Group of partners gathered on a stairway holding a “People, Parks, and Power” banner at a national initiative convening on park equity.

Expanding People, Parks, and Power

A national initiative for green space, health equity, and racial justice

People, Parks, and Power (P3) focuses on building community power to advance park and green space equity in Black, Latine, and Indigenous communities. We support P3 with strategic guidance, partnership, and deep expertise in park and green space equity, racial justice, advocacy, and community-centered strategy development. P3 strengthens grassroots organizations led by youth, residents, and working-class and farmworker families across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Together, we advance community-driven solutions at the intersection of health, environment, and racial justice and strengthen the national movement for equitable access to parks and green space. This phase of P3 takes place from June 2024 through May 2026.

This work strengthens long-term systems transformation by deepening park equity advocacy, expanding community power-building strategies, and increasing shared learning across the field. Through this project, we support the policy advocacy and community power-building efforts of seven P3 local partners; facilitate peer-learning spaces and exchanges; and develop and share actionable tools and resources that support local policy and systems change.

Primary activities:

  • Facilitating a national grant-making program that provides $400,000 in direct grants over a two-year period to seven P3 Local Partners.

  • Convening the Strategic Learning Exchange— learning community of community-rooted, power-building organizations and subject matter experts that offers technical assistance and capacity building through peer learning sessions, site visits, organizers’ circles, and other shared learning activities.

  • Implementing a communications strategy grounded in health equity framing and media analysis to support P3 Local Partners’ policy and narrative change objectives.

  • Strengthening a  multi-sector network of partners working on green space equity-aligned issues to share funding opportunities, policy developments, and relevant news. 

Accomplishments

We never do this work alone. And we are grateful to our many partners for working with us to achieve these accomplishments.

Championed park and green space equity with power-building organizations across the country.
Enhanced practitioner knowledge and skills nationwide through conferences and webinars.
Built momentum and networks for park and green space equity.

Funders

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Partners

Strategy Partners:

  • Berkeley Media Studies Group
  • Critical Mass Strategies
  • Ernst Consulting
  • Psychology Applied Research Center @ LMU
  • Spitfire Strategies

Community/Local Partners:

  • Central Texas Interfaith
  • Colectiva Feminista en Construcción
  • Hope Community
  • Project MILPA (a collaboration of CAUSE, Líderes Campesinas, and MICOP)
  • South Bronx Unite
  • The Conscious Connect CDC
  • The Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans

Advocacy/Ecosystem Partners

  • California Indian Museum and Cultural Center
  • Chainbreaker Collective
  • Chispa AZ
  • Communities in Partnership
  • Make the Road Nevada
  • One Love Global
  • Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles

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