we’re just getting started.
Join us in building a powerful force for nature and people.
Our three-year goals
Build organizational capacity by hiring a full-time Executive Director, securing a sustainable operating budget, launching a relational membership program, and developing core communications infrastructure. Pursue diversified funding and lay the groundwork for dedicated staff to support the Rick Dove Certificate program, fundraising, and public communications.
1
Build the Organization
Launch a community-powered environmental monitoring and reporting system—this we are calling the Integral Ecologies Project. The project standardizes evidence protocols, trains citizen documentarians, and builds a statewide network supported by an online platform for geolocated submissions, rapid review, and public access to trusted environmental and food system data.
2
Launch Community Watch
Launch the Rick Dove Certificate in Environmental Advocacy & Leadership — a hands-on, place-based training program modeled after the Catawba Advocacy Boot Camp. Integrate ecojustice curriculum, civic engagement, and applied student research through expanded university partnerships to build a pipeline of informed environmental leaders.
3
Launch Certificate Program
Raise public awareness of critical environmental and food systems issues — including CAFOs — through community forums, presentations, and documentary screenings. Equip communities with the knowledge and tools to participate meaningfully in environmental decision-making.
4
Educate & Engage Communities
Strengthen scientific credibility and educational impact through collaborations with UNC–Chapel Hill, Duke Law, Johns Hopkins, Fayetteville State, Wingate University, and regional community colleges. These partnerships ground NCEAC's work in interdisciplinary research while elevating community voices and lived experience.
5
Grow Strategic Partnerships
Integrate NCEAC into existing advocacy networks and advance a coordinated organizing strategy. Establish a visible monitoring presence that shifts industry culture toward accountability, and develop systems that translate community-collected evidence into regulatory action, legal pressure, and measurable outcomes.