Advancement Project
The best resistance is our collective success
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
California Office Programs
Advancement Project’s California office is a public policy change organization rooted in the civil rights movement. We engineer large-scale systems change to remedy inequality, expand opportunity and open paths to upward mobility. Our goal is that members of all communities have the safety, opportunity and health they need to thrive.
Our signature is reach and impact. With our strong ties to diverse communities, unlikely alliances, policy and legal expertise, and creative use of technology, we and our partners have won over $15 billion to extend opportunity. Whether it is to build 150 schools, transform the City of Los Angeles’ approach to its gang epidemic, or revolutionize the use of data in policymaking, Advancement Project California evens the odds for communities striving to attain equal footing and equal treatment.
Educational Equity (California Office)
The Educational Equity program expands educational opportunities and ensures appropriate school facilities for low income and disadvantaged children from birth through high school graduation.
With the understanding that education is an essential component in improving the lives and opportunities for all Californians, we work across the state and with a diverse set of stakeholders to improve the early learning and K-12 education systems. We believe that effective and respectful partnerships are the bedrock of success when working to fix a system responsible for educating more than 6.2 million children each year.
In recent years, our education work has concentrated on ensuring that there are adequate facilities for students to learn and that early care and education (ECE) opportunities are expanded and improved to provide a springboard for future academic success.
In just 2014, Advancement Project was an integral part of securing more than $1 billion in school funding for California’s highest-need students, including English Learners, foster youth, and children 0-5.
Equity In Community Investments (California Office)
Imagine a California where low-income communities of color win equitable investments to transform their neighborhoods, creating communities full of parks and accessible public transportation, fully-funded schools and youth development programs, and health, housing, and other services that support people in need rather than incarcerating them.
The Equity in Community Investments program partners with communities of color to equip them with the budget and advocacy tools necessary to win sustainable investments that help all Californians thrive. Through budget and policy analysis, trainings, and campaign support, we dismantle the legacy of public disinvestment and criminalization that has created race-based disparities in our communities’ health and well-being.
Budgets aren’t just dollars and cents – they reflect priorities, and communities of color have rarely been the priority. These communities often don’t have the capacity or opportunity to make their voice meaningfully heard in the current (complex, opaque) system, and so public spending is inequitable, with the greatest investments failing to go to the greatest needs.
It’s not enough to simply reverse the years of cuts during the Great Recession – we need to make new investments that are smarter and more equitable. Community leaders need to have their voices heard in budget debates, instead of being walled off by complex technical details and opaque budget processes without opportunities for public engagement. Through trainings, public finance data and research, and political strategy development, we help our community partners get the win and build their power and expertise.
Political Voice (California Office)
Political Voice nurtures a healthy democracy by amplifying the voices of low-income communities of color in all political processes and ensuring that government responds to those voices.
Political Voice’s goal is that all community members are able to genuinely participate in the making of effective public policy, in ways that go beyond just voting, and that governments respond equitably to community concerns. To accomplish this goal, we utilize policy advocacy, community partnerships, actionable research, and trainings.
Where we work
External reviews

Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, we exist to fulfill America's promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy.
Our National programs focus on tackling inequity with innovative strategies and strong community alliance. We combine law, communications, policy, and technology to create workable solutions and achieve systemic change on issues of democracy, voting rights, and access to justice.
Our California programs engineer large-scale systems change to remedy inequality, expand opportunity and open paths to upward mobility with the goal that members of all communities have the safety, opportunity and health they need to thrive.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our California offices pursue our mission using research and data analysis, governmental relations, and building community power.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
RESEARCH & DATA ANALYSIS
Our Research & Data Analysis team employs a wide range of methods to reveal and visualize data on issues affecting communities most impacted by racial inequities. Described below are some of our research capabilities that are be used by community organizations, foundations, and governments in their community planning and initiative building.
https://www.healthycity.org/
https://www.racecounts.org/
https://www.advancementprojectca.org/tools-we-use/maps-and-data
GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
With over a decade of advocacy in Sacramento and a wealth of knowledge about California’s legislative process, our organization is uniquely positioned to move the needle on public policy. We possess the knowledge, relationships and drive to effectively navigate the Capitol and achieve meaningful wins to advance racial equity. Our legislative advocacy is grounded in data and research that reveals how racial equity is vital to California’s economy and future.
We convene coalitions, practitioners and policymakers in pursuit of win-win solutions that are both socially just and economically viable.
Our Sacramento office interfaces with the state legislature, various state departments, statewide organizations, and the Governor’s office to pursue equitable policy and funding opportunities alongside our community partners.
BUILDING POWER
We fundamentally believe that community stakeholders possess the knowledge, agency and power to move a social justice policy agenda. We encourage systems to shift how they view community to an assets-based approach and to create space for community members to be integrated in creating policy change.
Above all, we advocate for a community-center approach to policymaking that builds on the cultural, social and linguistic strengths of our diverse state.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Please visit https://www.advancementprojectca.org/in-the-news for highlights about our California offices' progress and impact.
Because of Advancement Project's National Work:
· Elections are more fair and barriers facing voters of color have been reduced.
· Harsh and unfair school discipline practices, such as zero tolerance, that push children off an academic track and onto a track to prison have been reduced.
· Laws that exploit and criminalize immigrants have been reformed.
· Rights of survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have been protected.
In past years, Advancement Project's government relations work has helped achieve the following:
· Securing over a quarter of billion dollars for state-funded early care and education programs since the Great Recession.
· Creating the Local Control Funding Formula, as well as the Local Control and Accountability Plans, that guarantees more funding for low-income students, English learners, and Foster Youth.
· Establishing Transitional Kindergarten, which gives California a two-year public school kindergarten experience that will ensure that our youngest children will be prepared to succeed in school.
· Establishing the California DREAM Act, which allows children who were brought into the US under the age of 16 without proper visas/immigration documentation meet in-state tuition and GPA requirements to have access to financial aid benefits at public universities and colleges.
· Ensuring that Foster Youth get credit for school coursework they take in case they have to transfer between schools due to placement issues and also giving Foster Youth priority enrollment into college courses.
· Providing $90 million in facility lease money reimbursement to charter schools serving low-income students and $400 million in facility eligibility to the state's overcrowded classrooms.
· Ensuring that the state streamline funding for early childhood education and care so that more resources can be spent on services to children.
To learn more about Advancement Project's work in voter protection, access and equity in educational opportunity, immigrant rights and more, please visit the website at www.advancementprojectca.org/.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Advancement Project
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Bill Lann Lee
CREEC
Joe Alvarez
No Affiliation
Harry Belafonte
Belafonte Enterprises, Inc
Bill Lann Lee
CREEC
Connie Rice
Advancement Project
Molly Munger
Advancement Project
Stephen English
Advancement Project
Barry Litt
Litt, Estuar, Harrison, & Kitson LLP
Arlene Holt Baker
AFL-CIO
Katherine Peck
Tom Unterman
Rustic Canyon Partners
Jesse Williams
Alberto Retana
Community Coalition
Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson
Highlander Research and Education Center
Helen Kim
Daniel Leon-Davis
The Soze Agency
Rinku Sen
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data