Illinois Public Interest Research Group (Illinois PIRG) is a non-profit organization that is part of the state PIRG organizations. It works on a variety of political activities, including childhood obesity, reducing the interest on student loans, and closing tax loopholes.^[1][2]

In the United States, Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) are non-profit organizations that employ grassroots organizing, direct advocacy, investigative journalism, and litigation to affect public policy.^[3]

Illinois PIRG was founded in 1987, and has offices in Chicago, Springfield, IL, and a national lobbying office in Washington, D.C. called US PIRG.^[4]

The PIRGs emerged in the early 1970s on U.S. college campuses. The PIRG model was proposed in the book Action for a Change by Ralph Nader and Donald Ross.^[5] Among other early accomplishments, the PIRGs were responsible for much of the Container Container Deposit Legislation in the United States, also known as "bottle bills."^[6][7]

• Phil Radford^[8]

• The Fund for Public Interest Research
• Environment Illinois

• U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG)
• The Student PIRGs
• The Public Interest Network