Posted on August 31, 2025
“The present is just an accumulation of every little event in history.”
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This September, the Facing History & Ourselves is among three amazing nonprofits that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support Facing History in its work to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bigotry and hate.
Read this important message from Facing History, then visit CREDO Donations and cast your vote to help send vital grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding September grantees.
A high school senior shares her insights about civic participation after completing the Facing History class “Democracy in Action.”
For the past two school years Facing History students in New York state have participated in a pilot civics elective curriculum. This elective, designed to align with New York’s Seal of Civic Readiness that students can earn on their diplomas, intertwines the history of US Reconstruction, current events, and civic participation.
Schools have always played an important role in preparing young people to understand and participate in democracy. However, in recent decades, competing priorities for the time and attention of educators has left little room for the integration of civic education. But research shows that there is widespread support for teaching civic education, and Facing History is helping to support schools and educators eager to lift up civic learning for their students.
Facing History is extremely well-positioned to do this work through our approach to civic education. For decades, we have helped young people develop informed civic responsibility through our pedagogical strategies and curricular resources. From our historical case studies to our collection of resources exploring current events, we teach students the following:
- to discern facts from misinformation
- to connect history with the world around them
- to engage empathetically and constructively with others who have different identities, experiences, and perspectives
- to collaboratively explore solutions to complex problems
Erica Hodgin, Facing History’s Director of Civic Education, recently interviewed students who participated in a course drawing on the New York civics elective curriculum. In the following conversation, Erica sits down with Ava F., a 12th grader from Chappaqua, NY who took her school’s “Democracy in Action” class. Ava shares her takeaways from the experience, including what she liked, where she sees room for improvement, and the most profound lessons she learned during the course.
Erica Hodgin: I want to start by asking, what was the most interesting thing you learned or took away from your Democracy in Action class?
Ava: The most important thing I learned this year from the Democracy in Action class is that everyone really does have a voice and there are so many ways to become involved in your community. And what I’ve learned is that the most important thing when becoming involved in your community is really just to leverage all your resources. Resources can mean anything. That can mean your teachers. That can mean friends. That can mean people you’ve never met before. Social media and the internet in general is also a great tool to reach out to people. I think that just the internet in general. The saying that there is strength in numbers really does hold true with civic agency. That’s something that I’ve really seen to be true.
Erica: At the beginning of the class, you talked about what it means to be an American, and in particular your story, your voice, and your identity within our country and our society. Can you tell me a little bit about what it was like to think about your identity and your history and how that shapes your view of our society and the world?
Ava: We started off the year with an identity unit and this was about ourselves and getting to know our classmates more. We were in pretty small classes, which I think is much more conducive to this type of learning where it can get very personal at times. I would say that we really dug deep into not only who we are, but how we are. And by that, I mean, we really try to tell each other our stories and also reflect honestly and try to be introspective. I walked away from that portion of the class being reminded that everyone’s story and identity and all the different parts that can make a person influences their views and the way they approach things. People have all sorts of different experiences, even just in my pretty small class. There were students with all sorts of backgrounds that really did influence the way they looked at things.
I didn’t know how important that part of the class was until later. Everyone’s individual identity can affect how they work with others and how open they may be to accepting new ideas. For example, in our civic agency project at the end of the year where we explored an issue in our community, there were people with all sorts of different ideas and maybe things they felt passionate about. And I think that it’s important to balance the idea of, “Okay, everyone has an individual identity, but we also have a community identity, you know, in our schools, towns wherever that may be.”
Erica: I know you studied the Reconstruction Era in your class. Can you talk about those lessons?
Ava: We did lots of lessons about Reconstruction and I think that was a really good base for looking at democracy and different levers of power. We also explored other marginalized groups, but I think that the American legal system and democracy is a big part of it. The Reconstruction Era really did influence how other groups were treated in the US justice system, and of course how the African American community was treated.
Erica: How did studying the Reconstruction Era impact your thinking about issues that we’re facing in our society today?
Ava: I think that after that unit it was very clear to see how African Americans and Black Americans have faced so many systemic issues, which is of course something that I already knew, and I think a lot of other students in my class did too, but I think it really just reaffirmed that idea and made us more aware of it because after we looked at Reconstruction, we looked at current day issues like police brutality and other injustices that marginalized groups, including African Americans, face in the US.
I also think it kind of shined the light on how important history is to the present day. The present is just an accumulation of every little event in history. I think it was a very important part of the class.
Erica: Did your class talk about challenging issues that we’re facing in our society today? And if so, do you feel like it helped you build different skills or develop more comfort and confidence when talking with folks who may disagree with you or have a really different perspective than you do?
Ava: We definitely looked at present day issues, especially how they related to past issues in the US. One of the most memorable lessons for me was talking about unhoused people and homeless encampments in the United States because I think it’s something that’s not typically talked about in school, or at least in my academic experience so far. And it is something that can be uncomfortable because it’s very emotional, of course, to see people struggling so, so much. And I think the biggest thing with that is it created more comfort, but more comfort being uncomfortable. I think that’s the most important thing because, you know, in politics, education, whatever it may be, nothing happens if no one is ever uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is kind of just a part of life and a part of learning. This course definitely made my class more comfortable being uncomfortable with ourselves and each other about these difficult, often very emotional topics.
Erica: I want to ask about the civic engagement project that your class did. Can you tell me a little bit about what you worked on?
Ava: My class chose the topic of the ChapLine. We live in Chappaqua and the ChapLine is a proposed 1.6 mile trail that would be a 10 foot wide walking and biking trail that connects the high school area of the town to the lower village in part of the town—kind of the downtown area.
We got interested in this topic because so many different topics were floated: affordable housing, different social justice issues involving race, different things with different economic groups. But we arrived at this one because we agreed it tied into a bunch of the topics, including environmentalism because the more people you have walking cuts down on carbon emissions.
Through our research we also found that the ChapLine would just be better for the community because it could connect certain low-income housing apartment buildings to the downtown so people who don’t have a car or reliable transportation could be more involved in the community. We then compiled a presentation of all of our research at a town hall, specifically focusing on funding methods that could be used to make the ChapLine possible.
Erica: What would you say are your biggest takeaways from doing that project that you think you might draw upon in the future?
Ava: I would say my biggest takeaway was to always dig deeper and always keep asking questions. I think it really reaffirms that there’s usually more layers to a story than you may think. And to not be afraid to be uncomfortable. And to not let a fear of being rejected or someone just not really interested in what you’re doing get in the way of your mission.
Erica: Are there any other takeaways or things you learned from the class that you would like to share?
Ava: I would say, and my peers would also agree with this, that I learned that everyone does have a voice and can make a very strong impact on their community—whether that be a community, their town, their school, their state, or even their country. I also think it’s important to balance that knowledge with just recognizing that some people’s voices will be more readily received by some people than others. If you’re a part of a historically marginalized or discriminated group, then there will be some people who may not be as accepting of you in certain spaces. So we must recognize inequities, but also believe in ourselves.
Posted on August 31, 2025
Donations Update: Support the American Constitution Society in Defending Democracy and the Rule of Law
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This September, the American Constitution Society is among three amazing nonprofits that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support ACS in its work to lead in-depth, award-winning investigations into the corruption that undermines our democracy, environment and economic prosperity.
Read this important message from ACS, then visit CREDO Donations and cast your vote to help send vital grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding September grantees.
It has been eight months since Donald Trump took the oath of office and began his second term as president of the United States. In that time, we have seen unrelenting attacks on democratic institutions, civil rights, and the very constitutional order that serves as the foundation of the rule of law in the United States.
The administration has consistently attempted to use its power and influence to chill free speech, stifle dissent, and build a government based on fealty and cronyism. The administration has unleashed the military on protestors in Los Angeles, and more recently deployed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and declared a purported emergency to assume control of its police force in a move to strip D.C. of home rule. Unlawful mass firings of the federal workforce have upended the careers of thousands of dedicated, nonpartisan civil servants and decimated entire departments that support our civil rights, health and safety, and social safety net.
This administration has targeted universities in an unabashed attack on academic freedom and detained and deported individuals of all immigration status without due process. As chilling, we have seen law firms and judges targeted in an effort to cow those who might lead legal challenges or make unfavorable rulings against the administration’s many unlawful and unconstitutional actions and protect the most vulnerable among us.
These and so many other extreme actions taken by this administration threaten our constitutional order and the rule of law. But every step of the way, the American Constitution Society has stood up, spoken out, and worked to combat these damaging actions and policies.
As the backbone of the progressive legal movement, ACS has activated its broad and dedicated nationwide network to fight for our democracy and the rule of law, including by:
- Working closely with the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance and other allied organizations to build the Federal Workers Legal Defense Network to help source volunteer attorneys to provide legal advice and representation for federal employees who have been fired or encouraged to resign because of this administration’s actions.
- Vocally pushing back and coordinating legal scholar and law student sign-on petitions against Executive Orders targeting lawyers and law firms, as well as calling on the legal profession to defend those targeted.
- ACS works at a grassroots level to identify and develop a qualified pool of legal professionals to become nominees for the state and federal judiciary. With an unparalleled 55 working groups across 42 states, ACS provides decisionmakers with the most representative, diverse, and competitive candidates who are ready to step into these roles. ACS and its state working groups helped the previous administration identify and confirm 235 diverse, pro-democracy judges across the federal judiciary. In recent months, some of these same judges have ruled against some of the brazenly unconstitutional acts of the Trump administration.
- Tracking judicial confirmations, including Senate votes and judicial demographic information, on the ACS website to enhance transparency and accountability around the judicial confirmation process.
- Producing free, informative, and engaging programs –including the twice a month Broken Law Podcast–to keep the legal profession and public informed and in the know about pressing cases, legal challenges, and attempts to circumvent the rule of law.
- Building the next generation of progressive legal leaders through our law student chapters present at nearly every law school across the country. Thousands of law students annually engage with ACS to supplement their law school curriculum with progressive legal ideas, meaningful civic engagement, and a community rooted in progressive values.
Since its founding in 2001, ACS has been a clarion voice promoting and defending a vision of our Constitution that serves democracy, the rule of law, and all people in this country. With over 200 student and lawyer chapters, ACS is the foremost progressive legal organization that unites law students, legal professionals, scholars, and the general public in the fight to create a just, inclusive, and democratic society.
As we approach ACS’s 25th anniversary – and our country’s 250th anniversary – we remain as committed as ever to strengthening our democracy and making the law a means to improve ALL people’s lives. We will not let current events intimidate and paralyze us from speaking out and taking action. We invite you to join us and become part of our community as we continue to fight to protect our rights and freedoms.
Posted on August 8, 2025
Donations spotlight: Support the Center for Media and Democracy in its fight against political corruption
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This August, the Center for Media and Democracy is among three amazing nonprofits that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support CMD in its work to lead in-depth, award-winning investigations into the corruption that undermines our democracy, environment and economic prosperity.
Read this important message from CMD, then visit CREDO Donations and cast your vote to help send vital grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding August grantees.
It’s undeniable that we’re experiencing one of the greatest threats in our lifetime to American democracy, the rule of law and a century of progress toward economic, social and environmental justice.
Unfortunately, this rising authoritarianism is clear evidence of what we at the Center for Media and Democracy have been reporting for over 30 years: that crony capitalists and right-wing networks will use any means necessary to hijack the government to serve their interests.
Our work over the past three decades has focused on exposing the right-wing billionaires—and the industries and organizations they control—who operate to benefit their own narrow special interests at the expense of ordinary Americans.
Their efforts to date have paid off. By peddling anti-labor, anti-teacher, pro-corporate and climate-denial legislation and propaganda, they have systematically undermined trust in public institutions and laid the groundwork for the ongoing crises that now face our nation.
As former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has said, “The first step in saving our democracy is identifying who is trying to take it hostage.”
Whether you’re a longtime fan of CMD or are just learning about our work for the first time, here’s a quick primer on how American oligarchs are taking our democracy hostage—and how CMD is fighting back.
They run a right-wing bill mill. Over the past five decades, the American Legislative Exchange Council has brought corporate lobbyists and conservative state legislators together behind closed doors to create and promote model legislation favorable to corporate interests.
ALEC’s agenda extends to almost every area of public policy, as lawmakers take these model bills written by powerful special-interest and far-right groups—including the tobacco, gun, oil, pharmaceutical and telecom industries—back to their statehouses and introduce them as their own. From lower wages to increased mass shootings, more pollution, fewer consumer protections and less bodily autonomy, the negative impacts on everyone living in the U.S. have been profound.
And, as our executive director, Arn Pearson, wrote in The American Prospect, “Since ALEC masquerades as a tax-exempt charity, your tax dollars subsidize it all.”
Our exposés have forced ALEC out of the shadows and earned widespread national coverage in numerous mainstream media outlets. More than 100 corporations have cut ties with ALEC since we launched our ALEC Exposed project in 2011. We maintain a regularly-updated online repository of all known ALEC politicians, corporate members and model bills.
We’ve also conducted issue-specific investigations, like exposing the nearly 700 ALEC-affiliated state lawmakers who have voted to make it illegal to access abortion, and concerned members of the public can use our briefing documents on ALEC’s harms, from undermining worker rights and degrading environmental protections to crushing local democracy, to raise public awareness.
But ALEC isn’t just responsible for pushing harmful legislation. It’s one of the main right-wing organizations leading the effort to rewrite the U.S. Constitution.
They’ve put the Constitution in the crosshairs. The Right has set its sights on what may appear, at first, to be a laughable moonshot: a first-of-its-kind convention to rewrite the Constitution.
But their effort is hardly pie in the sky. Deep-pocketed donors have been working steadily to trigger a constitutional convention so that they can “reverse 115 years of progressivism,” in the words of Tea Party Patriots cofounder Mark Meckler.
“The far right’s constitutional convention is a dagger aimed at the heart of most of what we look to Washington for: vital programs like Social Security and Medicare, and protection from economic catastrophes, pandemics and climate disasters,” wrote Arn Pearson and award-winning historian Nancy MacLean in The Progressive.
The Right justifies its drive to revamp the Constitution with populist rhetoric. But the American people would have no role to play in the constitutional convention that the Right wants to convene. Under their plan, state politicians will handpick the convention delegates and the smallest state would have the same influence as the largest.
To help the public understand this threat—and do something about it—CMD has compiled the state laws and resolutions addressing constitutional convention delegate selection and laid out just how anti-democratic such a constitutional convention would be in our Convention of States Politicians report.
Our role as a watchdog on corporate influence and extremism has never been more important. Whether it’s highlighting the operatives and funders pushing the Big Lie of election fraud or reaffirming our country’s tradition of standing up against tyranny, we work every day to expose the corporate interests and far-right forces undermining our American values and ensuring that the public has the facts to fight back.
Posted on August 1, 2025
Donations spotlight: Help CSLDF defend climate scientists
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This August, the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund is among three amazing nonprofits that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support CSLDF in its work to ensure that scientists can conduct, publish and discuss their research and advocate for science without the threat of political harassment, censorship or legal intimidation.
Read this important message from CSLDF, then visit CREDO Donations and cast your vote to help send vital grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding August grantees.
In 2011, a group of pro-science advocates took a stand against an alarming surge in attacks on climate scientists by the forces of climate change denial. The group raised funds to help cover the cost of an ideologically motivated lawsuit against a noted climate scientist—a case that, after three long years of litigation, was ultimately decided in the scientist’s favor.
Recognizing that the threat from the growing anti-science movement in the U.S. wouldn’t end with that one court case, pro-science advocates formed the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund. We’re now in our 15th year and we continue to protect and defend the scientific endeavor through free legal aid, education and tracking of anti-science actions by the government.
Climate science is facing a greater threat than ever. Attacks are now coming not only from the fossil fuel industry but from the highest levels of the federal government, jeopardizing decades of research and threatening future progress. These attacks include:
- Drastic, mostly indiscriminate cuts to the federal scientific workforce.
- Termination of billions of dollars in research grants.
- Appointment of climate skeptics and fossil fuel executives to high-level positions.
- Censorship of scientists and their research.
- Misrepresentation of scientific findings to further a political agenda.
- Intimidation of potential whistleblowers into remaining silent.
That’s where the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund comes in. At CSLDF, our mission is simple. We want scientists to be able to focus on finding solutions to climate change without fear of political harassment, censorship or legal intimidation.
We put our legal expertise to work on behalf of the many researchers who are now being drawn into what are usually baseless, expensive and lengthy legal battles brought by anti-science bad actors. We helped a record-breaking 64 scientists in 2024—much of our help rendered after the reelection of a virulently anti-science president.
We’ve also educated thousands of scientists about their legal rights and protections through workshops, presentations and our extensive library of free resources. Our educational initiatives cover a range of legal topics, including how scientists can safely advocate for science, safeguard themselves from legal harassment and intimidation, participate in climate litigation and more.
Since 2017, we’ve documented hundreds of government attacks on science in the Silencing Science Tracker, which we run together with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. This database, originally created to document the numerous attempts by the first Trump administration to silence climate change research, has since been expanded to include state as well as federal government actions.
CSLDF is ready for the fight. Already this year, we’ve provided free legal help to dozens of researchers, many of whom have been caught up in the chaos and destruction of the current political reality. We’ve received requests for assistance regarding invasive open records inquiries, censorship and advice on how to engage in pro-science advocacy—issues we have helped scientists deal with since our founding.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, we’re seeing an increase in the number of scientists who have lost their jobs or grant funding and are seeking guidance for themselves and for the crucial research that’s at risk.
Some of our current cases include:
- Helping defend an academic who participated in a climate protest from aggressive retaliation by their institution.
- Fighting to preserve access to critical climate data held by federal agencies.
- Defending researchers on the frontline of holding fossil fuel companies to account for their role in climate change.
We’re not backing down and we’re not alone. Thanks to our pro-science supporters, we’ve been able to meet the increased workload. We recently added five new team members to help handle the increase, including a full-time staff attorney, a project attorney, a summer intern and two new board members.
We’re up against strong anti-science forces with very deep pockets but our small yet mighty team is equal to the task. The generosity of CREDO Mobile members will help us continue fighting on behalf of climate scientists at a time when our work is more needed than ever. Thank you for standing with us to protect and defend the scientific endeavor.
Learn more about our organization, including how to contact us for free legal help, at CSLDF.org.
Posted on July 30, 2025
New research shows small changes can make a big difference for our climate
It’s not often we get good news on the climate. But recently we did.
It’s this: we have the ability, right now, to drastically cut carbon emissions by making doable changes in our daily lives.
A groundbreaking study shows the power is in our hands. New research demonstrates that adoption of a low-carbon lifestyle by wealthy households around the globe is a “swift and effective means of curbing climate change.”
Until now, many of us have assumed that real progress on the climate would only come in some distant future, a utopian time of green-energy expansion, carbon-capture innovation and embrace of enlightened policy by world governments.
This new research shows that’s not so. It shows that we the people can start saving our climate now if we make some perfectly feasible changes in how we eat, what we buy and how we get around.
This is transformative information. It means we don’t have to wait for that distant future—which may never come. It means that if we take small actions, individually and collectively, we can make a huge difference for our climate.
Indeed, the research reveals that emissions reductions stemming from lifestyle changes may rival and surpass reductions brought about by a shift in the industrial and energy sectors. Yes, we should still advocate for that shift—but until it comes, we can make real progress ourselves.
The study, published May 17 in Nature, points out “the growing importance of demand-side mitigation solutions to achieve global climate targets, as supply-side measures cannot be solely relied upon.”
In other words, we can’t depend on oil companies, utilities, manufacturers and other carbon emitters (the supply side) to reduce their emissions, as they consistently resist regulation and put our planet in peril to protect their profits. And this being the case, it’s increasingly important for consumers (the demand side) to move to low-carbon lifestyles to cut emissions and cool our climate.
This doesn’t mean that those supply-side emitters aren’t wrong to fight regulation of their emissions. They are. It doesn’t mean that their resistance isn’t ecocide and a crime against humanity. It is.
It does mean that, given the willingness of corporations and governments to wreck our long-term future for short-term gains, we can—we should—take steps ourselves to reduce CO2 emissions. The research shows that, if we do, we can make a real difference.
“We find that implementing a combination of low-carbon expenditures among the top 23.7% emitters reduces global carbon footprints by 10.4 gigatons,” the study says. That 23.7% is us, people in wealthy countries. And that 10.4 gigatons is huge—almost a third of the carbon now emitted annually around the world.
The UN says we must reduce CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 to keep our climate from burning up. If we get on our bicycle (in some cases literally) and make changes in our daily habits, heck, we’re almost there. That’s an amazing and inspiring piece of news.
So what can we do? The steps are straightforward. Some you can take today—like eating a plant-based diet, conserving energy at home and opting for low-carbon transport (such as the aforementioned bicycle).
According to the research, if the world’s “carbon-exceeding households” (that’s us) shifted to a Mediterranean, vegetarian or vegan diet, this would produce an annual carbon reduction of 22.1%. A few mobility changes—working from home, less flying, less cars—would produce a reduction of 7.6%.
Those are remarkable numbers. But not surprising, given the immense carbon footprint of consumers in the wealthy world. The top 10% of carbon emitters account for 48% of the global total, while the top 1% contribute 16.9% of the global total. The bottom 50% emit just 12% of the total.
This “underscores the urgent need to propose demand-side measures that specifically target carbon-intensive activities among top emitters,” the study notes, “as those households have contributed most to climate change and have the greatest capacity for reducing emissions.”
Here’s one demand-side measure you can take now. Switch to CREDO Mobile, the phone company that cares about our climate as much as you do. We’re not only a mobile service, we’re a community of people committed to saving our planet. People making small changes every day with the knowledge that, inevitably, they’ll add up to big change.
To date, we’ve donated over $95 million to nonprofits dedicated to change big and small, with a large share of it going to groups like 350.org, Inside Climate News, Earth Guardians and Defenders of Wildlife.
Like the sound of that? A lot of people do. Which is why they’re joining CREDO Mobile. You can too. Just go to CREDOMobile.com.
You’ll get all you want from your mobile service: money-saving data plans, great deals on new devices and superfast coverage on the nation’s largest 5G network.
And you’ll get much more. You’ll get an easy, effective way to make a difference for our climate.
If you’re already a member, tell your friends about CREDO Mobile. Refer them today and we’ll give you $100 for each friend who joins.
Posted on July 8, 2025
For rainforest preservation: CREDO Mobile makes a difference
Recently, we sent a grant to Rainforest Foundation US (RFUS), which will use the funding in its fight to protect the rainforests of Central America and the Amazon in partnership with Indigenous peoples, who are the best guardians of those vital, carbon-storing rainforests.
We’re longtime supporters of RFUS and we’ll continue to stand with them as they address some of the world’s most urgent challenges, including deforestation, biodiversity loss and land rights.
Working together, we’re making a difference
Donations from CREDO Mobile have powered a number of recent successes by RFUS. With support from CREDO Mobile and other partners, the nonprofit has helped secure rights to over 42 million acres of forests and lands since 1988. This is vital, because deforestation rates are lower on lands managed by Indigenous communities who hold rights and titles to their lands.
RFUS currently supports 200-plus Indigenous communities and organizations, because strong communities and organizations are more resilient and sustainable. RFUS provides direct financing and co-design strategies to its partners to assist them in protecting their lands —a nd our planet.
To date, RFUS has helped protect more than 19 million acres of forests through monitoring efforts through programs like RFUS’s Rainforest Alert, integrating newer technologies (like drones, satellite, and mobile phones) with traditional forest-monitoring practices to stop deforestation more effectively. In fact, in the first year alone, communities implementing Rainforest Alert saw a 52% reduction in forest loss.
RFUS is committed to growing participation by Indigenous women in territorial governance and in Rainforest Alert. Since Rainforest Alert was launched, the number of women monitors has grown from three to 26 (out of a total of 236 monitors), with women now actively training one another to further scale up their participation.
For more on women’s involvement in forest monitoring, read the RFUS blog post Indigenous Women Rising, which describes the ways Indigenous women are breaking barriers, taking their place on the frontlines and driving the effort to protect their forests, preserve their cultures and shape the future of our planet.
RFUS is working to stop destruction by miners
Gold mining is a threat to any rainforest. Illegal and unregulated mining in Guyana’s South Rupununi region is causing widespread environmental destruction, as well as a surge in malaria cases. RFUS is working with its partners to increase monitoring of mining activities and to secure long-term protection for the lands and waterways of the Wapichan Indigenous people of northern Brazil and southern Guyana, regions of extreme biological richness and diversity.
RFUS is securing land rights to sustain vital CO2 sinks
RFUS’s land rights work in Peru, Brazil, Guyana and Panama has helped preserve a net annual carbon sink of 9.8 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of 2 million gas vehicles. RFUS’s partnership with Indigenous peoples advances nature-based carbon sequestration. Forests protected by Indigenous peoples have lower rates of deforestation and remain strong carbon sinks.
RFUS is growing the campaign to protect rainforests
With support from CREDO Mobile funding and other sources, RFUS is now in the process of expanding land-titling efforts in Peru by approximately 1 million acres, among other programs. The Loreto regional government — a region that includes almost a third of Peru’s total territory—is working closely with RFUS and its partners to seize this moment and ensure Indigenous communities have legal recognition of their lands. With regional government changes anticipated in 2026, this is an ideal time to initiate these intra organizational and governmental collaborations .
CREDO Mobile members are making it happen
Rainforest Foundation US is able to carry out this important work in part thanks to CREDO Mobile members who do one thing: use our service. And the more members we have, the more we can support RFUS — and the dozens of other progressive nonprofits we fund every year. These donations cost our members nothing but they mean everything to the groups that rely on us.
If you’re a CREDO Mobile member, thank you. If you’re not a member yet, please join us. You’ll get all you want from your mobile service: money-saving data plans, great deals on new devices and superfast coverage on the nation’s largest 5G network.
And you’ll get much more. You’ll get a powerful way to support the causes you care about whenever you use your phone. Causes like women’s rights, reproductive freedom, climate action and an economy that works for everyone.
Switching is easy. You can bring your current device and your current number. Go to CREDOMobile.com to learn more.
They’ve always been in the fight, but we’re helping elevate their voices
Posted on July 7, 2025
Donations spotlight: Support Feeding America, the nation’s leading hunger-relief nonprofit
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This July, Feeding America is among three amazing nonprofits that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support the group in its work to build a hunger-free America, where all have enough food to eat.
Read this important message from Feeding America, then visit CREDO Donations and cast your vote to help send vital grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding July grantees.
Throughout the nation, local food banks and their community partners work tirelessly to make sure no one goes to bed hungry. Yet, right now, the number of people facing hunger exceeds pandemic-era rates.
On average, 1 in 5 children are experiencing hunger but, in some counties, nearly 50% of children are food insecure. Historically, hunger has been exacerbated by summer breaks, when students are no longer receiving school lunches. Now, with the high cost of groceries and ongoing cuts to federal funding, we anticipate that the number of families and children facing hunger will increase in severity.
Feeding America is poised to meet the need—wherever and whenever it arises. We do this as a nationwide network of 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs. Collectively, we serve tens of millions of people facing food insecurity every year, in every zip code of the U.S. Last year alone, Feeding America provided 5.9 billion meals. That’s enough to give everyone in the U.S. 173 meals each.
We’re committed to providing healthy food and a dignified charitable food experience to anyone who seeks our services.
And we don’t stop there
Feeding America is dedicated to tackling the root causes that lead to hunger and poverty. As a national organization with hyper-local ties, we’re uniquely situated to implement programs recommended by experts on hunger—people with lived experience. We leverage insight from neighbors with lived experience and then invest in innovative solutions to increase equitable access to nutritious food, advocate for legislation that improves food security and work to address factors that impact food security, such as health, cost of living and employment.
In addition to food sourcing and distribution, some other areas of our work that you may not be aware of include but are not limited to the following:
- Disaster response. When disaster strikes, people experiencing food insecurity are often hit the hardest. As one of the nation’s largest disaster relief organizations, we’re there before, during and after a disaster to help communities get food and emergency assistance.
- Food as medicine. We address health conditions caused or exacerbated by inadequate diets. Working through partnerships with members of the Feeding America network, we train healthcare providers to spot the signs of food insecurity, screen patients during healthcare visits and connect them to food-assistance resources as needed.
- Workforce development. Across the Feeding America network, food banks are engaging in workforce development. As trusted community anchors, they’re uniquely positioned to collaborate with local workforce providers, employers, educational institutions and service organizations. While food banks lead these efforts locally, Feeding America helps to equip them with tools to help bridge service gaps, expand opportunities and ensure that employment pathways are accessible and sustainable. At the end of the day, our work is about so much more than just food. It is about ensuring that everyone has both the resources—and the hope—they need to thrive.
- Advocacy. Advocacy is the act of supporting or promoting policies that lead to positive change. At Feeding America, advocacy means working alongside neighbors and our nationwide network to champion public policies that reduce hunger and improve food and nutrition security. We amplify the voices of those most affected by hunger and engage them in shaping policies at all levels of government. Our advocacy efforts focus on ensuring access to nutritious food, building resilient local food systems and addressing the root causes of hunger.
We’re working to save SNAP
The topic of advocacy is a timely one, as we find ourselves in a historic moment for the charitable food system. On May 14, 2025, the House Agriculture Committee approved budget reconciliation legislation that would cut $300 billion over 10 years in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—our nation’s most effective federal food program. If enacted, these proposed cuts would take vital support away from millions of our neighbors, including children, seniors and veterans.
Now is the time to join together, spread the word and support the movement. Every gift, every voice, every action matters more than ever, as cuts to federal funding will mean that fewer people facing hunger will be able to access the food and healthcare that we all need to thrive. By protecting and improving programs like SNAP and Medicaid, we can ensure that every individual has the chance to live a healthy life and prioritize wellbeing.
Thank you to our friends at CREDO Mobile for providing us with this opportunity to highlight our mission and share more about our work.
You can join our movement here. You can learn more about hunger in America here. You can find your local food bank here.
Posted on July 7, 2025
Donations spotlight: Help the Center for Economic and Policy Research expose the heist in Washington and protect programs that serve working people
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This July, the Center for Economic and Policy Research is among three amazing nonprofits that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support CEPR in its work to promote democratic debate on the important economic and social issues that affect people’s lives—and Expose the Heist happening in Washington now.
Read this important message from CEPR, then visit CREDO Donations and cast your vote to help send vital grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding July grantees.
The federal government is in a precarious state, with entire agencies and major social safety net programs under threat. With so many sweeping changes happening at once, it can be difficult to know where to get a clear understanding of the issues and then to know which policies best support everyday people.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) has a 25-year history of cutting through the noise to highlight the true effects of government policy. Our research is based on real numbers and straightforward analysis so that policymakers—and the everyday people who rely on them—understand how economic policy impacts workers, their families and their communities.
Attacks on our social safety net are bringing real pain to real people
Right now, some of the most important social safety net programs in the country are under assault. Programs like Medicaid and Social Security, which keep millions of people out of poverty and provide them with life-saving medical care. Like the disaster-preparedness and recovery programs of FEMA and other agencies, which protect vulnerable communities from the devastating effects of climate change. Public lands, public data and public health have all been gutted. Even the U.S. Postal Service is on the chopping block.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are hard at work enabling powerful and wealthy special interests to lay waste to our shared economy. Medicare “Advantage” programs funnel taxpayer money to private insurance companies at the expense of patient care. Private equity firms are given free-rein to gamble with workers’ hard-earned pensions. And the Trump administration is weakening consumer protections in the already barely regulated cryptocurrency market. Through it all, Elon Musk’s DOGE department is running up a bill that working families will have to pay.
CEPR is standing up for working Americans
There is certainly a lot of bad news out there but there is good news too: CEPR is fighting back. Our researchers challenge false narratives and expose the corruption in Washington to protect the programs that serve working people. Right now, we’re focusing on these vital areas:
Defending disaster preparedness
Climate change-related disasters are more common every year and vulnerable communities across the country rely on FEMA and other government agencies to support them when a disaster strikes. CEPR climate analyst Matt Sedlar writes about the importance of these programs. When wildfires ravaged Los Angeles, he called attention to the Trump administration’s cuts to fire protection and how they now put more communities at risk in the future. Sedlar also highlighted the importance of BRIC, an under-the-radar FEMA program ended by the Trump administration that gave funding to at-risk communities for preventative measures, helped them improve infrastructure and address risks posed by future disasters.
Protecting Medicaid
It is no secret that Republican lawmakers want to cut Medicaid, the program that provides healthcare coverage to 83 million low-income Americans. CEPR co-director and health policy expert Eileen Appelbaum writes about how these cuts will hurt healthcare for everyone, even people who aren’t on Medicaid. Max Sawicky explains how “block grants” are just a deceptive way of saying “cuts to Medicaid.” And Emma Curchin exposes the phony arguments behind proposed work requirements for Medicaid recipients: the truth is that most Medicaid beneficiaries already work.
Uncovering real government waste: Medicare Advantage
If policymakers truly wanted to make the government more efficient, they could start with Medicare Advantage programs. Medicare Advantage pays private insurance corporations to care for patients with taxpayer dollars. The program provides a set amount for each patient, which incentivizes those corporations to withhold care, because the less money they spend on actual healthcare, the more they get to keep as profit. CEPR’s Brandon Novick writes about ending the program to make healthcare better and more efficient for everyone, instead of allowing private companies to keep sucking up taxpayer dollars.
CEPR will continue to fight for all Americans
CEPR was founded in 1999 and one of our very first efforts was combating the misinformation warning of a phony “crisis” in Social Security. Decades later, the names and dates have changed but the need for clear and accurate policy research is the same—and we’ll keep providing it.
Vote for CEPR in July’s CREDO Mobile donations election and you’ll help us continue pushing back against false narratives and exposing the way the economy is rigged in favor of those at the top.
Learn more about CEPR’s work to “Expose the Heist” here.
Posted on July 1, 2025
CREDO Mobile is supporting: Center For Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), Feeding America, and Stand.earth this July.
In July, CREDO Mobile is supporting: Center For Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), Feeding America, and Stand.earth. As we do every month, we will allocate the donations will be allocated according to the votes tallied at www.credodonations.com. You can vote for 1, 2, or all 3 nonprofits. The more votes a non-profit gets, the larger share of the donation they will receive.
Center for Economic and Policy Research
CEPR fights for economic justice everywhere. We provide progressive research and ideas to push Congress for economic policy that empowers all people to prosper, not just those at the top. CEPR does vital work to expose how powerful interests are rigging the system against everyday workers. Together, we can stop corporate profiteering, protect key programs across the government, and hold policy makers accountable.
Feeding America
Feeding America fights hunger at its roots—rescuing food, supporting local communities, driving policy change, and tackling barriers like poverty and inequality to create lasting impact beyond the meal. Feeding America doesn’t just help source food, it fuels advocacy efforts as we fight to protect federal nutrition programs, and powers disaster relief—amplifying efforts that reach millions of people facing hunger across the U.S.
Stand.earth
For 25 years, Stand.earth has taken on powerful governments and corporations – and won. With bold, proven strategies, we drive real climate solutions at the scale this crisis demands. We don’t back down, because our lives depend on it. Stand.earth protects forests, stops fossil fuel expansion, and pushes for bold climate solutions that will power our planet with clean, renewable energy.
Now more than ever, progressive nonprofits need all the help they can get. These donations are funded by our CREDO Mobile customers. If you are a CREDO Mobile customer, thank you. If you are not, check out CREDO Mobile and see how your mobile phone can make a difference in the world.
Posted on July 1, 2025
Donations spotlight: Support Stand.earth as it delivers large-scale solutions to environmental problems worldwide
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This July, Stand.earth is among three amazing nonprofits that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support the group as it challenges governments and corporations to make the health of our communities, our environment and our climate the top priority.
Read this important message from Stand.earth, then visit CREDO Donations and cast your vote to help send vital grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding July grantees.
This year marks a quarter-century since the seeds of Stand.earth were planted. From a small group of activists with big dreams gathered under a canopy of towering trees, we have grown together into a strong and enduring organization that challenges corporations and governments to treat people and the environment with respect—because our lives depend on it.
And we win. Whether you’re new to Stand (welcome!) or you’ve been with us since the beginning, you are part of Stand’s success. Thank you.
Together with our million-member-strong community, our international environmental advocacy organization has:
- Protected tens of millions of acres of endangered forests through government agreements.
- Shifted billions of investment dollars into clean, renewable energy projects and away from dirty fossil fuels.
- Empowered over 210 North American cities to pass innovative climate policies.
- Delayed or stopped 21 dirty oil and gas mega-projects from being built.
- Transformed the supply chains of sector-leading brands like Levi’s, Starbucks and 3M to set new sector standards to reduce pollution and protect the environment.
Stand is just getting started
In the past few months alone, Stand has celebrated many important victories. We secured a commitment from Lululemon to power 50% of its supply chain with renewable electricity and ditch coal by 2030. We worked with government leaders and advocates across North America to pass new local policies that are cutting pollution from buildings. We published the latest edition of our Fossil-Free Fashion Scorecard, which creates visibility into the carbon footprint of top apparel and footwear brands. And we launched the Fracked Plastics Map, a new interactive tool that exposes the toxic supply chain fueling global plastic production.
These victories and the many others of the past 25 years came against huge challenges, proving that Stand doesn’t back down from a fight. We were sued by one of the largest logging companies in the world for $300 million. We beat that lawsuit and came out even stronger on the other side. Legal challenges? Government scare tactics? Industry intimidation? Death threats? We’ve faced them all. For 25 years, we haven’t backed down. And we’re not going to start now.
We also know that winning is about more than fighting. Yes, Stand has a signature style of bold public actions that we leverage in moments when creating media buzz or mobilizing people power are the right strategies. But we pride ourselves on moving from conflict to collaboration. After all, we need as many allies as possible in order to drive change at the scale required.
Whether we’re protecting old-growth forests from irresponsible logging, reducing demand for fossil fuels around the world and stopping harmful projects in their tracks, giving cities the tools they need to make their communities safe from fossil fuels or changing the face of a polluting, carbon-dependent global transportation industry, we’ve spurred corporations and governments to embrace meaningful change.
In our effort to secure a healthy, thriving future for everyone on Earth—our one and only home—we’ve succeeded time and time again. We’ve done it by drawing undeniable links between specific corporate and governmental behavior and ongoing environmental crises, putting pressure on the people who can fix them and offering guidance, support and actionable plans to key decision-makers as they transition to responsible long-term solutions.
Our first 25 years are just the beginning and our work has never been more urgently needed than now. The second half of this decade will present unprecedented challenges and even higher stakes but Stand was made for this moment. We’ll continue to hone field-tested strategies, try out inventive tactics, seek unlikely allies, and let data and breakthrough research lead the way on the next big challenges and the next innovative solutions. Because Stand’s 25th anniversary isn’t just a time for reflection; it’s a declaration of what’s to come. Let’s go!
Your vote for us through CREDO Mobile is a vote in support of a climate-safe, fossil-free future in which governments, corporations and infrastructure serve the needs of our planet and its people. Thank you. To learn more, visit Stand.earth or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
