About Impact

Impact is a nonprofit that runs campaigns in states where we can win positive change for our environment, our democracy and our future.

Our mission is to create timely, focused citizen action, energy and power – the kind it takes to make an impact on important issues – through campaigns run in targeted cities and states.

We partner with Environment America, the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) and Fair Share – well-established groups with solid track records on critical issues.

We have Impact organizers in 25 states, working on campaigns to reduce global warming pollution, defend Clean Water Act protections for America’s streams, persuade families and businesses to go solar, convince Subway and other big food chains to go antibiotic-free, and empower small donors to counter the influence of big-money interests in our democracy.

Each year, we hire a team of 50 organizers for Impact’s two-year program, and right now we’re looking for people to join the team starting next August.

The Impact Team

David Rossini

Alma mater and major: Vassar College, Sociology
Job experience: Change Corps Co-founder, Fair Share National Canvass Director, Green Corps Organizing Director, The Public Interest Network Training Director
Hometown: Concord, Massachusetts
First concert: The Temptations
Activist hero/ine: I grew up in Concord, Massachusetts. So from a young age, I always admired Paul Revere, the revolutionary, and Henry David Thoreau, the conservationist.
Favorite book about social change: "Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela
Favorite all-time campaign: In 2004, I worked with the Student PIRGs' New Voters Project to register 18-24 year old voters in New Mexico. We doubled the youth vote in the state over the previous presidential election in 2000. To help make that happen, I had the chance to travel to virtually every college campus in one of the most beautiful and interesting states in the country over the course of 6 weeks, engaging young people in our democracy.
Why David is excited about Impact: "Impact is all about creating the grassroots action, energy and power it takes to make an impact on important issues. And in politically strategic places like Pennsylvania or Colorado, when we reach beyond the usual allies we can really make a big impact!"

Contact David:

Laura Deehan

Alma mater and major: UC Davis, International Relations
Job experience: WashPIRG Lead Organizer; CALPIRG Organizing Director
Hometown: Paisley, Scotland
First concert: Jason Donovan (famous Aussie soap star turned singer)
Activist hero/ine: Mario Savio
Favorite book about social change: "In Dubious Battle" by John Steinbeck
Favorite all-time campaign: Save the Ocean, Ban the Bag. From 2010-2015 CALPIRG worked in cities across California to protect the ocean and ban single-use plastic grocery bags. The local efforts built enough momentum to win passage of the first statewide legislation to ban plastic bags in 2014! We involved more than 50,000 college students in the effort, training hundreds of young people to be activists in their community. In November 2016, the fight continues as plastic companies try to overturn the legislation.
Why Laura is excited about Impact: "For many of society’s problems, we have solutions that the public can agree on. But change only happens when that support is built and mobilized at the right moment. That's what we do at Impact. We organize to win concrete changes that will add up to big change over time and a stronger democracy for the future. I love that!"

Contact Laura: (510)-844-6804,

Celeste Meiffren-Swango

Alma mater and major: University of Arizona, Sociology
Job experience: OSPIRG Consumer and Taxpayer Advocate, Illinois PIRG Field Director, Citizen Outreach Director with the Fund for the Public Interest
Hometown: Tempe, Arizona
First concert: Bob Dylan
Activist hero/ine: Angela Davis
Favorite book about social change: "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
Favorite all-time campaign: The very first campaign I worked on: helping to pass the Global Warming Solutions Act in California in 2006.
Why Celeste is excited about Impact: “At Impact, we are solutions oriented. We don’t just lament about the big problems our country is facing, but instead we spend all our time and energy working to make change. We do the hard work.”

Contact Celeste: (503) 231-4181 x306,

Megan Severson

Alma mater/major: Lawrence University, Government & Spanish
Job experience: Student PIRGs' Midwest Organizing Director, Wisconsin Environment State Director
Hometown: Trempealeau, Wisconsin
First concert: BB King
Activist hero/ine: Jane Addams
Favorite book about social change: "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Favorite all-time campaign: 2008 New Voters Project. We registered thousands of students throughout the Midwest to vote, and students turned out to the polls in record numbers that Election Day.
Why Megan is excited about Impact: "I believe that most people want to help make the world a better place. But with issues like global warming, polluting industries, and all-powerful banks, the problems can often feel so overwhelming that most citizens don't know where to start. That's why I'm excited about Impact. Impact is training up the next generation of organizers—people who have the passion, the skills and the vision to motivate the rest of our society to speak up and take action."

Contact Megan: (608) 268-0511,

Devin Stone

Alma mater/major: Whitman College, Environmental Studies & Economics
Job experience: Change Corps Associate, The Public Interest Network Training Center Associate
Hometown: Edina, Minnesota
First concert: System of a Down
Activist hero/ine: Jane Addams
Favorite book about social change: "The Monkey Wrench Gang" by Edward Abbey
Favorite all-time campaign: Fighting the development of sulfide mines near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota.
Why Devin is excited about Impact: "Our team of organizers across the country build campaigns and win lasting victories to protect our environment, our health, and our democracy. In a country where these things are threatened by perverse incentives and corporate interests, we mobilize the public to raise their voices and take a stand for our country's future."

Contact Devin: 303-573-5995 x382,

Len Montgomery

Alma mater/major: Oberlin College, Political Theory
Job experience: Organizer and Organizing Director, The Student PIRGs; Canvasser, Canvass Director and Regional Director, Fund for the Public Interest; Policy Associate, The Frontier Group
Hometown: Somerville, NJ
First concert: Arlo Guthrie
Activist hero/ine: Lois Gibbs
Favorite book about social change: "Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals" by Saul Alinsky
Favorite all-time campaign: The "No on 23" campaign in California, where we organized college students to defeat a bad ballot initiative that would have set back global warming protections.
Why Len is excited about Impact: "I can't wait to work with the new class of organizers to take on important issues. The more work we can do in the states and the more volunteers and activists we work with, the more social change we can make!"

Contact Len: 303-573-5995 x326,

Callie Bruley

Alma mater/major: Michigan State University, Social Relations and Policy
Job experience: Green Corps Organizer; Change Corps Lead Organizer
Hometown: Southgate, Michigan
First concert: Billy Joel and Elton John
Activist hero/ine: Grace Lee Boggs
Favorite book about social change: "Walking with the Wind" by John Lewis with Michael D'Orso
Favorite all-time campaign: The Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign, working to transition our energy dependence from dirty coal to 100% clean, renewable energy. The Beyond Coal Campaign introduced me to organizing my freshman year at MSU, and just a couple months ago MSU committed to stop burning coal, making it one of the 200 coal plants across the country that have retired since 2009!
Why Callie is excited about Impact: "Most of the problems in our country exist because the people and corporations in power focus on their own profits or well-being rather than that of the general public. Getting more people involved in our democracy is how we can shift that political power back to people, and that's how we win. Impact not only works on some of the most pressing issues, but also brings more young people into the world of organizing so that we can build power for the long haul."

Contact Callie: (734) 559-3187,

Adam Rivera

Alma mater/major: University of Pennsylvania, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Job experience: Environment Florida Campaign Organizer, Environment Florida Advocate, Environment America Assistant National Field Director, The Public Interest Network Solar Campaign Organizing Director
Hometown: Lauderhill, Florida
First concert: Lollapalooza 1996. I am particularly proud to have seen the Ramones, plus Melvins and Moonshake. Headliners were Soundgarden, Metallica and Rage Against the Machine.
Activist hero/ine: Bayard Rustin
Favorite book about social change: "Action For A Change" by Ralph Nader
Favorite all-time campaign: Working to stop offshore drilling in Florida
Why Adam is excited about Impact: "The organizing and movement-building work we do could be what makes the difference on many of the most important issues of our time."

Contact Adam: 202-683-1250 x383, 

Michelle Hesterberg

Alma mater and major: Carleton College, Political Science
Job experience: Environment America Plains Federal Field Organizer, Fund for the Public Interest Minneapolis Canvass Director
Hometown: St. Paul, Minnesota
First concert: Avril Lavigne
Activist hero/ine: Paul Wellstone
Favorite book about social change: "Ecotopia" by Ernest Callenbach
Favorite all-time campaign: Protecting the Boundary Waters from toxic sulfide mining
Why Michelle is excited about Impact: “Impact goes up against big opposition like the fossil fuel industry and big ag to make change on some of the most important issues of our time, like global warming and getting big money out of politics.”

Contact Michelle: (612) 331-3315,