What We Do
Our programs equip doctors, nurses, public health workers, allied health care professionals and students with the tools they need to successfully advocate for policies that foster healthier, stronger communities across Southern California and beyond.
PSR-LA places health and equity at the center of public policy.
For over 40 years, we have elevated the trusted voices of health care professionals to support transformative, community-led movements for environmental justice and nuclear disarmament.
Our Mission
PSR-LA advocates for policies and practices that improve public health, eliminate nuclear and environmental threats, and address health disparities.
Our Purpose
Health care professionals are essential to building transformative movements for environmental health and justice.
All people, regardless of race, gender or income, deserve to live in healthy communities free from harm. But for decades, corporate pollution and government mismanagement have endangered our lives by creating vast threats to human health: toxic pollution, climate change, nuclear weapons and more. Lawmakers need reliable, science-based knowledge to draft policies that protect our communities from these harms. They also need to be held accountable when their decisions harm people’s health.
PSR-LA advances solutions grounded in public health by amplifying the trusted voices of health care professionals and providing them with the tools they need to successfully advocate for healthier, stronger communities. For over 40 years, PSR-LA has organized educational training sessions and opportunities for direct policy advocacy with legislators, decision-makers and the media, all with the purpose of advancing policies that foresee and forestall damage to human health. Our program areas are Air & Climate Justice, Clean Water, Land Use & Health, Nuclear Threats and Toxics-Free Communities.
At PSR-LA, we recognize that physical and social environments often determine a person’s health. The damaging effects of environmental degradation and nuclear threats disproportionately harm low-income communities of color. Because of this, PSR-LA follows the lead of frontline advocates. Impacted communities know best what they need for public health, and health care professionals are uniquely positioned to support their calls for immediate and fair solutions.
Health care professionals are some of the most powerful and trusted champions for healthier, more equitable communities. Together, we have the power to transform public health across Southern California and beyond.
Our Approach
PSR-LA empowers health care professionals to become advocates. As some of our most trusted community leaders, they provide critical allyship to grassroots movements when they leverage their voices to uplift the needs of the communities they serve. Our Health Ambassador Program provides ongoing educational resources and professional development opportunities that maximize health care professionals’ efficacy as proponents for environmental justice and nuclear disarmament. Our members regularly engage in direct policy advocacy with legislators, decision-makers and the media.
There is strength and power in numbers. Knowing this, PSR-LA’s five programs — Air & Climate Justice, Clean Water, Land Use & Health, Nuclear Threats and Toxics-Free Communities — work in coalition with local and state groups to push forward health-centered policy approaches. Together, we boldly challenge elected officials to enact policies that benefit public health instead of bolstering private interests, calling on them to fulfill their responsibility to safeguard our well-being and resources.
PSR-LA has a long history of raising public awareness about environmental dangers and nuclear threats through community education and thought leadership. We work with our allies to make the policy-making process clear, accessible, interactive and representative of our diverse communities. Along the way, our ongoing advocacy sparks local and national media coverage that increases the public’s participation in these causes.
Our Values
Health
All people deserve to live and thrive in healthy communities, free from harm.
Justice
We are fearless about naming the systemic inequities that shape public health outcomes along race, class and gender. We advocate for a just transition to a cleaner economy that leaves no worker behind.
Science
We advance solutions that are grounded in science and the expertise of health care professionals who treat patients on the front lines. We advocate for policies that use the precautionary principle to minimize harm.