We work to support our members to overcome internalized oppression and to heal from trauma. We build campaigns to challenge the systems of oppression affecting our communities.
We work to support our members to overcome internalized oppression and to heal from trauma. We build campaigns to challenge the systems of oppression affecting our communities.
Founded in 1998, Make the Road New York has grown to become the largest participatory immigrant organization in New York, with programs that serve 30,000 low-income community members every year. We have community centers in Bushwick, Brooklyn; Jackson Heights/Corona, Queens; Port Richmond, Staten Island, Brentwood, Long Island; and White Plains, Westchester.
From the Wage Theft Prevention Act and the Dream Act to drivers licenses for the undocumented and the unprecedented $2.1 billion fund for excluded workers, MRNY’s victories have served as models for various states seeking to improve the lives of immigrant and working class people.
MRPA was established in 2014 in Reading and has expanded to Philadelphia, Allentown , and Hazleton. We run robust civic engagement programs every year for the primary and general elections, and we also help lead organizing campaigns at the local, state and federal levels on the issues of education justice, housing and climate justice, democracy, worker rights, and immigrant rights
We have been doing a lot of work around passing a fair and equitable school funding formula in Pennsylvania. After the school funding formula was deemed unconstitutional, the state created the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC). This group was charged with determining a plan to fix the funding formula. We engaged in this work by having our members and other stakeholders submit comments directly to BEFC, meeting with members of BEFC, and providing testimony. BEFC created a funding plan that outlines the state needs to provide $5.4 billion over the next 7 years. Governor Shapiro has since proposed an FY25 education budget for a $1.1 billion increase in education funding, targeting the poorest districts (which include where we work: Philadelphia, Allentown, and Reading), $300 million for facilities, and additional investments in pre-K, early intervention mental health, and special education.
We have done a lot of work educating our members on everything listed above and have mobilized members, including many students from the Allentown, Reading, and Philadelphia school districts. We have held multiple meetings with key legislators, held rallies, and planned advocacy days, namely May Day. The passage of HB2370, takes us one step closer towards constitutional compliance in our efforts of fair and equitable public school funding. Unfortunately, the bill is currently being stalled in our Senate.
In 2023, MRPA was a part of the efforts alongside Speaker Joanna McClinton on two pieces of legislation around voting rights that were introduced, for early in-person voting and same day voter registration. These pieces of legislation will make participating in our democracy and voting more accessible. Our members and staff are primarily Black, Latinx, women, and other BIPOC groups. Understanding the history of voter suppression of these groups allows us to recognize the significance of these pieces of legislation in confronting systemic barriers that both our staff and communities face in our society.
Founded in 2014, Make the Road New Jersey started in a church basement in Elizabeth, NJ and has grown to a powerful membership based organization with 6,000 dues paying members, 40 staff, serving tens of thousands of low income immigrants and people of color.
MRNJ operates three thriving community centers in Elizabeth, Passaic and Perth Amboy that provide a wide array of educational, legal and support services and are hubs for community organizing. MRNJ has won more than 20 campaigns that have expanded the rights and economic opportunities for more than 1 million immigrant and low income New Jersey residents, including a $15 minimum wage, the strongest anti-wage theft laws and temp worker protections in the nation, drivers licenses, occupational licenses and in state financial aid for undocumented immigrants, and more.
For more than 1 million immigrant and low income New Jersey residents, including a $15 minimum wage, the strongest anti-wage theft laws and temp worker protections in the nation, drivers licenses, occupational licenses and in state financial aid for undocumented immigrants, and more.
Make the Road Connecticut (MRCT) was founded in 2015 in Bridgeport through conversations with community members around the need for a local organization fighting for the Latine, working class, immigrant community across the city. Since then MRCT has grown into an organizing powerhouse with 8 organizing committees across 2 cities focused on education equity, housing justice, health equity, worker rights, youth power, all through the lens of immigrant justice achieving several policy wins on both the local and state level that have impacted tens of thousands of community members across the state.
The state Medicaid program, to undocumented immigrant children under the age of 15, people that are pregnant and for one year postpartum for people that give birth. Recent data shows that thousands of children have been able to access this insurance because of this victory. In addition, MRNJ won local campaigns in Hartford and Bridgeport that improved translation and interpretation services in the local public schools. This advocacy helped us build the power we needed to win a statewide campaign in 2023 that led to the passage of a Bilingual Education Bill of Rights, laying out the responsibilities of districts to support families that speak languages other than English.
Make the Road Nevada (MRNV) was founded in response to the October 1, 2017 Mandalay Bay mass shooting tragedy, focusing on aiding undocumented survivors turned away due to their status. Initially focused on in immigration and worker rights campaigns, MRNV has since expanded to address several intersectional issues including economic, health, youth, and housing, LGBTQ, and reproductive justice and continues to organize and empower Latine, New American, and low-income communities through our work.
Our sister 501(c)(4) organization Make the Road Action mobilizes millions of voters to build political power rooted in working-class Latinx communities, promote policy solutions that improve the lives of all working-class and low-income people, and strengthen the movement for justice. A key piece of our work is mobilizing voters in our communities each year to ensure their voices are heard in the political process. MRA was founded in 2009, and, since 2015, has expanded from New York to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Nevada.
A Way to Win analysis found our voter mobilization program to be one of the most effective such programs in the country.
Across our states, MRA has quickly become recognized as one of the most effective 501(c)(4) organizations for this targeted voter engagement.
