The Public Good Projects

What The Public Good Projects does

The Public Good Projects (PGP) is a US-based 501(c)(3) public health nonprofit founded in 2013 and headquartered in New York, specializing in large-scale media monitoring programs, social and behavior change interventions, and cross-sector public health initiatives. PGP operates a portfolio of six interconnected programs: the Infodemiology Initiative (large-scale media monitoring of health information across digital platforms), the Health Communications Initiative (HCI, evidence-based behavior-change campaigns), Public Good News (PGN, an editorially independent public health news platform), documentary productions, scientific publications, and the Trusted Messenger Program (community-based health communication). The organization states it applies evidence-based practices from both public and private sectors, uses a collective impact model, and scientifically evaluates all programs.

PGP's business model is grant- and donation-based rather than commercial: it accepts gifts and grants from individuals, organizations, foundations, government agencies, and healthcare systems, with a stated cap that no more than 10% of program funding comes from industry sources (pharmaceutical, biotechnology, news, and social media). It is led by CEO Dr. Joe Smyser and governed by a board chaired by Phil Marineau (former CEO of Levi Strauss and Pepsi-Cola North America), with members drawn from WHO, the Gates Foundation, Merck, Morgan Stanley, Sixth Street, Vizient, Northwestern, USC, UCSD, and Brookings. The organization publishes 990 tax forms for 2018-2021 and maintains formal editorial independence policies, including refusal of anonymous or political donations. Distribution is achieved through partnerships with government, healthcare systems, foundations, and media organizations, alongside owned channels including Public Good News, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and a community messenger network spanning neighborhoods to nations.

Name

The Public Good Projects

Legal name

The Public Good Projects

Website

https://publicgoodprojects.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Public Good Projects is a US 501(c)(3) public health nonprofit that runs large-scale media monitoring, health communications campaigns, a public health news platform, documentaries, publications, and a community Trusted Messenger Program, serving government agencies, foundations, healthcare systems, and media partners through grants and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Communication Services

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (54182), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Health, Health Promotion & Behavior Change (SBCC) (BPADAIAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) for Global Health (HLAJAOAD), Public Relations Measurement, Analytics & Monitoring (BPAFADAL)

Keywords

• Public health communication
• Media monitoring programs
• Behavior change interventions
• Infodemiology research
• Nonprofit health initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PGP runs large-scale media monitoring (Infodemiology Initiative), designs and evaluates evidence-based social and behavior change communications (Health Communications Initiative), and publishes public health journalism, documentaries, and scientific publications (Public Good News). It also operates a Trusted Messenger Program that trains community members to communicate health information, coordinating all of this through cross-sector partnerships with government agencies, healthcare systems, foundations, and media organizations.

Product overview

PGP operates as a public health nonprofit offering a portfolio of interconnected programs rather than a single unified product. The organization provides the Infodemiology Initiative (large-scale media monitoring), the Health Communications Initiative (HCI) for behavior change campaigns, Public Good News (PGN) as a news platform, documentary productions, scientific publications, and the Trusted Messenger Program for community outreach. These programs work together within a collective impact model to advance health communication from neighborhoods to nations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Public Good News (PGN): A news initiative under PGP focused on public health news coverage.
• Trusted Messenger Program
• Infodemiology Initiative
• Health Communications Initiative (HCI)

Products and services

• Infodemiology Initiative
• Health Communications Initiative (HCI)
• Public Good News (PGN)
• Documentaries
• Publications
• Trusted Messenger Program

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Nonprofits and FoundationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPGP partners with a wide range of nonprofit organizations and foundations to support public health communication initiatives. These partnerships help fund general operations, specific topic coverage, and special projects.
• Government AgenciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPGP partners with government agencies at various levels to advance public health communication for communities. These partnerships shape the focus of projects while PGP retains operational independence.
• Healthcare and Hospital SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPGP partners with healthcare and hospital systems to create health communication programs and behavior change interventions that serve communities.
• Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology OrganizationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPGP accepts limited funding from pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations, with a policy that no more than 10% of program funding comes from industry sources to maintain independence.
• News and Social Media IndustriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPGP partners with news and social media organizations to disseminate public health information and create content including documentaries and publications.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Purpose: Social impact agency that designs and runs public-good communications campaigns and movement-building programs for nonprofits and foundations, directly comparable to PGP's Health Communications Initiative and Trusted Messenger Program.
• GMMB: Public affairs and advertising agency specializing in health and social impact campaigns for nonprofits and government clients — directly overlaps PGP's client base in public health and behavior change communications.
• The Advertising Council (Ad Council): Nonprofit that produces public interest communications campaigns funded by private and government partners; PGP's Vice Chair Ruth Wooden is a former Ad Council president, signaling direct operational and governance overlap in evidence-based social-impact communications.
• CDC Foundation: Official 501(c)(3) that mobilizes philanthropic and private-sector partnerships to extend CDC's public health mission — directly comparable public-private partnership structure used by PGP.
• Public Health Communications Collaborative: Nonprofit that translates public health science into accessible messaging for local public health officials — substantially overlap with PGP's HCI, Trusted Messenger, and PGN initiatives.
• KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation): Independent nonprofit that combines health policy research, public opinion polling, and journalism-style health communication via KFF Health News — a near-exact analogue of PGP's research-plus-journalism-plus-monitoring model.
• Resolve to Save Lives: Public health initiative using communications and partnerships to prevent cardiovascular disease and epidemics — directly comparable nonprofit model blending cross-sector partnerships with behavior-change campaigns.
• FrameWorks Institute: Research organization that develops evidence-based communications frameworks and conducts public opinion research on social issues — overlaps with PGP's scientifically evaluated approach to behavior change messaging and audience research.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos Public Affairs: Global commercial research firm with substantial health and public affairs polling/measurement practices — operates at much greater scale in the same health-monitoring-and-measurement category as PGP's Infodemiology Initiative.
• Pew Research Center: Much larger nonpartisan research and public opinion polling organization with a public health portfolio — comparably applies scientific evaluation and editorial independence to public-interest communications and analysis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-public-good-projects
• Instagraminstagram.com/publicgoodprojects
• Xx.com/PublicGoodProj

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Public Good Projects