People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights (PODER)

What People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights (PODER) does

PODER (People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights) is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1991 that organizes Latinx immigrant residents in the Mission and Excelsior districts around environmental justice, housing, immigrant rights, and economic equity. The organization operates a portfolio of grassroots programs including the Common Roots Youth Organizer Program (launched 1998), Caminos al Liderazgo intergenerational leadership development (launched 2010), the Hummingbird Farm urban agriculture initiative, Bicis del Pueblo, Promotoras, Youth Power, and the Healthy Resilient Homes campaign.

Its core activities are human-mediated: leadership development, civic engagement, coalition building, policy advocacy, and community-based urban agriculture. There is no proprietary technology platform; the organization's assets are its 30+ year institutional relationships, bilingual organizing capacity, intergenerational leadership pipeline, and physical sites such as Hummingbird Farm and Crocker Amazon Park. PODER co-founded the San Francisco Rising alliance in 2010 and is an active member of the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA).

The business model is a nonprofit operating revenue model funded through a mix of foundation grants, government contracts, and individual donations. With 1-10 employees, PODER is a small organization relative to the scope of its program surface. There are no paying customers in the traditional sense; "customers" are community members served and institutional funders underwriting the work. Revenue is not publicly disclosed in the input.

Name

People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights (PODER)

Legal name

People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights

Website

https://podersf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PODER is a San Francisco-based nonprofit founded in 1991 that organizes Latinx immigrant communities in the Mission and Excelsior districts around environmental justice, immigrant rights, housing, and economic equity through youth leadership, urban agriculture, and policy advocacy programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Organizing & Advocacy Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Individual and Family Services (6241), Civic and Social Organizations (81341)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Community organizing
• Environmental justice
• Immigrant rights advocacy
• Civic engagement
• Grassroots nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: PODER receives funding from environmental justice, social justice, and community foundation grants including Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice Fund, US Energy Foundation, Libra Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, The Satterberg Foundation, The Solutions Project, Stupski Foundation, and others.
2. Government Contracts: PODER receives support from City and County of San Francisco through Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development, Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs, and Public Utilities Commission.
3. Individual Donations: PODER accepts individual donations through their Network for Good donation portal. Members and supporters can donate to support the organization's community work.
4. Membership: PODER organizes with Latinx immigrant families and youth who become members, participating in organizing activities, leadership development, and collective decision-making.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PODER is a nonprofit community organizing organization that mobilizes Latinx immigrant residents in San Francisco's Mission and Excelsior districts around environmental justice, immigrant rights, affordable housing, and civic participation. It delivers programs that combine direct services, leadership development, and base-building advocacy to advance environmental and economic rights for low-income immigrant communities.

Product overview

PODER is a community-based nonprofit organization (not a technology product company) offering a portfolio of community organizing programs, environmental justice initiatives, and immigrant rights services. The core offerings include: Civic Engagement & Immigrant Rights programs (immigrant rights education, language access), Solidarity Economy & Climate Resilience initiatives (Bicis Del Pueblo bike shops, Hummingbird Farm urban farm, San Francisco Healthy Resilient Homes, Public Bank advocacy), Community Organizing & Building Power campaigns (Pa' Votar voter engagement, Pueblote, Fuerza Collectiva), and Intergenerational Leadership Development programs (Promotoras, Youth Power, Jóvenes Poderosos, Bicis Action Team, Urban Campesinxs, Housing Action Team). Media offerings include the Wachale Blog, Wachale Newsletters, and Video Gallery. The organization operates primarily in San Francisco's Mission and Excelsior districts, with physical locations including bike shops at 1950 Mission Street and 404 Geneva Ave, and Hummingbird Farm at 1669 Geneva Avenue.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Civic Engagement & Immigrant Rights Program Program supporting voter registration, civic participation, and immigrant rights advocacy for Latinx community members in San Francisco's Mission and Excelsior neighborhoods.
• Solidarity Economy & Climate Resilience Program Initiative focused on environmental justice, climate adaptation, and building community-controlled economic alternatives for low-income immigrant residents.
• Community Organizing & Building Power Program Base-building program that organizes residents around local campaigns related to affordable housing, displacement, and neighborhood quality of life.
• Intergenerational Leadership Development Program Program developing youth and adult leaders within the Latinx immigrant community through training, mentorship, and leadership pipelines.
• Bicis Del Pueblo Community bike shop providing affordable bicycle repair, refurbishment, and access to bicycles for low-income residents as a sustainable transportation alternative.
• Hummingbird Farm Urban farm that produces food, provides agricultural training, and supports food sovereignty for the local immigrant community.
• Pa' Votar Voter Engagement Campaign Nonpartisan voter registration and civic participation drive targeting Latinx eligible voters in San Francisco.
• Jóvenes Poderosos Youth Program Youth leadership program that trains and organizes young Latinx residents in advocacy and organizing campaigns.
• Promotoras Program Lay health and community leader program that connects residents with health resources and peer support within the Latinx immigrant community.
• Housing Action Team Tenant organizing effort addressing displacement, evictions, and affordable housing protections for renters in the Mission and Excelsior neighborhoods.

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped pass Environmental Lead Poisoning prevention law (1993)
• +6 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Chinese Progressive AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-time ally in co-launching Common Roots Youth Organizer Program (1998) and collaborating on campaigns including fighting gas station expansion in the Excelsior (2004).
• San Francisco RisingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance of nine organizations launched by PODER in 2010 to build political power of poor and working class people of color in San Francisco.
• California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStatewide environmental justice coalition where PODER is a member, collaborating on climate justice advocacy and celebrating CEJA's 25th anniversary.
• California CallscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStatewide alliance of community organizations working on immigrant and low-income voter engagement, PODER participates in this collaborative.
• Mission Anti-Displacement CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition working against Mission District gentrification, PODER participates in anti-displacement organizing efforts.
• Youth Uprising CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition that PODER worked with in the mid-1990s to defeat the City's proposed youth curfew ballot measure.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN): Bay Area–based nonprofit that organizes Asian and Pacific Islander immigrant communities around environmental justice, housing, and just transition. Strong overlap with PODER’s environmental justice + immigrant rights + housing anti-displacement model.
• ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment): California-wide community organizing network focused on housing affordability, tenant rights, and economic justice for working-class communities of color. Comparable grassroots organizing model, anti-displacement focus, and member-led leadership development.
• Chinese Progressive Association: San Francisco–based community organizing nonprofit serving immigrant communities of color in the same Mission and Excelsior neighborhoods as PODER. They co-launched the Common Roots Youth Organizer Program in 1998 and co-campaigned against the Excelsior gas station expansion in 2004, making them a directly comparable organizing peer.
• Eastside Arts Alliance: Oakland-based community organizing nonprofit combining cultural work, environmental justice, and anti-displacement activism for low-income communities of color. Comparable intersectional organizing model with strong cultural/community regeneration components.
• Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA): Mission District–focused community development nonprofit advancing economic equity for Latino families through asset building, housing, and small business support. Comparable geography, target population, and multi-program community infrastructure model.
• Brightline Defense: San Francisco–based environmental justice nonprofit that organizes low-income communities of color against pollution and for transit equity. Comparable environmental justice and transit advocacy focus, especially around SF policy and corporate accountability.
• Causa Justa :: Just Cause: Bay Area community organizing nonprofit that builds power of Black and Latino communities against displacement and for housing justice. Directly comparable anti-displacement, member-driven organizing model in similar geography.

Others

• San Francisco Foundation: Major Bay Area community foundation that funds PODER and other grassroots organizing nonprofits. Included not as a competitor but as the most relevant ecosystem funder and convener that channels resources into this peer set.

Broad incumbents

• Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA): Large statewide immigrant rights nonprofit providing services, advocacy, and organizing for immigrant families. Overlaps PODER’s immigrant rights and civic engagement work but operates at significantly larger scale and broader geographic scope.
• Greenlining Institute: California racial justice policy and advocacy organization working on economic, environmental, and health equity. Comparable focus on environmental justice and policy advocacy for communities of color, though operating more at policy/coalition level than direct organizing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/podersf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/poder-people-organizing-to-demand-environmental-economic-rights

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights (PODER)