For the murder of George Floyd, justice has been served. While legal in nature, the guilty verdict in Chauvin’s trial was an important milestone in addressing decades of wrongs not just by police, but by the criminal justice system.

They say the stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas. But when Mother Nature swept in with an unprecedented snowstorm in the Lone Star state the stars were the only thing you could see as massive power and water outages blanketed the state.

As the Biden-Harris administration implements more extensive COVID recovery measures, the importance of “building back better” has never been clearer. Instead of using recovery funds to return to what was, there is an opportunity to envision something better. This is particularly true in communities most adversely affected by the pandemic’s health and economic fallout; these same communities have been long subjected to intentional disinvestment by local, state, and national stakeholders. One pathway to a better future? Community ownership.

Dear Secretary Pete: Congratulations to you and your leadership team from the many partners involved with the Strong Prosperous and Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC). We represent a diverse range of community leaders, transportation advocates, government agencies, community development and public health investors, and climate justice advocates working across the country to create more equitable, healthy, […]

SPARCC categorically condemns the recent horrific acts of violence that have targeted the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Our work in six metropolitan regions is deeply connected to the work of AAPI organizers, leaders, and communities. We act in solidarity with the AAPI community, now and always.   According to an analysis conducted by the Center for […]

Housing for all We envision a housing system that embraces housing as critical community infrastructure and as a human right essential to health and well-being. We call for a community-centered, environmentally sustainable and healthy housing system where everyone has a safe, accessible and affordable home. -Our Power: Pathways to Community Prosperity Everyone deserves safe, stable, […]

Community Power in the Face of Structural Violence This is an excerpt from our platform, Pathways to Community Prosperity.   This policy platform was conceived and written in the context of 2020—a year that has tested our collective mettle with unprecedented job loss, climate instability, persistent racial unrest and an unimaginable number deaths from the […]

By Marissa Ramirez (NRDC), Dr. Erica Holloman-Hill (WAWA), Mona Wang (LIIF), and Darryl Haddock (WAWA) We thrive through our connection to land, to community, and to each other. Parks and public lands offer these important connections between people, communities, and nature, as spaces for community stability, health, and well-being – something that this pandemic has […]

It is impossible to ignore the concurring injustices of our time– undeniably thrust into the nation’s consciousness through the events of 2020 and now. We stand at the intersection of grave racial, economic, health, and environmental injustices. Like any crossroad, there are different pathways forward. We know that there is no single pathway that will […]

On January 6, 2021 we saw the culmination of years of work led by Black women in Georgia — Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown, Deborah Scott, Tamieka Atkins, Helen Butler, and Nsé Ufot among scores of others. They galvanized the election of Senator-Elect Reverend Raphael Warnock, the first Black senator from Georgia. Their work also elevated […]