NC Advocacy Partners strengthens informed civic engagement across North Carolina by amplifying community voices, challenging harmful narratives about poverty, and supporting nonpartisan advocacy for economic opportunity.
We envision a North Carolina where communities are understood through the voices of the people who live there, where poverty and need are met with empathy and support, and where public policies reflect the values, dignity, and lived realities of all.
Donella Pressley and her daughters lost their home twice, once to flooding caused by Tropical Storm Fred, and again when Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina in 2024. Tireless public advocacy by community members across Western North Carolina helped Donella and thousands just like her overcome obstacles on their way to recovery.
NC Advocacy Partners serves as a hub for advocacy, storytelling, and civic learning across Western North Carolina. We believe that lasting change begins when communities most impacted by poverty and disaster are trusted as experts in their own lives—and when their stories shape public understanding, media narratives, and policy decisions.
Our work centers on three interconnected strategies:
We collaborate with local media outlets and nonprofit partners to produce and share community stories that challenge harmful narratives—such as bootstrap mentality, deservingness myths, empathy gaps, and racialized stereotypes—that perpetuate poverty. These stories illuminate what stability truly requires and demonstrate how strong public systems support healthy local economies.
Through our Communications Civic Hub, we build a coordinated regional network of journalists, media makers, community storytellers, and advocates. The Hub connects lived experience with credible journalism and public education, strengthening trust in information and expanding civic participation across the region.
We provide strategic communications support, storytelling that is real, relatable and relevant, and advocacy tools that help nonprofits and community initiatives raise awareness, secure funding, and engage in nonpartisan civic action. Our work strengthens organizational capacity while ensuring advocacy efforts remain compliant with 501(c)(3) guidelines.
