Welcome to the Northwest Progressive Institute, a netroots powered strategy center working to raise America’s quality of life through insightful research and imaginative advocacy.
Frequently requested resources
- COVID-19 Updates: Browse an archive of posts about the novel coronavirus pandemic, incorporating briefings from the authorities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.
- Open staff positions at NPI
- Public opinion research findings released by NPI from 2017 to the present
- Our Statehouse Bill Tracker, a tool for following the Washington State Legislature when it is in session
- Archive of Last Week In Congress, our recurring feature that shows you how Cascadia’s United States lawmakers voted
Who we are and what we do
A strategy center is an organization that helps people think and act pragmatically so they can realize their goals. That is NPI’s role within the community of people and organizations identifying as progressive.
At our core, we’re a think tank with the soul of a tech startup, generating and refining ideas that would raise up our region and our country, leading to a more inclusive economy and society for everyone.
But we’re also a media, advocacy, and outreach organization, because we know that taking an idea from conception to implementation requires a lot more than research. It’s this commitment to communicating and organizing that sets us apart from conventional think tanks.
Metaphorically, NPI can be thought of as a Swiss Army knife for the progressive movement. We’re a multifaceted organization that has been built to move quickly and effectively. Ingenuity is in our DNA. We’re funded and supported by activists who want to invest in permanent infrastructure, not just win the next election. Our goal is to empower activists to become thought leaders, mastering the reframing skills needed to liberate our public discourse from right wing demagoguery.
We invite you to learn more about who we are and what we do.
Our Values
Progressive values are traditional American values, values that we are proud of.
We believe in a more perfect Union that guarantees freedom, liberty, equality, and opportunity for all of its citizens, with laws and rules rooted in our core values of empathy and mutual responsibility. We believe in an America that prizes dissent and independent thinking as patriotic.
We believe that the people and the planet are more important than profit. In the words of the old Native American proverb: We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. We believe that taxes are investments that allow us to pool our resources to afford the essential public services we need. And we believe the laws we adopt as a society should make us healthier, cleaner, and safer.
Too often, decisions are driven by greed as opposed to what it is in the public interest or supported by science. At NPI, we believe we must liberate our politics from the grip of big money.
Our values shape and guide our views on the major issues that face our country today. We support policy directions and specific policies (whether proposed through our system of representative government or directly to the people by initiative) that embody our values.
See recent positions we’ve taken on ballot measures and legislative bills in our Advocacy section.
Our Projects and Publications
Besides our core website, our online presence includes the following projects and publications:
Become a member
Our work would not be possible without the support of our members, who donate annually or monthly to sustain our research and advocacy. Help revolutionize grassroots politics by becoming a member of the Northwest Progressive Institute today.
As one way of saying thank you for investing in our work, we offer the following benefits of membership.
- Activist: Members who donate $25 per year receive the opportunity to join NPI’s monthly Thought Leadership Briefings, held via Zoom. Each briefing begins with update from NPI’s staff and board on the latest significant research findings from NPI and other trusted sources on national and local issues, and concludes with a Q&A.
- Advocate: Members who donate $50 per year receive an exclusive invitation to participate in quarterly Activism Matters seminars (held jointly with the Northwest Progressive Foundation) plus access to NPI’s monthly Grassroots Leadership Briefings.
- Sustainer: Members who donate $100 per year receive discounted admission to all ticketed NPI events (like our Spring Fundraising Gala), plus exclusive invitations to participate in quarterly Activism Matters seminars and access to NPI’s monthly Grassroots Leadership Briefings.
- Champion: Members who donate $250 per year or more receive a new book twice a year as part of NPI’s Staff Book Club, accompanied by a one-page guide explaining how we use the book to advance our work, plus exclusive invitations to participate in quarterly Activism Matters seminars, discounted admission to all ticketed NPI events, and access to NPI’s monthly Grassroots Leadership Briefings.
Becoming a member of NPI is easy. We offer two ways to pay dues: online via credit card or by check through U.S. Mail. If you choose the latter option, our website will generate a completed membership form for you that you can print out and enclose with your check.
Recently published by NPI
Browse new content from our projects and publications.
If Joe Biden wants his policy agenda to be enacted, the Democrats have to win the Senate. Can they flip Cory Gardner's seat in Colorado? The post Scramble for the Senate: Can Democrats show Colorado’s Cory Gardner the door? is from the NPI's Cascadia Advocate .
Only one in five voters surveyed express a preference between recently appointed Justices G. Helen Whitener and Raquel Montoya-Lewis and their challengers Richard Serns and David Larson. The post Most Washingtonians not sure who they’ll vote for in state’s 2020 Supreme Court races is from the NPI's Cascadia Advocate .
In Washington, food processing plants are becoming hotspots for both disease and dissatisfaction, Oregon's Supreme Court has told a circuit court judge to explain at length why he thinks Governor Brown overstepped her authority, and Idaho is implementing a new plan for testing and tracking. The post COVID-19 Update: Food, fraud, the homeless, st...
In this thoughtful longread, MLK County Democratic Chair Shasti Conrad outlines a path forward for progressive activists and movement leaders following the suspension of the Sanders and Warren campaigns. The post Let’s think + act beyond presidential politics to build a progressive agenda for America is from the NPI's Cascadia Advocate .
The last thing anyone who cares about the integrity of our democracy should want to do is lessen public confidence in elections, which is exactly what would happen if online signature gathering were to be permitted. The post Massive unemployment fraud reminds us that online signature gathering is a terrible idea is from the NPI's Cascadia A...
The week's major votes included the Mitch McConnell engineered confirmations of Trump nominees John Ratcliffe (to be DNI) and James Trainor (to the FEC). The post Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (May 18th-22nd) is from the NPI's Cascadia Advocate .