Join the Leadership Circle

1. We’re the driving force behind organizations and projects you know and support.

You may not think you know The Public Interest Network. But if you’re at all familiar with Environment California and CALPIRG, or our CALPIRG student chapters, then you do know us.The Public Interest Network starts up, incubates, affiliates with, operates and supports organizations such as Environment California and CALPIRG. We are a national network working on the ground in 31 states, with 1.5 million supporters and members and a presence in every state and congressional district in the country — and with more support, we’re ready to go bigger.

If you think America could use more of what we’ve accomplished in California — building our state into a global clean energy and climate leader, training generations of effective young changemakers, and much more — then joining our Leadership Circle is among the best ways to make that happen.

2. You share the same passion for our mission.

Nothing is more important than passing on a greener, healthier and more livable world and a more secure and fulfilling future to our kids and grandkids.

Winning that world and that future is our one and only mission. What binds our groups and projects together is a shared commitment to our vision and a shared, strategic approach to realizing it.

3. You’re tired of “more and more,” and you’re hungry for “better and better.”

Think of the big picture: People everywhere are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. We produce more food than we can eat and more clothes than we can wear. And it’s increasingly possible to ensure everyone has enough of what they need with less and less effort on all our parts.

If, by many measures, humankind has never had it so good, then why does everything seem terrible? And why is positive change so hard to come by? Because as a society, we are failing to see our biggest problems for what they really are: problems of success.

Here’s one example: Humanity has become so productive that the combined mass of all man-made “stuff” now outweighs all life on Earth, according to one study. Producing, transporting, consuming and disposing of all this stuff is polluting our air and water, destroying our last wild places and changing our climate. But even though we now produce more than enough to meet our needs, our economy, politics and culture demand that we keep on producing more and more stuff.

It’s time to change course — and The Public Interest Network is ready to chart that new course, innovating organizations, campaigns and projects that encourage us all to prioritize sustainability over runaway growth and quality of life over quantity of stuff.

4. You see America coming apart at the seams — and agree that “politics as usual” isn’t cutting it.

The problems we focus on are neither progressive nor conservative. They affect all of us. We all have a stake in the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink, or in the safety of the products and services we use.

Since problems of success affect us all, they hold the potential to bring us together, despite our differences. That’s why our student chapters reach out to young conservatives concerned about climate change; our advocates in the states and Washington, D.C. seek bipartisan support for policy action; and our outreach teams go beyond “the usual suspects” to enlist small business owners, health professionals, clergy, farmers, fiscal conservatives — you name it, we’ve worked with them.

5. You want results.

The Public Interest Network is all about making tangible, livable improvements in people’s lives — and not just making a statement. Thanks to our efforts over 50 years, people are getting more energy from the sun and wind, breathing cleaner air and drinking cleaner water, using safer products and living healthier lives, becoming better and more engaged citizens, and much more.

The direct, positive impacts of our thousands of victories add up. And we work to make sure that every step forward converts skeptics into believers and emboldens like-minded leaders to take bigger strides toward our vision for a better world.

For 50 years, our network has succeeded in bootstrapping our work. Three-quarters of our $40M annual budget comes from individuals. By organizing student-funded college chapters; canvassing small donors; building our own telephone, direct mail and digital fundraising operations; and developing self-sustaining training, litigation and shareholder advocacy groups, we’ve built a sturdy base of support for all our efforts to enhance the quality of our environment and our lives.

But now, in the face of multiple crises, our country is unable to make progress at speed and scale. There are few groups that do what we do, in the places where it’s needed, with a proven model to win change like ours. With more funding, we can grow our impact to meet the moment. Join us. By becoming part of our Leadership Circle, you help support The Public Interest Network’s efforts to put the quality of our lives and our environment first.