PIRG stands for the Public Interest Research Group. We're an advocacy group that promotes the public interest.

What does that mean?

Every day, someone — whether they’re in Washington, D.C., a state capitol, or a corporate boardroom — makes a decision that will affect you and every one of us. It could be a decision about our health, our safety, our democracy, or on another issue that shapes our lives.

Meanwhile, every year special interest groups spend billions of dollars to influence these decisions. A chemical company hires lobbyists to block against a new safety law. An industry runs ads to roll back a regulation. Someone needs to speak for the public interest. That’s what we do — through research, public education, lobbying, litigation and grassroots action.

Right now, we’re working on everything from reducing the overuse of antibiotics in the food industry to defending consumer protections on Wall Street. (Learn more about our campaigns here.)

We don't see these problems as liberal or conservative. They’re problems that affect all of us, whether we live in a blue state, red state or purple state. To solve them, we need to find common ground around commonsense ideas. That’s why we’re willing to work with just about anybody who’s willing to push past partisan gridlock and help us achieve concrete results.

Sometimes we can win results with just a few people. Our team of tax and budget advocates put together “transparency report cards” that have more or less shamed state governments into putting budget and spending information online. Now, states are in a race to the top to provide budget transparency for their voters.

Sometimes we win results locally. We’ve helped win campaign finance reforms in Seattle, Portland, Ore., and multiple counties in Maryland, laying the groundwork for bigger changes to the outsized role money plays in our elections at the state and national level.

Sometimes we have to rally as many people as we can to our side — as we’re doing right now, talking to tens of thousands of people across the country, convincing them to call on their legislators to stop the White House and Congress from rolling back consumer protections on Wall Street.

Wherever the decision-makers might be, whatever the strategy or tactic might be, making this kind of impact requires passion, dedication and determination. It’s not a 9 to 5 job, and it’s not about the money or the status that comes with it.

It’s about standing up for the public interest and doing all we can to win — the same approach that over the past 45 years has helped us win literally hundreds of victories. Because of these laws and other policies, people are recycling more and wasting less, buying healthier and safer products, getting a better deal on credit card fees and student loans, driving cleaner and safer cars, drinking cleaner water, and living longer, healthier lives.

Right now we’re hiring people to join our team of organizers, advocates, lawyers, researchers, policy analysts, communicators and others with a record of getting results that make a real difference in people’s lives. Want to apply?

Things To Know When You Apply

U.S.PIRG is part of the The Public Interest Network. We're a group of organizations working to address problems our society can’t afford to ignore — from preserving irreplaceable resources like air, water and a livable climate; to transforming vast systems of transportation and energy that were designed to meet the needs of a different century; to growing and distributing food in ways that won’t destroy the environment and threaten human health.

Throughout The Public Interest Network, we believe that a clear vision, commonsense ideas, a fact-driven case for action, and the power of bringing people together are the necessary ingredients to any successful effort to solve society's problems. We share a set of core values and a coordinated strategic approach to getting things done. Click here for things you should know about our network when you apply.