About The Action Lab

Three people standing in a room with an ornately decorated dome ceiling

A group of people posing in The Action Lab's outdoor courtyard in Ossining New York

Four people wearing Action Lab shirts doing work on a couch

Members of The Action Lab board smiling with the musician Harry Belafonte

Our Mission

The Action Lab is a strategy center for social movements that sparks political and personal liberation. We provide rigorous and joyful spaces for organizers, leaders and artists to learn, to create, and to strengthen our capacity to win. We strive to build a powerful culture that lifts us out of the immediate and enables us to envision and realize our way to a just future.

Our Work

The Action Lab fosters cross-discipline, cross-movement approaches to enable us to lift out of the immediate, imagine our way decades into the future, expand our conception of what’s possible and build the connective tissue and collective muscle needed to drive towards that vision.

Learn about Our Work

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Our Community

The Action Lab community is a powerful group of people and organizations dedicated to working together for transformative change.

The Action Lab Team

Partners and Supporters

Our Spaces

The Action Lab has two dynamic and accessible spaces.

Our Strategy Retreat Center sits on land native to the Munsee Lenape and Wappinger tribes in Ossining, NY. The buildings and grounds are 16 acres of lush woodlands and overlook a large and peaceful pond. There is abundant natural light, gorgeous views, quiet trails, spacious courtyards and indoor and outdoor areas for discussion and connection.

In Fall 2024, we will open The Center for Social Justice and the Arts, a multigenerational community, arts and cultural production hub for organizers, artists and changemakers to build community and power through culture and organizing.

Read about Our Spaces

Aerial view of woods surrounding the Action Lab's property at sunset

Roots of The Action Lab

The Action Lab is both a physical home for builders, creators, campaigners, organizers, and leaders—and a community of action anchored in relationship, rigor, and solidarity.
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Bailey Farms, the first home of The Action Lab, was founded in 1981 to provide a peaceful haven for non-profit groups working towards the common good to hold meetings, workshops and conferences. In 2016 the Center for Popular Democracy took control and made it a Movement Center for strategy and action for the CPD network, social justice organizations and allies.

Through the engagement of new board stakeholders in 2020, including Harry Belafonte and Aloe Blacc, The Action Lab became the independent, mission-driven organization we are today.