What We Do
Catalyst California's work lives in its project teams, which bring a racial equity focus to issues from election integrity to wildfire recovery to criminal justice. We know California is a target on many fronts for a hostile federal administration, and we bring our expertise and data tools to the fight to present a robust resistance alongside our movement partners and allied elected officials. As agendas change, so will our yearly focus, even as we continue the work on our other areas.
Other Project Teams
Equity Data - Deploying data for change
California’s public policies must focus on the root causes of racial and intersectional disparities. Using these data, we can measure critical progress to dismantle systemic inequity in communities. The Equity Data team equips racial justice advocates with the data and analysis they need to drive change. Our statewide online tool, RaceCounts.org, tracks racial disparities across seven key issue areas, by state, county, and city. And our data, research, and mapping experts work closely with on-the-ground advocates to deploy disparity data in their policy campaigns. We provide rapid-response research to meaningfully shape current and emerging policy issues with our community partners.
Learn more about our work and check out RaceCounts.org
Equity Lab - Innovating for racial justice
Our current moment of crisis resulted from the twin failures of our democracy and our economy to prioritize everyday Californians over billionaires and demagogues. Building a true mass movement cannot be purely reactive. We need a vision of the future to inspire people and provide a blueprint for change. The Equity Lab team creates a path to the new California we must build together, listening to working-class Californians of color in every corner of the state to learn how to truly meet their needs and develop specific solutions to deliver that progress. Building on our legacy of creating tools, paradigms, and policies for the broader movement, we innovate the next new idea to advance racial and economic justice.
Fair Fire Recovery - Restoring a vibrant community
The Eaton fire raged through Altadena and Pasadena in January 2025, killing 19 people, destroying over 9,000 structures, and upending the lives of tens of thousands of community members. More than a year later, we must protect the interests of survivors forced into legal and policy limbo, whether through damage to their homes, contamination in their surroundings, corporate misconduct, or government disregard of their needs. Catalyst California is a core member of Dena RiseUP, a multiracial coalition that came together to achieve a just and inclusive reconstruction of the community. Through the coalition, our Fair Fire Recovery team works with property owners, renters, workers in the rebuilding, and supporters who want equitable right-of-return policies, compensation, and a healthy built environment for survivors. We provide policy, data, and convening support, so this diverse community can rise from the ashes to once again thrive.
Justice & Safety - Creating safer communities
For generations, communities of color have been devastated by a justice system that has criminalized and dehumanized their children and families while exposing them to disproportionate violence. Though hard-fought campaigns have generated progress, “tough-on-crime" policies erode these protections against state violence. The Justice & Safety team works to end the criminalization of communities of color. We bring together coalitions to end racially biased policing and build safer communities. We analyze harmful law enforcement practices and advance care-first solutions that reduce the scope of the legal system, enhance personal safety, and rebuild communities’ trust in their institutions.
Reparations - Repairing harms
At a time when surging white nationalist forces are trying to re-segregate society under the guise of “resisting DEI,” it is more critical than ever to tell the truth about racial inequity in California. We must repair the concrete harms that prevent us from realizing our multiracial democracy. The California Task Force on Reparations for African Americans in 2020 delivered a blueprint for doing just that, but more work is needed to ensure adoption and implementation of its recommendations. Catalyst California is a core partner in the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT)—convened by the California Black Power Network—which pushes for bold, comprehensive reparations frameworks that repair the harms done by slavery and its legacy. Our Reparations team supports ARRT through policy development, advocacy, and community and partner engagement.
We Are California - Beating back authoritarianism
Responding to authoritarian attacks on California’s communities requires us to come together to stand up for our shared vision of the good life for all Californians. Catalyst California has thrown its weight behind We Are California, a statewide formation that unites progressive and racial justice organizations with masses of previously unorganized people to defend our communities. As a core partner, the We Our California team mobilizes its capacities to this historic effort. Our experts work to analyze the authoritarian threat to California so we can target our collective response, provide data analysis on the potential impacts of budget cuts to our communities, health, and schools, and clarify what’s necessary to not only beat back the attacks but build a coherent progressive policy strategy for California.