What citizens campaign for the environment does

Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental advocacy organization founded in 1985 in Farmingdale, New York, and led by co-founder and Executive Director Adrienne Esposito. The organization conducts public education, scientific research, lobbying, and grassroots outreach on environmental and public health issues — including drinking water protection, PFAS contamination, open-space and wildlife habitat preservation, recycling, climate change, and renewable energy policy — across New York State and Connecticut. CCE serves a 120,000-member base of environmental advocates and works in coalition with municipal water authorities, county legislators, academic researchers, and other NGOs to advance legislation such as PFAS limits, renewable portfolio standards, sewage notification laws, and plastic bag bans.

CCE does not sell products or services. Its revenue model is a typical nonprofit combination of individual member donations, foundation grants, and corporate contributions; named funders in the input include the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Park Foundation, Energy Foundation, Northlight Foundation, Jeniam Foundation, Long Island Community Foundation, Long Island Sound Study, Healthy Lakes Healthy Lives, and M&T Bank. The organization operates a distributed field model with four offices (Farmingdale, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo) and uses email newsletters, organic social media, community events, educational webinars, and telephone outreach directed by a dedicated Telephone Outreach Director to mobilize members for legislative campaigns. A separately incorporated affiliate, Citizens Campaign Fund for the Environment (CCFE, founded 1989), functions as the research and education arm supporting CCE's advocacy work.

CCE's go-to-market motion is community-led: it converts individual citizens into an organized advocacy constituency that contacts elected officials, attends public hearings, and participates in coalition campaigns. Recent programmatic priorities include a PFAS & Produce research collaboration with Stony Brook University and PEER, a pharmaceutical take-back program with King Kullen and Suez, and active defense of federal clean water funding against proposed EPA cuts. The organization has no proprietary technology platform, no AI capabilities, and no disclosed revenue figures.

Name

citizens campaign for the environment

Legal name

Citizens Campaign for the Environment

Website

https://citizenscampaign.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Citizens Campaign for the Environment is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1985 that mobilizes a 120,000-member grassroots constituency across New York and Connecticut to advocate for water protection, public health, open space, and climate policy through education, research, lobbying, and direct outreach.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Advocacy Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Policy, Advocacy & Litigation (BPAGAGAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation (BPAGAGAF), Environmental Education & Outreach (BPAGAGAH)

Keywords

• Environmental advocacy
• Public health policy
• Water protection
• Climate change policy
• Conservation campaigns

Headquarters

HQ city

Farmingdale

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. Donations and Contributions: The organization generates revenue through public donations and contributions. Supporters make contributions to enable CCE to continue its mission of empowering communities and advocating for environmental policy solutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Citizens Campaign for the Environment is a nonprofit advocacy organization that conducts environmental and public health education, research, lobbying, and public outreach. It mobilizes a 120,000-member base across New York State and Connecticut to advance stronger environmental policy on issues including water quality, PFAS contamination, open space preservation, wildlife habitat, climate change, renewable energy, and pollution reduction.

Product overview

Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) is a 120,000-member non-profit environmental advocacy organization founded in 1985, not a product-based technology company. CCE engages in public education, research, lobbying, and public outreach to advance environmental policy. The organization's work is organized around programmatic focus areas rather than commercial products or services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water Protection Advocacy Program Advocacy and policy work focused on protecting water quality, drinking water sources, coastal waterways, and the Long Island Sound. Targets federal and state clean water funding, PFAS contamination remediation, and infrastructure investment for New York and Connecticut communities.
• Public Health, Toxics & Recycling Advocacy Program Advocacy addressing public health threats from toxic contaminants such as PFAS, plastic pollution, pharmaceutical disposal, and recycling. Includes partnerships with retailers (King Kullen) and water utilities (Suez) on take-back programs and research-driven contamination studies.
• Open Space & Wildlife Habitat Advocacy Program Advocacy for preservation of open spaces, beaches, bays, rivers, the Great Lakes, and wildlife habitat across New York State and Connecticut. Engages in policy efforts and public outreach to protect natural landscapes from development and degradation.
• Climate Change & Energy Policy Advocacy Program Advocacy for climate change mitigation and renewable energy policy, including support for offshore wind (e.g., South Fork Wind), opposition to cuts in EPA grant funding, and promotion of the NYS Environmental Bond Act for Long Island Sound restoration.
• Legislative Campaigns Service Organized legislative advocacy campaigns including the annual NYS Legislative Agenda, federal representative outreach, public hearings participation, and grassroots mobilization to advance environmental legislation such as PFAS limits, renewable energy standards, plastic bag bans, and environmental bond acts.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully advocated for legislation including PFAS bans, renewable energy portfolio standards, sewage notification laws, and environmental bond acts

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

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 minor and core.

• Yale Superfund Research CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partner providing scientific expertise and research support for environmental health and contamination studies.
• Stony Brook UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCE partnered with Stony Brook University on the PFAS & Produce study, testing for 'forever chemicals' contamination in locally grown vegetables. Stony Brook researchers conducted the testing while CCE helped coordinate and publicize findings.
• Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCE collaborated with PEER on the Stony Brook University PFAS study, with PEER's director of Science Policy Dr. Kyla Bennett participating in the lunch and learn webinar to discuss findings.
• King KullenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCE partnered with King Kullen supermarket to launch a first-of-its-kind pharmaceutical take-back program for residents, allowing safe disposal of medications.
• SuezminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWater company partner in CCE's pharmaceutical take-back program implementation.
• Suffolk County Water AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCE works closely with SCWA on water protection issues. SCWA completed water main projects to bring clean water to residences impacted by PFAS contamination in areas like Calverton.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Earthjustice: Earthjustice is a national environmental law organization that litigates and advocates on pollution, climate, and wildlife issues, overlapping with CCE's PFAS and toxics advocacy but using litigation rather than grassroots mobilization as its primary lever.
• Sierra Club: Sierra Club is the largest U.S. grassroots environmental organization with chapters nationwide, comparable to CCE's grassroots advocacy and policy lobbying model but at vastly greater scale and geographic reach.
• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): NRDC is a national environmental advocacy organization active on clean water, climate, and toxics, overlapping directly with CCE's program areas but operating with a far larger staff, budget, and policy footprint.
• National Audubon Society: Audubon is a national conservation organization with strong New York presence that combines habitat advocacy and grassroots chapters, comparable to CCE's open space and wildlife habitat program area at a national scale.
• Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): EDF is a major national environmental advocacy group using science, economics, and law to drive environmental policy, directly comparable to CCE's policy and lobbying approach on water, climate, and public health.

Emerging players

• Surfrider Foundation: Surfrider Foundation is a grassroots coastal and water quality advocacy organization with volunteer-led chapters, closely matching CCE's water protection, plastic pollution, and beach/coastal advocacy model.
• Defenders of Wildlife: Defenders of Wildlife is a national wildlife and habitat advocacy organization with policy expertise on imperiled species and ecosystems, comparable to CCE's wildlife habitat focus but operating at national scale with greater resources.

Direct peers

• New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV): NYLCV is a New York State environmental political advocacy organization that works on legislative campaigns and electoral engagement, directly comparable to CCE's legislative campaigns and NYS-specific policy work.
• Riverkeeper: Riverkeeper is a New York-based water protection advocacy organization that combines grassroots membership, lobbying, and on-the-water enforcement in the Hudson Valley, closely matching CCE's water protection and regional advocacy model in New York.
• Connecticut Fund for the Environment / Save the Sound: Connecticut Fund for the Environment / Save the Sound is a regional environmental advocacy group focused on Long Island Sound and Connecticut waters, directly comparable to CCE's Connecticut operations and water protection focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/citizensenviro
• Instagraminstagram.com/citizenscampaign
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/citizens-campaign-for-the-environment

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about citizens campaign for the environment