OUR MISSION
The People’s Lobby is a membership-driven organization devoted to organizing widespread support for legislation and candidates that put the needs of people and the planet before the interests of big corporations and the very rich.
OUR VISION
We envision a society where justice, equality, and the well-being of all people and the planet take precedence over the interests of corporations and the wealthy elite.
OUR Approach
We are dedicated to dismantling systemic inequalities and advocating for public policies and elected officials that promote racial and economic justice.
We train leaders to build bases in our communities, organize support for progressive legislation, endorse progressive candidates, and take direct action to pressure elected officials and other powerful people to put the interests of people and the planet first.
We choose our fights by listening to the needs and aspirations of our diverse membership, spanning from the south suburbs to the north shore, west and northwest suburbs, including vibrant student leaders, faith communities, working people, and folks of all ages, races, genders, and backgrounds.
OUR HISTORY
During the 2007-2008 financial crisis, banks crashed the economy and got trillions of dollars in bailout money from the federal government.
Meanwhile, millions of people (especially Black and brown and low-income people) lost their homes and jobs, and public services faced huge cuts because tax revenue declined as a result of the economic crisis, and these same corporations had the nerve to ask for bigger and bigger tax breaks. The banks got bailed out, but poor and working people got sold out.
And too many of our elected officials failed to rise to the challenge of this moment.
While we were in the streets demanding bank and corporate accountability, elected officials from both parties were allowing the people who caused this crisis (and who have been creating poverty and inequality for generations) to continue to profit while the vast majority have suffered.
The People’s Lobby began in 2012 in part as a response to that moment.
A group of leaders and organizers decided that we needed an organization that combined traditional grassroots organizing with progressive electoral work in order to win transformative campaigns for racial, economic, and environmental justice and corporate accountability.
We began interviewing candidates for office, assessing which ones would consistently take the side of people and the planet.
We did so even when that clashed with the interests of corporate profits and big campaign donors and organized people to talk to thousands of voters on the doors and phones to elect progressive champions.
We combined that work with long-term campaigns to make structural changes that get at the root causes of injustice.
We run campaigns like raising wages for workers, ending mass incarceration, putting our state on a path to renewable energy, and closing corporate tax loopholes, so we can have resources for the public services our communities need.
OUR STAFF
Our Initiatives
We choose our fights by determining which issues matter most to our members and conducting strategic analyses to determine the power we need to build to win on those issues.
