Who We Are

Our Mission

We harness the power of law and public policy to create a responsive government, a healthy environment, and a just society.

Our Vision

We envision a government that uses the full force of its power to curb climate change and ensure a sustainable environment, economic justice, and healthy workplaces and communities for all.

About the Center for Progressive Reform

Founded in 2002, the Center for Progressive Reform is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that harnesses the power of law and public policy to create a responsive government, a healthy environment, and a just society. Guided by a national network of legal scholars and professional staff with expertise in governance and regulation, we conduct independent scholarly research and policy analysis and advocate for effective, collective solutions to our most pressing societal challenges. We convene policymakers and advocates to shape legislative and agency policy at the state and federal levels and advance the broad interests of today’s social movements for the environment, democracy, and racial justice and equity.

The Center is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

Read the Blue Tent brief: Center for Progressive Reform: What Donors Need to Know

Our Statement on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

Pursuing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) is a moral imperative for CPR. Inadequate regulatory safeguards and disparities in implementation and enforcement of public interest laws disproportionately harm vulnerable communities, especially people of color and low-wealth families. We recognize these injustices are born of longstanding systemic inequalities, and are forms of continued systemic oppression.

CPR is committed to working with communities that experience disproportionate harm from existing and emerging environmental hazards, from climate change to workplace safety risks. Their lived experiences, CPR’s analytical capabilities, and our collaborative advocacy can enhance federal, state, and local government responses to those hazards. Since the government has failed to provide the necessary access, information, and resources for these communities to influence policy development and legal implementation, CPR is also committed to identifying legal reforms that enhance their influence in government and access to the courts.

By incorporating DEIJ principles into CPR’s work, we will position ourselves to most effectively and thoughtfully protect and strengthen health, safety, and environmental safeguards and empower the people whose lives depend on them.

Our Strategic Focus