Act Locally
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Welcome! Whether you're a community leader, a seasoned advocate, a young person looking to turn your concern into action or somewhere in between, you'll find guides, tools and ideas to help you make a difference.
For more resources, inspiring stories and online tools, please visit the homepage of our Action Center.
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- The ABCs of Advocacy. Read our guide to strengthening communities through advocacy.
- Budging the School Budget. A SparkAction guide to influencing school district budgets, with real-world examples.
- The Federal Budget Process in Congress: 2009. What's it got to do with your hometown? Find out!
Volunteer Opportunities
Who better to blaze innovative trails in communities than students with their fingers on the cultural, technological and social pulse? So Prez Obama came up with the Campus Champions of Change Contest, challenging students to share their bright ideas.
Big names in the field discuss how a decade of pre-k policy wins has made a Pre-K-12 education system within our nation's reach.
Six states were near-miss finalists in the first two rounds of a federal competition that rewards changes in state education policy. Most of them are continuing the school reform process with their own money.
"Storytelling" may strike many as unreliable and unscientific, not quite the same as knowledge. But it has a near-unique ability to impact and mobilize readers. Here's a look at how storytelling undergirds the link between good nonprofit outcomes with good nonprofit communication through its Eureka! power.
Is it time for Occupy to claim a central message and issue specific demands? Two opposing arguments; your turn to weigh in.
“We know who we are and we know what we want: we're a big, diverse movement that's fighting for an economy that works for all of us, not just the top 1 percent.” A new video aims to give voice (and faces) to the Occupy Wall Street movement that is spreading across America.
Generation 18 Founder and Executive Director David D. Burstein argues that Millennials' propensity for collaboration can and will change the world - and the recent global youth summit, One Young World, brings us one step closer to that future.
Groups are working to highlight to the congressional 'super committee' the impact possible program cuts would have on key health programs, such as Medicaid and rural hospitals.
Edward Acevedo (D) discusses the state’s recent bi-partisan passage of the Illinois DREAM Act, which will assist children of immigrants in pursuing higher education.
A Memphis City Schools teacher has found a tool for teacher evaluation that works.
Tools to Improve Communities
February 9, 2012
Produced by: 
Afterschool Alliance
During presidential election cycles in particular, voters’ concerns are brought to the forefront ofthe public debate and discussed widely in the media.
February 8, 2012
Produced by: 
Fair Elections Legal Network, Campus Vote Project
The Campus Vote Project, launched in 2012 by the Fair Elections Legal Network, is a campaign to help college students work with administrators and local election officials to make the process of voting easier and overcome barriers students often face to voting that students often mention such as residency laws, registration deadlines, and strict voter ID requirements.
February 6, 2012
Produced by: 
No Kid Hungry, Sodexho Foundation, Youth Service America, Share Our Strength
This online resource center is a great tool for young people from across the United States that are passionate about solving hunger issues in their community, as well as for teachers and parents. It has age-appropriate ideas and resources to help young leaders, parents and teachers organize volunteer activities and advocacy efforts to raise awareness in their schools and neighborhoods.
January 13, 2012
Produced by: 
New America Foundation
“Creating a Financial Stake in College” is a four-part series of reports that focuses on the relationship between children’s savings and improving college success.
January 13, 2012
Produced by: 
The National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement
This report from the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement calls on the nation to reclaim higher education’s civic mission.
January 12, 2012
Produced by: 
America's Promise Alliance
In a celebration of America’s young people and the communities most dedicated to helping local youth graduate from high school, America’s Promise Alliance has announced the 2011 list of 100 Best Communities for Young People presented by ING. In 2011, more than 300 communities in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., were nominated for thecompetition.
January 10, 2012
Produced by: 
Public/Private Ventures, Child Trends
This report examines efforts to improve parenting practices in Trenton, NJ as a part of a larger initiative called Children's Futures (CF).
January 6, 2012
Produced by: 
Healthy Peninsula
Those looking for ways to get community members involved in Ready by 21 and get media attention for their efforts might learn from an island in Maine.
December 23, 2011
Produced by: 
RAND Corporation
Safe Start Promising Approaches (SSPA) is the second phase of a community-based initiative focused on developing and fielding interventions to prevent and reduce the impact of children's exposure to violence (CEV). This report shares the results of SSPA, which was intended to implement and evaluate promising and evidence-based programs in community settings.
December 21, 2011
Produced by: 
The Huffington Post, League of Young Voters
The League of Young Voters reports on increasing activism and coherence among young organizers linking politics to everyday life.