The Oakland Institute is a policy think tank whose mission is to increase public participation and promote fair debate on critical social, economic and environmental issues in both national and international forums.
The Oakland Institute’s trademark is to work in coalitions and networks to strengthen social movements, especially as we forge multi-cultural, cross-border and cross-class alliances. This institute works with grass roots constituency (faith-based, farm workers, immigrant rights groups, Black farmers, among others) and aims to help bridge policy think tanks with activist networks and social movements.
The Institute engages in three main areas of interrelated programme work:
- bringing a social and economic human rights lens to organising and policy work
- reframing the debate on security
- building strategic alliances to strengthen popular struggles nationally and internationally
The Institute addresses this work through education and advocacy activities in national and international forums. It aims to reframe the basic terms on which public debate takes place and to stimulate public discussion and debate while creating an informed citizenry that can craft a new vision of action for the future.