Volunteering plays a crucial role in empowering our society by acting as a bridge between socio-economic divides. On a community level, the team you become a part of is likely to collude in social networks with local governments or other volunteer organizations, providing services that help build a cohesive society.
Volunteering in projects that strengthen the community may provide you with possibilities to investigate new career pathways, gain job-related skills, improve leadership abilities, and network with community and industry leaders.
If you are a current student or recent graduate, looking for a job, or changing careers, volunteering is an excellent way to gain experience in a new domain or "test drive" a new career without having to make a long-term commitment.
Public health advocacy is often explained as the process of increasing political commitment for a distinct goal or program and identified by some as a critical population health strategy. Target audiences tend to be decision-makers, policy-makers, managers, and, more generally, those that are in a position to influence actions that affect many people concurrently. Engaging in public health advocacy acknowledges the explicitly political features of public health and the significance of addressing social determinants of health as a vital element of a strategy for enhancing the health of populations.
Volunteer experience will speak volumes about your dedication to your community and your ambition to be productive!
QUICK LINKS
Challenging Capital Punishment Groups
Civil Rights & Social Justice Groups
- A. Philip Randolph Institute
- Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE)
- American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
- American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity (AAAED)
- Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
- Black Futures Lab
- Black Lives Matter
- Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA)
- Black Radical Congress (BRC)
- Campaign Zero
- Center for Media Justice (CMJ)
- Center for Policing Equity
- Color of Change
- Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
- Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCR)
- League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
- Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Movement For Black Lives
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- National Black Justice Coalition
- National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
- National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)
- National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA)
- National Police Accountability Project (NPAP)
- National Urban League
- Native American Rights Fund
- New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP)
- OCA (formerly known as Organization of Chinese Americans)
- Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP)
- Political Research Associates (PRA)
- Project Equality
- Race Forward
- RainbowPUSH Coalition
- Reclaim the Block
- Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ)
- Unidos
- Urban Indigenous Collective
Elder Advocacy Groups
Environmental Groups
- American Forests
- American Rivers
- Basel Action Network (BAN)
- Blue-Green Alliance
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Center for Environmental Health (CEH)
- Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)
- Center for Sustainable Economy (CSE)
- Clean Water Action (CWA)
- Coral Reef Alliance
- Defenders of Wildlife
- Earth Island Institute (EII)
- Earthjustice
- Earth Policy Institute (EPI)
- EarthRights International (ERI)
- Endangered Species Coalition (ESC)
- Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
- Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF)
- Environmental Working Group (EWG)
- Environment America
- Friends of the Earth (FOE)
- Friends of the Earth International (FOEI)
- Global Green USA
- Greenpeace USA
- Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)
- Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
- International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
- International Rivers
- National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)
- Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
- New Economy Coalition
- Oceana
- Ocean Conservancy
- Pacific Environment
- Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)
- Population Connection
- Rainforest Action Network (RAN)
- Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)
- Sierra Club
- Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC)
- Stand.earth
- The Center for Responsible Travel (CREST)
- Wilderness Society
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Food Safety and Responsible Biotechnology Groups
LGBTQ+ Rights Group
- Family Equality Council
- Fenway Institute
- Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
- Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
- Gay & Lesbian Association of Retiring Persons (GLARP)
- Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
- interACT (formerly known as Advocates for Informed Choice (AIC)
- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
- Lambda Literary
- LGBT HealthLink, The Network for Health Equity
- LGBTQ Equality (GLMA)
- National Association of Lesbian and Gay Addiction Professionals
- National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)
- National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
- National Coalition for LGBT Health
- National LGBT Cancer Network
- National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
- National LGBTQ Task Force
- National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC)
- Out and Equal Workplace Advocates
- OutRight Action International
- Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG)
- Pride at Work
- Soulforce
- Transgender Law Center (TLC)
Immigration Rights Groups
- Ajo Samaritans
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- America’s Voice
- Coalición de Derechos Humanos
- Frontera de Cristo
- Migrant Trail Walk
- National Immigration Law Center (NILC)
- National Immigration Project
- No More Deaths
- People Helping People in the Border Zone
- United We Dream
- Washington Office on Latin America
- Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
International Development Groups
International Human Rights Groups
- American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
- Amnesty International USA (AI)
- Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
- Center for Victims of Torture (CVT)
- Free the Slaves
- Global Exchange
- Global Rights
- Grassroots International
- Human Rights First (HRF)
- Human Rights Resource Center
- Human Rights Watch (HRW)
- International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies (IAOHRA)
- MADRE
- Physicians for Human Rights
- Prevent Human Trafficking Institute (PHI)
- Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
- WITNESS
- International Organization for Migration (IOM)
- The Advocates for Human Rights
Legal Defense of Civil Rights Groups
Sexual Health & Family Planning Groups
- Advocates for Youth
- Catholics for Choice
- Center for Reproductive Rights
- Ipas
- Medical Students for Choice (MSFC)
- NARAL Pro-Choice America
- National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
- PAI
- Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH)
- Reproductive Health Access Project
- URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
Women’s Rights Groups
- American Association of University Women (AAUW)
- Association for Women's Rights in Development
- Equality Now
- Equal Rights Advocates (ERA)
- Feminist Majority
- Future Without Violence
- Girls Inc.
- Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR)
- Legal Momentum
- MomsRising
- MS. Foundation for Women
- NARAL Pro-Choice America
- National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (NCWGE)
- National Organization for Women (NOW)
- National Partnership for Women and Families
- National Women’s Law Center (NWLC)