PowerUp NC

is rooted in economic, environmental, and racial justice

PowerUp NC Logo

Right now, our world relies on an economy built on extraction. Extraction of our natural resources, our labor, and our power threatens our democracy. 

Let’s move North Carolina towards solutions that are sustainable and just. PowerUp NC is a statewide movement building a stronger economy, healthier environment, and a more inclusive democracy.

We reach greater levels of justice when we connect the root causes of climate change and environmental degradation to those of other issues and fight together to create impact. 

How we do it:
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We hear you

We listen intently to the real challenges you face, so we can match our work to your true needs.

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We stand with you

We fight systemic injustices together; amplifying the powerful messages of leaders who stand up against inequity.

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We make change, together

We bring about positive, long-lasting change to individual people and entire communities by building power together.

Take Our Community Pledge!

Our Recent Raleigh City Council Candidates Forum

Watch the forum that took place on October 25, 2022:

Join the team

making a change in your neighborhood

We are working together to completely change our relationship with our environment and with each other. You are a vital part of this work.

You are the experts on your lives and your communities. When you stand with your neighbors, you can lower power bills, advocate for affordable housing, and strengthen democracy while protecting the environment.

Our leaders are supposed to put our best interests first. When this doesn’t happen, it’s our responsibility to take action and speak out.

Engage with your local office

Winston-Salem

Resilient, that’s what you will find as you drive through communities throughout the Triad, people of strength and adaptability. Older communities have endured economic hardships over generations while continuing to overcome barriers of racial and environmental injustices to maintain their thriving communities.
While a great deal of work has been done, we still have room to grow. Our communities continue to face outrageous utility bills each month. Too many of our neighborhoods have homes that are drafty, leaking energy, with older homes harboring health hazard materials. These homes are becoming less affordable-especially for our elderly residents who live on inadequate and/or limited fixed incomes.

We are partnering with groups like S.G. Atkins CDC to put power back into the hands of residents to create safer housing, lower energy costs and good-paying jobs.

We are working with communities that have the desire to see change by joining PowerUp, participating in events, listening to and sharing their concerns and taking on leadership. 

Our office is located in a community center that has a large organic garden where PowerUp has four beds of vegetables and greens to build community interest, participation, promote healthy eating and lower their cost at the grocer. Family members of all ages are encouraged to participate.
We continue our weatherization work. Public investment in weatherizing homes and training weatherization technicians can provide good-paying jobs with low barriers to entry and reduce electricity bills for cash-strapped homeowners. The issue also helps to create a clear connection between environmental protection, democracy and people’s everyday lives.

A growing number of people from various neighborhoods have signed pledge cards to commit to become engaged in our work. Join us and get involved in turning this vision into a reality in Winston-Salem. Meet homeowners who know first-hand how important investing in energy-efficiency is for our wallets and our health. Join our Winston-Salem PowerUp team that is helping people get resources, skills, and training they need to be successful in weatherization and clean energy careers; to promote healthy eating; and receive the resources needed to thrive.

Raleigh

For Raleigh families to thrive, the city must create a plan for development that puts people first. PowerUp believes Raleigh needs a plan that is sustainable and equitable. Development can be the way that we achieve good paying jobs, truly affordable housing, and a more sustainable city. Raleigh’s leaders can shift how development is happening and invest in communities by:

  • Creating truly affordable housing (including rental housing) that serves people earning 50% and below the area median income (AMI);
  • Ensuring that truly affordable housing is energy-efficient to lower energy usage and energy bills;
  • Investing in a community-led green career training program to create pathways to green jobs for people impacted by development in downtown Raleigh;
  • Committing to using 100% renewable energy by 2050, starting with city-owned buildings to create the job demand for people graduating from green careers training programs.
Join our Raleigh PowerUp team! Whether it is affordable housing, high utility bills, access to healthy food, or the lack of good-paying jobs — we can work together to tackle all of these issues as a community.

Fayetteville

Our Fayetteville Climate Equity Council (FCEC) is leading the call for more equitable development in neighborhoods and communities. Alongside partners like Sustainable Sandhills and the A. Philip Randolph Institute, we are lifting our voices to demand environmental justice.

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

FCEC is working with city leaders, nonprofit organizations, and community members to ensure the prioritization and implementation of climate resiliency and clean energy plans, to fast-track infrastructure improvements, and to support development in inner-city, low-wealth communities of color. 

FCEC is also reviewing the city’s economic development and sustainability plans to ensure climate equity principles are not only included but upheld as core criteria. We need to create actionable plans with frontline community members that confront their issues. We are committed to ensuring our most vulnerable communities receive the resources they need in order to thrive. 

Join our Fayetteville PowerUp team and make a difference!

Build power with us

PowerUp NC is an organizing program of the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation.

Join PowerUp NC

Interested in getting involved in your area? Fill out the form below and we’ll reach out to you.

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