Key Research Resources and Research Partners

American Rights At Work is an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the climate in which workers can exercise their rights in the workplace.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities focuses on fiscal policy issues and issues affecting low- and moderate-income families and individuals.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) promotes democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people’s lives. CEPR accomplishes this goal by conducting both professional research and public education.

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a national public policy and law organization that focuses on two major subject areas: reducing poverty of poor families with children and securing them access to our civil justice system.

The Center for State Innovation works with a national network of experts on state government — think tanks, universities, former state officials, technical assistance providers, and others — we offer state executives turnkey access to the best policy, messaging, and technical assistance in the country.

Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) is a public interest research and advocacy organization that focuses on the impact of federal, state, and local tax policies.

COWS is a national policy center and field laboratory for high-road economic development – a competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and capable democratic government.

DEMOS- A Network for Ideas and Action. Demos’ purpose is to help build a society where America can achieve its highest ideals.  Demos’ work combines research with advocacy — melding the commitment to ideas of a think tank with the organizing strategies of an advocacy group.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy. The mission of the Economic Policy Institute is to provide high-quality research and education in order to promote a prosperous, fair, and sustainable economy. The Institute stresses real world analysis and a concern for the living standards of working people, and it makes its findings accessible to the general public, the media, and policy makers.

Good Jobs First is a research and education organization that tracks government taxing and spending policy issues. GJF provides timely, accurate information on the best practices in state and local job subsidies to the public, media, public officials, and economic development professionals.

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research informs and stimulates debate on public policy issues critical to women and their families.

In the Public Interest is a Resource Center on privatization and responsible contracting. It is committed to equipping citizens, public officials, and public interest groups with the information, ideas, and other resources they need to ensure that public contracts with private entities are transparent, fair, well-managed, and effectively monitored, and that those contracts meet the long-term needs of communities.

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) advocates on behalf of low-wage workers, the poor, the unemployed, and other groups who face barriers to employment and government assistance. NELP ensures that employment laws cover all workers by supporting organizational and alliance-building efforts, helping workers stay connected to jobs and employment benefits, and expanding employment laws to meet the needs of workers in changing economic conditions.

The Pew Center on the States operates major initiatives in corrections and public safety, children’s dental health, pre-k education, voluntary home visiting, elections and government performance.

The Progressive States Network aims to transform the political landscape by sparking progressive actions at the state level. Founded in 2005, the group provides coordinated research and strategic advocacy tools to state legislators and their staffs, empowering these decision-makers with everything they need to engineer forward-thinking change.

Data and Ideas

The Cry Wolf Project is a network of advocates, researchers and scholars dedicated to demonstrating that, in fact, conservatives and business groups are only “crying wolf” to delay, prevent and weaken important and common sense regulations that save lives, clean our environment and make our families more secure.

Gapminder offers an innovative and interactive a platform for visualizing a wide array of global trends.  GapminderUSA does the same for US states and regions.

Annie E. Casey’s Kids Count Data Center offers access to a wide array of indicies child well-being, by state or across states.

The Story of Stuff produces short easily shareable online movies that explore some of the key features of our relationship with Stuff.  Recent videos include animated primers on campaign finance, the federal budget, and cap and trade legislation.

If It Were My Home enables quick cross-country comparisons of key living and economic conditions.

PayWizard is a collaborative database, collecting and presenting data on wages and salaries, as well as a wide range of labor standards and regulations.  PayWizard is the American affiliate of the international WageIndicator Project.

The AFL’s “States of Denial” project offers a quick, and up-to-date, overview of state-level attacks on union security, prevailing wage law, project labor agreements, and public sector bargaining,

The Telltale Chart is an effort to present important data about the American economy in an accessible and portable form.  Short videos (animated graphs with narration) present key economic trends and patterns.

The National Priorities Project database includes both social indicators (i.e. unemployment or poverty) and federal spending (i.e. federal expenditures on unemployment insurance or antipoverty programs).  Data can be mapped by state, or downloaded in various forms.

Other Web Resources

The mission of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center is to utilize the ballot initiative process to further the goals of the labor and progressive community.

The Campaign for America’s Future insists that the question of falling wages and rising insecurity be placed at the center of our national debate.

The Center for a Changing Workforce provides education, policy analysis, and advocacy for regular workers misclassified as “temporary” and thus denied equal pay and benefits.

The Center for Community Change is committed to reducing poverty and rebuilding low income communities.

The Corporation for Enterprise Development believes that expanding economic opportunity to include all people will bring greater social equity, alleviate poverty and lead to a more sustainable economy. As a leader in economic development for three decades, CFED collaborates with diverse partners at the national, regional, state and local levels, bringing together community practice, public policy and private markets in new and effective ways.

The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to challenging the tired orthodoxies of both the right and the left. The goal: progressive public policy for social and economic fairness

The National Center for Children in Poverty identifies and promotes strategies to reduce the number of children living in poverty in the United States.

The National Partnership for Women and Families uses public education and advocacy to promote fairness in the workplace, quality health care, and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family.

The National Urban League is the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream.

People for the American Way is an energetic advocate for the values and institutions that sustain a diverse democratic society.

Progressive Majority has a clear and bold purpose: To elect progressive champions who will help change the direction of this country.

US Action is the nation’s largest progressive activist organization, dedicated to winning social, racial, and economic justice for all.

Wider Opportunities for Women works nationally and in its home community of Washington, DC, to achieve economic independence and equality of opportunity for low-income women.