With the policy landscape rapidly shifting at the federal level—and the ripple effects felt across every level of government and sector—staying informed and identifying effective strategies to navigate these changes is more important than ever. Public health practitioners and community leaders need tools and resources to respond to federal funding cuts, policy rollbacks, and changes in regulation, in support of their work and the communities that they serve.
ChangeLab Solutions has curated a list of resources to help public health practitioners, advocates, government partners, and community leaders navigate an increasingly complex policy and governance environment. The resource list below includes legal and policy analyses, actionable guidance, and messaging tools to support those working on advancing health equity and community-led policy change. We will continue to update this page as new information and materials become available.
This resource reflects ChangeLab Solutions’ ongoing mission, which is to create healthier communities for all through equitable laws and policies. ChangeLab Solutions is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that uses the tools of law and policy to advance health equity. We partner with communities across the nation to improve health and opportunity by changing harmful laws, policies, and systems. Our interdisciplinary team works with community organizations, governments, and local institutions to design and implement equitable and practical policy solutions to complex health challenges.
Access the resource list below, learn about of our areas of work, or contact us with your questions and requests for collaboration and technical assistance.
Resources
Last Updated: June 12, 2025
Understanding the Basic Structure and Functions of Government
- Public Health Law Academy: Structure of Government
- Public Health Law Academy: What Types of Laws Can Governmental Agencies Enact and Enforce? [video short]
- Public Health Law Academy: What are the Basic Structures and Functions of Government? [video short]
Executive Orders (EOs)
General Overview of EOs
- ChangeLab Solutions and Act for Public Health: Executive Orders & Public Health Practice: FAQs
- Congressional Research Service: Executive Orders: An Introduction
- ACLU: What Is an Executive Order and How Does it Work?
Health & Equity Implications of Recent EOs
- ChangeLab Solutions and Act for Public Health: Executive Orders & Public Health Implications [Webinar]
- USC Race and Equity Center: What does the “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling" executive order mean for equity driven educators?
- See sections below with resources for responding to executive actions that affect LGBTQ+ communities, immigration, and DEIA activities.
Trackers (including tracking of legal challenges to executive actions)
- Health Equity Policy Hub: Health Equity Policy Tracker
- Just Security: Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
- New York Times: Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
- Democracy 2025: Response Center
- Economic Policy Institute: Federal Policy Watch
- National Council of Nonprofits: Executive Orders Affecting Charitable Nonprofits
Responding to Actions Affecting LGBTQ+ Communities
LGBTQ+-specific Resources for Navigating and Tracking Executive Actions
- ChangeLab Solutions and Act for Public Health: Executive Orders Affecting LGBTQ+ Communities: FAQs
- Human Rights Campaign: Understanding Executive Orders and What They Mean for the LGBTQ+ Community
- Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law: Publications (including many on the impacts of recent executive orders)
- PFLAG: Executive Order Explainers and Resources
- GLAAD: Order in the Courts: LGBTQ Legal Groups Move Against Discriminatory Executive Actions
- National LGBTQ+ Bar Association: Trump Anti-LGBTQ+ Executive Order Litigation Tracker
LGBTQ+-specific messaging resources
- Movement Advancement Project (MAP) Messaging Guides: Talking About LGBTQ Issues
Responding to Actions Affecting Immigrant Communities
Immigration and Know Your Rights Resources
- ACLU: Know Your Rights: Immigrants' Rights (multiple languages)
- ACLU: Know Your Rights: Stopped by Police (English and Spanish)
- ACLU: Know Your Rights When Stopped by Police or Immigration Agents (multiple languages)
- ACLU Washington: Your Rights with Immigration Agents on Trains and Buses (English and Spanish)
- National Immigration Law Center: Know Your Rights Under the U.S. Constitution – No Matter Who is President
- El Pueblo and ACLU North Carolina: Emergency Guide for Families (in Spanish)
- Washington State Office of the Attorney General: Know Your Rights: Civil Immigration Enforcement in Washington
- Network for Public Health Law: Immigration Executive Actions and Public Health
Legal Aid Immigration Supports via Law Schools
- UC Davis School of Law: Immigrant Legal Services Center
- University of Texas School of Law: Immigration Clinic
- Cornell Law School: Migration and Human Rights Program
Responding to Actions Affecting DEI and DEIA Initiatives
DEIA-Specific Resources for Understanding and Navigating Executive Actions
- ChangeLab Solutions and Act for Public Health: Executive Orders on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility: FAQs
- Congressional Research Service: Recent Executive Actions on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
- American Civil Liberties Union: Trump’s Executive Orders Rolling Back DEI and Accessibility Efforts, Explained
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: Trump’s Executive Orders on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Explained
- National Council of Nonprofits: Executive Orders Affecting Charitable Nonprofits (see section on DEI)
- American Association of People with Disabilities: Explaining Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA), the Trump Administration’s Recent Actions on DEIA, and the Impact on Disabled Americans
- Milbank Quarterly: Behind the Assault on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Steven H. Woolf)
DEIA-Specific Trackers (including tracking of legal challenges and state legislation)
- The Chronicle of Higher Education: DEI Legislation Tracker
- EdTrust: A Map of Anti-DEI Efforts on College Campuses Across the U.S.
- MultiState: How State Anti-DEI Efforts Are Evolving (from Public Sector to Private?)
- Just Security: Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions (filter by topic: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility)
- Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Advancing DEI Initiative
- American Pride Rises: Advocacy and Action to Defend Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Across States
Effects of Federal Executive Actions on Specific Communities
- Coalition for Disability Rights & Justice: Don’t Forget the “A” in DEIA: Trump’s Attacks on DEI Target Disability Rights & Justice
- ADDitude: Disability Is DEI (Jillian Lillibridge Heilman)
- ADDitude: DEI — and Neurodivergence — Are Under Attack (Diann Wingert)
- Legal Defense Fund: Equal Protection Initiative
Additional Resources and Background Information on DEIA Initiatives
- Democracy Forward: Safeguarding and Strengthening Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives
- Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities: Designating People with Disabilities as a Health Disparity Population
Messaging and Framing
Webinars
- Frameworks Institute and Society for Health Communication: Countering Chaos and Manufactured Controversy in Health (March 13, 2025)
- Dialogue 4 Health: Communicating Now: Strategic Framing for Health Justice (February 26, 2025)
- Collaborative for Antiracism and Equity (CARE): Building Bridges: Health Equity and Narrative Change in Challenging Times (February 18, 2025)
- Collecitve Impact Forum: Advancing Equity in an Anti-Equity Context (August 24, 2024)
Resources
- Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG)
- Frameworks Institute: Issue Areas
- Voices for Healthy Kids: Messaging
Addressing Misinformation
- ChangeLab Solutions: Confronting Misinformation: Opportunities for Law & Policy Innovation
- Public Health Communications Collaborative: A Quick Guide to Public Health Misinformation
- Public Health Communications Collaborative: The Public Health Communicators Guide to Misinformation
- Barbara McQuade: Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America
Accessing Critical Data
- PolicyMap (access to datasets like the Environmental Justice Index + Social Vulnerability Index):
- Archive of CDC datasets (as they were on 1/28/25)
- George Mason University
- Butler University
Legal Services and Supports
If you are seeking legal services or counsel, consider engaging a law firm, a nonprofit organization, or a local law school for representation (paid or pro bono). Additional resources:
- Your state or local bar association, many of which offer Lawyer Referral Services
- The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which provides pro bono legal guidance and representation for nonprofits
- The Legal Services Corporation (LSC), to find the nearest LSC-funded legal aid organization serving communities with low incomes
- Organizations involved in litigation efforts, such as Democracy Forward, APHA, ACLU, Center for Science and the Public Interest, Public Citizen, and the National Council of Nonprofits.
Additional Resources
Advocacy and Organizing
- ChangeLab Solutions: Public Health Advocacy: The Basics
- American Public Health Association: Speak for Health
- Global Health Advocacy Incubator: Advocacy Action Guide
- Health Equity Policy Hub: Mobilization Network
Resources for Nonprofits
- Public Counsel: Navigating the New Administration: Resources for Nonprofits
- Nonprofit Finance Fund: Fundamentals for Nonprofits: Building Resilience in Uncertain Times