Praxis Course: Praxis Independant Study
Semester: Spring 2026
Faculty Advisor/Professor: Marissa Golden
Community Partner: The Public Interest Network
Praxis Site Supervisor: Marites Velasquez
Praxis Poster:
Further Context:
As an intern with The Public Interest Network (TPIN), I have created a wide range of digital content for environmental and consumer advocacy issues. Some notable assignments I worked on included creating an image about deep sea mining plans in Alaska, highlighting the need for wildlife crossings and developing emails for the save the bees campaign. Over the spring semester, I additionally discovered a few key takeaways related to the strategies of TPIN and connections with the operations of advocacy organizations as a whole.
For one, TPIN seeks to build transpartisan support for their issue areas. With the current polarized political climate, they find value in connecting people around common sense issues. As a result, they form coalitions with a wide range of groups across the political spectrum. For example, TPIN pushes for alternatives to unsafe pesticide usage with the Make American Healthy Again movement, mobilizes support from hunters and anglers for wildlife crossings and advocates for the military right to repair.
Since the Reagan era, environmental nonprofits were largely cut out of political processes on the Hill for the first time. Previously reliant on insider connections, these organizations adapted by widening their support base to the general public. TPIN follows a similar strategy of reliance on communities directly, shielding them from instability on the Hill and preventing them from becoming beholden to any one interest. As the D.C. political climate becomes unfavorable to environmental and consumer advocacy interests, TPIN builds support throughout the country.
In line with their transpartisan agenda, TPIN pursues incremental change alongside long-term goals. Many of us may internally hope to achieve ideal goals, like developing a completely sustainable future with solar and ending the use of toxic pesticides that harm public health. However, political realities impede these larger plans. Part of the changemaking process for TPIN includes compromise, working towards small improvements that inch us towards a better future for the environment and consumers.
To work towards these goals and support their long-term operations, organizations in the network gain funding from a diverse array of sources. TPIN primarily receives money from small-scale donors, limiting their reliance on a few major entities. Additionally, the format for fundraising varies. Emails highlighting major issue areas contain a fundraising component, and in-person canvassers raise money for campaigns while broadening the support base of TPIN. This funding strategy allows TPIN organizations to flourish even as federal funding dries up for some other nonprofits.
Beyond their organizational strategies, I learned a great deal about issue areas as an intern with the network. I wrote about crossings that connect fragmented wildlife habitats, the removal of bee-killing pesticides from retail shelves and the recall of dangerous AI toys. Behind all of these campaigns, however, are strategies supporting a network of organizations committed to standing up for the public interest and our environment. The range of tactics TPIN employs to sustain their organizations and make progress on these issues is truly remarkable.