Institute for Local Self-Reliance

What Institute for Local Self-Reliance does

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a national research and advocacy nonprofit founded in 1974 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with staff distributed across the United States. It operates four programmatic initiatives — Community Broadband Networks, Composting for Community, Energy Democracy, and Independent Business — that produce research reports, interactive mapping tools, policy toolkits, podcasts, and training programs aimed at building local economic power and reducing corporate concentration in sectors including broadband, energy, waste, and retail. Its core technology consists of curated data assets (CommunityNetworks.org, Community Solar Tracker, Grocery Gaps Map, Community Composter Map, Community Power Scorecard, Utility Bill Calculator) and a multi-channel content distribution platform spanning multiple podcasts, newsletters, and social platforms. Notable technical products include an interactive map tracking over 800 community broadband networks and a quarterly-updated community solar policy tracker with state-level installed capacity data. ILSR also operates the Tribal Broadband Bootcamps program, a three-day intensive training that has contributed to a doubling of tribal broadband networks since 2020.

ILSR is a registered 501(c)(3) organization that distributes all research, publications, podcasts, webinars, and educational resources free of charge to the public. Revenue is generated entirely through donations, comprising institutional foundation grants (Ford Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Tides Foundation, Democracy Fund, 11th Hour Racing/Project, USDA Rural Development), individual donations, event sponsorships, and in-kind contributions. Its go-to-market motion is community-led: it conducts primary research, provides technical assistance to policymakers and organizers, produces multimedia content, hosts events and workshops, and convenes coalitions including Small Business Rising (250,000+ independent businesses) and the Community Composter Coalition (400+ members). Beneficiary segments include community organizers, local/state/federal policymakers, journalists, tribal nations, municipalities, independent businesses, and the general public interested in local self-reliance issues. ILSR holds a Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency and a Four-Star Charity Navigator rating (97% score).

Name

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Legal name

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Website

https://ilsr.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance is a Minneapolis-based national research and advocacy nonprofit that produces data, policy tools, podcasts, and training to help communities build locally rooted alternatives to corporate monopolies in broadband, energy, composting, and independent business.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Foundation Grants: ILSR receives funding from institutional foundations including Ford Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Tides Foundation, and others listed on their funding partners page.
2. Individual Donations: The organization accepts flexible donations from individuals to help advance their mission, with options for both unrestricted funding and program-specific support.
3. Sponsorships and Event Support: Sponsorships for ILSR events such as tribal broadband bootcamps, national community composting forum, webinars, and virtual events.
4. In-Kind Support: Pro bono legal or marketing services, or free use of event spaces provided by partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a national research and advocacy organization that produces policy research, interactive data tools, podcasts, training programs, and technical assistance to combat corporate concentration and advance local self-reliance. Its work is organized around four initiatives: Community Broadband Networks, Composting for Community, Energy Democracy, and Independent Business. All publications, reports, podcasts, webinars, and educational resources are provided free of charge, funded by foundation grants, individual donations, and event sponsorships.

Product overview

ILSR is a national research and advocacy organization offering a portfolio of four core programmatic initiatives focused on building local power and fighting corporate control. The primary products include: (1) Community Broadband Networks Initiative providing research, tools, and training for community-owned internet networks including interactive maps and the CommunityNetworks.org clearinghouse; (2) Composting for Community Initiative advancing local composting through advocacy, training, interactive toolkits, and a growing coalition of community composters; (3) Energy Democracy Initiative empowering communities with tools like the Community Solar Tracker, Utility Bill Calculator, and Local Energy Policy Toolkit for distributed renewable energy; and (4) Independent Business Initiative fighting monopoly power through research on Amazon, dollar stores, and grocery consolidation with interactive mapping tools. Cross-cutting products include multiple podcasts (Building Local Power, Local Energy Rules, Unbuffered), the Tribal Broadband Bootcamps training program, interactive data visualization maps, policy toolkits, and reports serving community organizers, policymakers, and researchers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Community Broadband Networks Initiative: Promotes locally rooted, democratically accountable broadband networks that provide fast, affordable, and reliable Internet access to all Americans.
• Composting for Community Initiative
• Energy Democracy Initiative
• Independent Business Initiative

Products and services

• Community Broadband Networks Initiative A research, advocacy, training, and technical assistance program promoting locally rooted, democratically accountable broadband networks that provide fast, affordable, and reliable Internet access. It serves communities, local governments, and Tribal Nations building their own networks.
• Composting for Community Initiative Advocacy, training, research, demonstration sites, and coalition building to advance local composting, create jobs, enhance soils, protect the climate, and reduce waste. It serves community composters, local governments, policymakers, and farmers.
• Energy Democracy Initiative Research, policy advocacy, and the Local Energy Rules podcast empowering households and communities to produce local, clean, and renewable energy while challenging the power of monopoly utilities. It serves community organizers, policymakers, and researchers.
• Independent Business Initiative Research and advocacy to champion locally owned businesses, fight unchecked corporate power, and reverse government policies that disadvantage small independent businesses. It serves the Small Business Rising coalition of 250,000+ independent businesses.
• Building Local Power Podcast
• Local Energy Rules Podcast A twice-monthly podcast featuring stories of successful local renewable energy and exposing policy barriers to expansion, targeted at researchers and grassroots organizers.
• Unbuffered Podcast A weekly audio and video podcast hosted by Christopher Mitchell featuring interviews, expert guests, and live panel shows on local self-reliance and digital technology.
• Tribal Broadband Bootcamps
• CommunityNetworks.org A comprehensive online clearinghouse with over 4,000 stories, nearly 600 podcasts, dozens of reports, policy briefs, case studies, and instructional videos documenting community-driven broadband efforts.
• Local Composting Toolkit An interactive toolkit providing resources for advancing local composting, designed for composters, farmers, policymakers, advocates, and local governments.
• Local Energy Policy Toolkit A resource providing strategies for cities and communities to pursue energy democracy, including model policies and implementation guides.
• Neighborhood Soil Rebuilders Program A train-the-trainer program preparing participants to establish and manage composting projects that engage and serve their communities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 35 successful fights against trash incinerators out of 37 attempts (1976-1986)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Small Business Rising CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerILSR-organized coalition of over 40 independent business groups and alliances representing over 250,000 independent businesses advocating for antimonopoly reforms.
• National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerILSR collaborates with NDIA on Building for Digital Equity initiatives and quarterly convenings.
• Matthew RantanencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder of Tribal Broadband Bootcamps with Christopher Mitchell, working to build tribal broadband networks.
• Sustainable Economies Law CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Community Compost Law & Policy Center, providing legal resources for community composters.
• Athena CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerILSR participates in the Athena coalition working to rein in corporate power and monopolies.
• Benton Institute for Broadband and SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerILSR partners with Benton on reports including the Neighborly Networks Vermont report.
• Methodist Healthcare MinistriesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in digital equity initiatives and cohort convenings for broadband implementation.
• AARPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerILSR collaborates with AARP on digital inclusion and closing the digital divide.
• California Alliance for Digital Equity (CADE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerILSR collaborates with CADE on digital equity initiatives.
• Southern Rural Black Women's Initiative (SRBWI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerILSR provides technical assistance and collaboration on closing the digital divide for rural communities.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• New America Foundation: New America is a large think tank with programs covering digital equity, antitrust, and local economic policy. It operates in many of the same domains as ILSR but at significantly greater scale and broader scope.
• Brookings Institution: Brookings is a major policy research organization with substantial work on antitrust, urban economics, and energy. It overlaps with ILSR's research-to-policy pipeline but at much larger scale and broader topic coverage.
• U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG): US PIRG is a federation of state public-interest research groups working on consumer protection, antitrust, and community issues, comparable in mission and community-advocacy model to ILSR but with a broader consumer-rights focus and consumer-facing campaigns.

Direct peers

• Benton Institute for Broadband & Society: Benton Institute is a nonprofit that researches broadband policy and digital equity, directly comparable to ILSR's Community Broadband Networks Initiative. ILSR is an explicit partner on reports such as the Neighborly Networks Vermont study.
• Open Markets Institute: Open Markets Institute is a nonprofit think tank focused on antimonopoly policy and corporate concentration, directly mirroring ILSR's Independent Business Initiative. It collaborates with ILSR in coalitions like Athena and frequently cites the same corporate-power framing.
• Public Knowledge: Public Knowledge is a public-interest advocacy group focused on telecom, antitrust, and digital rights, overlapping significantly with ILSR's broadband and independent business portfolios. Both work on municipal broadband and Big Tech accountability.
• U.S. Composting Council: U.S. Composting Council is the national industry/trade group setting composting standards and advocacy. ILSR's Composting for Community Initiative and ILSR staff (e.g., Brenda Platt, 2026 Jerome Goldstein Award recipient) work closely with the Council on compost policy and infrastructure.
• Roosevelt Institute: Roosevelt Institute produces economic-policy research on antitrust, corporate power, and worker/market power, comparable to ILSR's independent business and energy-democracy work. Several ILSR staff previously held roles there, and it is a co-member of the Athena coalition with ILSR.
• National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA): NDIA is a nonprofit coalition advancing digital equity through community-based broadband initiatives, directly comparable to ILSR's Community Broadband Networks Initiative. ILSR has confirmed NDIA as a strategic partner on Building for Digital Equity convenings.

Emerging players

• Good Jobs First: Good Jobs First is a nonprofit that tracks economic-development subsidies and corporate accountability, a focused subset of ILSR's independent-business and antimonopoly research. Its subsidy-database work overlaps ILSR's corporate-concentration research.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ilsr
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCJDYYbob9LLLtQSoSF5LjlQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/localselfreliance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/629110
• Instagraminstagram.com/ilsr_org
• TikToktiktok.com/@ilsr_org

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Institute for Local Self-Reliance