About Fund for the Public Interest
Fund for the Public Interest is a national nonprofit that partners with America’s leading organizations to tackle some of the most important problems facing our country.
Our partners
Environment America is a policy and action group with one mission: to protect the natural world. They advocate for ideas and actions to shift our country onto a greener, healthier path. Their network of 30 state environmental groups promotes clean air, clean water, clean energy, wildlife and open spaces, as well as a livable climate.
PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) is an advocate for consumers, advancing solutions to problems that affect our health, safety and well-being. They champion a marketplace that is not only honest and transparent, but also one that reduces, reuses and recycles more, prevents toxic threats to our health and safety and considers the impact of new products and technologies on the next generation — not just the next quarterly earnings report.
The Fund in Action
Why canvassing
Americans are increasingly isolated, and America is more polarized than ever before. Worse, fewer people are becoming directly involved in today’s important decisions. How can we best encourage people to engage in issues that matter such as clean air, conservation and consumer protections?
There are few things more powerful than a face-to-face conversation, and that’s why we canvass. Canvassing builds personal connections and helps us meet people where they’re at. And because it facilitates direct, personal interaction, canvassing offers a human touch that mass media often cannot replicate.
Canvassing also helps raise awareness about issues that impact all Americans. Many people already agree with us on stopping plastic pollution, protecting wildlife and saving our oldest forests. Many more come to agree once they chat with an educated and enthusiastic canvasser. But unless we reach out and talk to people, many may never learn about these important issues.
Canvassing provides an opportunity for people to take meaningful action. When someone signs up or donates to a campaign, they aren’t just offering their signature or their money. In fact, they’re joining a movement. Thousands of informed people making their voices heard is people power, and people power is the foundation for lasting social change. That's why we canvass.
Our leadership
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![Emily Reid]()
Emily Reid
National Canvass Director
Emily directs Fund for the Public Interest’s canvass operations, running year-round campaigns to educate millions of people about environmental and consumer protection issues, build membership and mobilize citizens to influence public policy decisions. Emily has helped new organizers and canvass directors run successful campaigns on issues ranging from defending environmental protections to protecting public health. As a regional director, her offices have raised millions of dollars and signed up more than 48,000 members for partner groups. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, but is often traveling, rock climbing and camping elsewhere.
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![Paloma Paez-Coombe]()
Paloma Paez-Coombe
Regional Director
Paloma oversees our field offices and works closely with canvass directors to run local campaigns on environmental and public interest issues. Paloma lives in Chicago, where she loves to cook, garden and explore nearby forest preserves.
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![Doug Casler]()
Doug Casler
Vice President and Director of Outreach and Civic Engagement, The Public Interest Network
Doug directs the operations of The Public Interest Network’s work to engage citizens through in-person, telephone and mail contact. Prior to his current position, Doug spent over 10 years working with our canvasses and canvassed and ran canvasses in 26 states. He also spent 20 years running our data and membership operation. Doug grew up in Delaware and now lives in Denver, where he enjoys running, reading, eating, skiing, watching baseball and spending time with his family.
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![Danielle Bauer]()
Danielle Bauer
Recruitment Director
Danielle oversees both the full-time recruitment and national summer staffing departments for Fund for the Public Interest. She has overseen eight years of summer staffing recruitment, which hired more than 27,000 summer canvass staff who fundraised over $11 million in four summer canvass seasons. Danielle lives in Denver, where she enjoys running, camping, hiking and cooking vegan food.
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![Rhiannon Singletary]()
Rhiannon Singletary
Lists Director
Rhiannon directs the operations of The Public Interest Network’s membership database and lists department, overseeing the work to keep track of the people who support us and reporting and analysis to drive improvements in our overall work with members. Rhiannon lives in Lakewood, Colorado, with her family where she enjoys cooking, reading and hiking.
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![Greg Orr]()
Greg Orr
Regional Director
Greg oversees our field offices with Fund for the Public Interest and works closely with canvass directors to run campaigns on environmental and public interest issues. Greg lives in Denver, where he enjoys going on hikes with his dog Petra, playing boardgames and cooking.
Where we are
The Fund is running campaigns in select cities across the country. You can find the full list of locations by filling out the application and choosing the city where you are interested in working.
Current office locations:
Albuquerque, NM • Amherst, MA • Ann Arbor, MI • Atlanta, GA • Austin, TX • Bellingham, WA • Boston, MA • Chapel Hill, NC • Chicago, IL • Denver,CO • Eugene, OR • Madison, WI • Minneapolis, MN • New Brunswick, NJ • Oakland, CA • Philadelphia, PA • Pittsburgh, PA • Portland, ME • Portland, OR • San Diego, CA • Santa Barbara, CA • Santa Cruz, CA • Seattle, WA • Washington, DC
Tiny plastic pellets, called “nurdles,” are being dumped into our waterways. The Fund is building support for PIRG’s campaign to reduce this waste and eliminate the pollution at its source.