique understanding that legal advocacy needs to be community based to be successful and moved away from the top-down approach of lawyering to the idea that lawyers should be “on tap, not on top.” This remains the key principle of our work. We represent the needs of our communities and work directly with them to achieve their goals. We strongly believe that “communities speak for themselves,” and our legal work follows this model.
Policy Advocacy
Through policy advocacy, we work to achieve two key goals. First, we aim to change laws and regulations to improve conditions in our communities by stopping pollution and supporting the development of sustainable infrastructure and good local jobs. Second, we focus on building power alongside the communities we serve. Our policy agenda is shaped by residents’ priorities, and we use advocacy as a tool to strengthen community leadership, increase grassroots participation, and bring the voices of frontline communities into local and state decision-making.