Why work with us
Frontier Group provides information and ideas to build a healthier, more sustainable America. We produce high-quality research on the nation’s challenges: environmental protection, sustainable energy, health care, good government and more. We help shape effective public policy strategies that address those problems. And we work to make sure the public and decision-makers hear our message through the media.
We are part of The Public Interest Network, working hand-in-hand with Environment America, PIRG and others to insert our research and ideas into public policy debates at the local, state, and federal levels, and into corporate decisionmaking.
Why seek a position with The Public Interest Network? Here are 10 characteristics that make for a good fit with our network:
1. You share our mission. Public Interest Network staff protect the environment, stand up for the public interest, and build organizations that leverage people power for social change.
2. You want your own work to make a difference. Through PIRG, Environment America and other groups and teams in our network, each staffer has a viable platform to build and sustain efforts to win positive social change. If the goal is clear, and the strategy sound, then it’s up to you to take the ball and run it downfield.
3. You see the larger contradictions at work. We focus on what we call the “problems of abundance” – the byproducts of the relentless pursuit of endless economic growth. To solve the multiple crises affecting our environment, our health and our collective well-being, we must educate the public and motivate our leaders to move beyond a 20th-century mindset and meet the challenges of the 21st century head-on.
4. You sense that, increasingly, the fight between the Left and the Right is getting us nowhere. At The Public Interest Network, our politics is neither progressive nor conservative. It’s not about pitting one group against another (though powerful interests are often found standing in the way of change). It’s about breaking free from a past that no longer serves the nation well, in order to build a better future for all.
5. You’re pragmatic. Our vision is bold, but we are doggedly practical. If you prioritize making a difference over making a statement, we’re for you.
6. You want results. We take a workman-like approach to making a difference, setting clear goals and benchmarks and creating systems to measure our progress.
7. You’re ready to work with everybody. We don’t preach to the choir. We don’t cancel people. If someone agrees with us on an issue, we’ll work with them on it even if they disagree with us on every other issue. If they don’t agree with us on an issue, we’ll try to persuade them — and be open to their persuading us.
8. You are nimble. Getting results means finding a way to win. If Congress is gridlocked, we work at the state or local levels, or even in the courts or in shareholder meetings.
9. You know change doesn’t happen overnight. In everything we do, we seek to make a positive difference in people’s lives and build organizations that can continue to make a difference for years to come. We have a 50-year track record of winning thousands of victories for the environment and the public interest. We’re also building a durable, self-sustaining foundation for the next 50 years.
10. You like hard work. Making our long-term vision a reality requires dedication and hard work. We are on a mission, not just doing a job. So we do what it takes to make change happen–keeping our pay modest, working late or on the weekend when we need to, and committing to each other to do our best.
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.
Read more about things you should know about our network when you apply.