From neighborhoods to nations, PGP advances health communication for the public good.

PGP (The Public Good Projects) is a public health nonprofit specializing in large-scale media monitoring programs, social and behavior change interventions, and cross-sector initiatives.

PGP applies the best evidence and practices from the public and private sectors to create bold projects for health. PGP’s programs and initiatives are evidence-based, tailored for particular populations, employ a collective impact model, and are scientifically evaluated.

PGP is led by experts in public health, marketing, journalism, media, and business. We deploy our considerable resources and relationships to support communities and partners in their mission to make a healthier and more equitable world.

PGP is a registered 501(c)(3).

Values drive our work and our people.

Our Mission

To revolutionize public health communication, so that business and public sector programs have greater impact and communities are healthier.

Our Vision

To solve the biggest health challenges by making them local, personal, simple to understand, and everyone’s responsibility.


Our Commitment to
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

The Public Good Projects (PGP) is enriched by diverse cultural backgrounds and heritages. Our work requires a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to fulfill our mission and uphold our company values. We characterize equity as creating a workplace where everyone is seen, heard, valued, and empowered to succeed. We interpret diversity as embracing and respecting all races, nationalities, colors, creeds, religions, ages, disabilities, veteran statuses, sexual orientations, gender identities, and affiliations. We define inclusion as a set of behaviors that encourages employees to feel valued for their unique qualities and experience a sense of belonging. To be an effective public health organization, our workforce must reflect the populations we serve. A well-rounded, empowered, and culturally humble public health workforce is required to address the pressing health disparities faced by many groups. PGP promises to prioritize equity, diversity, and inclusion to drive innovation, inspire creativity, improve performance, and serve communities.

Our Leadership

PGP is counseled by an experienced and diverse Board of Directors with members representing a number of notable American brands and a variety of industries including advertising, public relations, public health, and civil rights. The Board also features PGP founder and award-winning documentary filmmaker John Hoffman. Our current CEO, Dr. Joe Smyser, is a renowned public health expert who has designed some of the world's largest and most effective health campaigns.

How We Work

PGP selects projects carefully to ensure a proper fit with our mission. We prioritize projects with the following goals in mind:

  • It will improve the public’s health.
  • There is an existing network of stakeholders already working on the topic that PGP can integrate with.
  • It will be formally evaluated.
  • It will have a large impact—either because it covers a large population or because its results are readily translatable.

Our team of experienced public health professionals collaborate with skilled marketing and new media specialists to create impactful and effective behavioral health messaging, research-based community health campaigns, and social strategies.

PGP’s Editorial Independence

PGP was founded as an editorially independent public health nonprofit corporation. This independence is reflected in the ways we work with funders and partners, and within our own organization.

Our Operations

PGP is supported by and works with an international network of partners and funders who share our commitment to improving public health. While the particular focus of our projects is often determined by a funder's objectives, such as priority topics and populations, PGP retains operational independence. This independence does not preclude closely collaborating with funders’ expert teams. Rather, it reflects the primary reason PGP exists, which is to objectively apply its unique mix of expertise to public health challenges. Funders appreciate having a thought partner who is solely interested in determining methods to create measurable change in a transparent and efficient manner.

Our Research

PGP’s research team operates independently from the organization's executives and governing board. This ensures that the methods and results of our work adhere to the highest standards of peer-reviewed science. Our research department has full authority over evaluation protocols, instrument design, sampling methodology, data collection and analyses, and writing and editing. Manuscript development is entirely original and scientifically rigorous. Funders do not have editorial authority over studies or the publication process. Funders and PGP's executives and board members may be invited as co-authors, within predetermined roles that significantly contribute to studies without influencing study results or conclusions.

Our Editorial Department

Our team of writers and editors operate independently. Funders do not participate in editorial activities, and any editorial team member or contributor will be recused from a story and/or publicly disclose conflicts of interest when editorially appropriate. We do not typically accept gifts or other consideration from donors as a condition or incentive. Our editorial department may occasionally accept fiscal sponsorship to support specific coverage areas. However, we do not allow fiscal sponsors or grant organizations to control or interfere with the integrity and independence of our editorial department and the content they create. Where applicable, content will be disclosed as being supported by significant fiscal sponsors. Many funders support PGP precisely because of its dedication to independence.


Financial Transparency

We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.

PGP proudly partners with a wide range of private and public organizations, including nonprofits, foundations, government agencies, health care and hospital systems, and organizations working in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, news, and social media industries. PGP seeks and accepts outside funding only from sources who will not in any way compromise our findings, analysis, editorial independence, and mission. Historically, no more than 10% of program funding is received from industry.

We accept gifts and grants from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics, and special projects. Our news judgments are made independently–not based on or influenced by donors. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.

As a nonprofit, we will not accept donations from anonymous sources, and we will not accept donations from political parties, elected officials or candidates actively seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.


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