Advocacy & Watchdog Organizations
A directory of national U.S. organizations for reference.
1. Racial Justice / Civil Rights
- NAACP — https://naacp.org
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund — https://naacpldf.org
- National Urban League — https://nul.org
- UnidosUS — https://unidosus.org
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice — https://advancingjustice-aajc.org
- National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) — https://naleo.org
- Color Of Change — https://colorofchange.org
- Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation — https://blacklivesmatter.com
- Movement for Black Lives — https://m4bl.org
- Ella Baker Center for Human Rights — https://ellabakercenter.org
2. Countering White Supremacy & Extremism
- Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) — https://splcenter.org
- Anti-Defamation League (ADL) — https://adl.org
- Political Research Associates — https://politicalresearch.org
- Western States Center — https://westernstatescenter.org
- Life After Hate (extremist disengagement) — https://lifeafterhate.org
- Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) — https://globalextremism.org
- One People's Project — https://onepeoplesproject.com
3. Women's Rights
- National Organization for Women (NOW) — https://now.org
- National Women's Law Center — https://nwlc.org
- Equal Rights Advocates — https://equalrights.org
- League of Women Voters — https://lwv.org
4. Reproductive Rights
- Planned Parenthood Federation of America — https://plannedparenthood.org
- Center for Reproductive Rights — https://reproductiverights.org
- NARAL Pro-Choice America — https://prochoiceamerica.org
- If/When/How — https://ifwhenhow.org
- American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) — https://ashasexualhealth.org
5. Gender-Based / Domestic Violence
- National Network to End Domestic Violence — https://nnedv.org
- RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) — https://rainn.org
- Futures Without Violence — https://futureswithoutviolence.org
6. Children's Rights
- Children's Defense Fund — https://childrensdefense.org
- Save the Children (U.S.) — https://savethechildren.org
- Child Welfare League of America — https://cwla.org
7. Education Equity
- Education Trust — https://edtrust.org
- Alliance for Excellent Education — https://all4ed.org
8. LGBTQ+ Rights
- Human Rights Campaign — https://hrc.org
- Lambda Legal — https://lambdalegal.org
- GLAAD — https://glaad.org
- The Trevor Project — https://thetrevorproject.org
- National Center for Transgender Equality — https://transequality.org
9. Disability Rights
- American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) — https://aapd.com
- Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) — https://dredf.org
- National Disability Rights Network — https://ndrn.org
- The Arc — https://thearc.org
10. Mental Health Advocacy
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) — https://nami.org
- Mental Health America — https://mhanational.org
- The Kennedy Forum — https://thekennedyforum.org
11. Immigrants' Rights
- National Immigration Law Center — https://nilc.org
- American Immigration Council — https://americanimmigrationcouncil.org
- United We Dream — https://unitedwedream.org
- RAICES — https://raicestexas.org
12. Refugees & Asylum
- International Rescue Committee — https://rescue.org
- Refugee Council USA — https://rcusa.org
- HIAS — https://hias.org
13. Native American Rights
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) — https://narf.org
- National Congress of American Indians — https://ncai.org
- Indian Law Resource Center — https://indianlaw.org
14. Veterans' Rights
- Vietnam Veterans of America — https://vva.org
- Disabled American Veterans (DAV) — https://dav.org
- Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) — https://vfw.org
- Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) — https://iava.org
- Swords to Plowshares — https://swords-to-plowshares.org
15. Elder Rights
- Justice in Aging — https://justiceinaging.org
- National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare — https://ncpssm.org
- AARP Foundation — https://aarp.org/aarp-foundation
- National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care — https://theconsumervoice.org
16. Accused / Incarcerated / Formerly Incarcerated
- The Innocence Project — https://innocenceproject.org
- The Sentencing Project — https://sentencingproject.org
- Vera Institute of Justice — https://vera.org
- Equal Justice Initiative — https://eji.org
- National Legal Aid & Defender Association — https://nlada.org
- Prison Policy Initiative — https://prisonpolicy.org
- The Marshall Project (justice-focused journalism) — https://themarshallproject.org
17. Human Rights
- Human Rights Watch — https://hrw.org
- Amnesty International USA — https://amnestyusa.org
- Human Rights First — https://humanrightsfirst.org
18. Democracy & Voting Rights
- Brennan Center for Justice — https://brennancenter.org
- Common Cause — https://commoncause.org
- Fair Fight Action — https://fairfight.com
- Campaign Legal Center — https://campaignlegal.org
- Protect Democracy — https://protectdemocracy.org
- Democracy Docket — https://democracydocket.com
- Our Revolution — https://ourrevolution.com
- ProgressNow — https://progressnow.org
- Democracy Alliance (progressive funder network) — https://democracyalliance.org
19. Constitutional Rights / First Amendment / Fair Trial
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — https://aclu.org
- Freedom Forum (First Amendment) — https://freedomforum.org
- Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) — https://thefire.org
- National Constitution Center — https://constitutioncenter.org
20. Press Freedom
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — https://rcfp.org
- Committee to Protect Journalists — https://cpj.org
- Freedom of the Press Foundation — https://freedom.press
21. Equal Application of Justice
- Equal Justice Under Law — https://equaljusticeunderlaw.org
- Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — https://lawyerscommittee.org
22. Religious Freedom / Countering the Religious Right / Church-State Separation
- People for the American Way (PFAW) — https://pfaw.org
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State — https://au.org
- Interfaith Alliance — https://interfaithalliance.org
- Becket Fund for Religious Liberty — https://becketlaw.org
23. Combating Disinformation / Media Literacy
- News Literacy Project — https://newslit.org
- First Draft (misinformation research) — https://firstdraftnews.org
- Poynter Institute / PolitiFact — https://poynter.org and https://politifact.com
- FactCheck.org — https://factcheck.org
24. Anti-Corruption / Government Accountability
- Project On Government Oversight (POGO) — https://pogo.org
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) — https://citizensforethics.org
- Transparency International USA — https://transparency-usa.org
- Public Citizen — https://citizen.org
- Government Accountability Project — https://whistleblower.org
- OpenSecrets (money in politics) — https://opensecrets.org
- Open the Government — https://openthegovernment.org
25. Digital Rights & Privacy
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) — https://eff.org
- Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) — https://epic.org
- Access Now — https://accessnow.org
- Center for Democracy & Technology — https://cdt.org
26. Workers' Rights
- AFL-CIO — https://aflcio.org
- National Employment Law Project — https://nelp.org
- Jobs With Justice — https://jwj.org
- Coalition of Immokalee Workers — https://ciw-online.org
- National Domestic Workers Alliance — https://domesticworkers.org
27. Consumer Protection
- Consumer Federation of America — https://consumerfed.org
- National Consumer Law Center — https://nclc.org
- U.S. PIRG — https://uspirg.org
28. Economic Justice
- Economic Policy Institute (EPI) — https://epi.org
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) — https://cbpp.org
- Institute for Policy Studies — https://ips-dc.org
- Institute for Policy Studies Program on Inequality — https://inequality.org
- Poor People's Campaign — https://poorpeoplescampaign.org
- Prosperity Now — https://prosperitynow.org
- Center for American Progress — https://americanprogress.org
- Economic Security Project — https://economicsecurityproject.org
29. Housing Rights & Homelessness
- National Low Income Housing Coalition — https://nlihc.org
- National Alliance to End Homelessness — https://endhomelessness.org
- National Housing Law Project — https://nhlp.org
- National Coalition for the Homeless — https://nationalhomeless.org
30. Food Security / Anti-Poverty
- Feeding America — https://feedingamerica.org
- Bread for the World — https://bread.org
- Coalition on Human Needs — https://chn.org
31. Gun Violence Prevention
- Everytown for Gun Safety — https://everytown.org
- Brady United — https://bradyunited.org
- Giffords Law Center — https://giffords.org
- March For Our Lives — https://marchforourlives.org
32. Environmental Justice
- Earthjustice — https://earthjustice.org
- WE ACT for Environmental Justice — https://weact.org
- Sierra Club — https://sierraclub.org
- Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) — https://nrdc.org
- Climate Justice Alliance — https://climatejusticealliance.org
Notes
This directory covers a broad range of national advocacy and watchdog organizations.