The Progressive Change Institute is a left-of-center think tank that supported the Biden administration’s crackdown on “junk fees,” worked to get left-of-center personnel appointed and hired by the Biden administration, attacked the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court while supporting “court packing,” and worked to undermine voter integrity laws. ^{1 2}

The group is affiliated with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a left-of-center political action committee that has traditionally endorsed the furthest-left viable candidates for office. ³ The group is also affiliated with the P Street Project, which is the group’s lobbying arm. ⁴

Background

Stephanie Taylor and Adam Green, who founded the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, founded the Progressive Change Institute in 2013. ⁵

After Republican victories in the 2014 midterm elections, the Progressive Change Institute commissioned a poll which showed support among both Democrats and Republicans for a plan to use government subsidies to make college debt-free, and the group claimed that such a proposal would motivate voters who did not vote to vote for a candidate proposing it. The institute’s sister group, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, used the poll results to help persuade the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, and eventual nominee, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to add a debt-free college proposal to her campaign platform. Clinton even reached out to the PCCC even before she formally announced her presidential campaign. Secretary Clinton’s main rival for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), also campaigned on a debt-free college platform. ³

Advocacy

Court Packing

In June 2020, the Progressive Change Institute joined a memo with other left-wing groups which called for the expansion of the U.S. Supreme Court, otherwise known as “court packing,” to flip the court from a conservative majority to a left-wing majority. The memo accused Republicans of “manipulating the size of the court by refusing to consider President Barack Obama’s nominee for an open seat (and indicating that they would leave the seat open if Secretary Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election), then promptly changing U.S. Senate rules to fill the seat with a bare majority, rather than the previously-required 60 votes, when Trump took office.” The memo also called the court an “affront to democracy” because most of its justices were appointed by Republicans. ²

In July 2023, the Progressive Change Institute commissioned a poll by Data for Progress which found that 62 percent of voters believed the court was corrupt and faced a legitimacy crisis. ⁶

Biden Administration Staffing

In December 2020, the Progressive Change Institute joined with other left-wing groups to encourage the incoming Biden administration to hire more left-wing staff for his administration. One of the people the coalition urged the Biden administration to hire was Trita Parsi, the co-founder of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), to oversee Middle East affairs on the White House’s National Security Council. Parsi, at the time, was just a green card holder and the NIAC faced accusations that it was a lobby for the Islamic Republic of Iran. The coalition recommended others who were accused of promoting anti-Israel and antisemitic views such as Matt Duss for administration positions. ⁷

The group took credit for the appointment of the Biden administration’s FTC Chair Lina Khan and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, among others. ¹

Fee Regulations

The Progressive Change Institute supported the Biden administration’s push to eliminate certain fees charged by hotels and other vendors. In August 2023, the group coordinated a series of Congressional townhall meetings nationwide to push for the elimination of so-called “junk fees.” ⁸

Opposing Elon Musk

In 2025, the Progressive Change Institute commissioned a Washington, D.C.-based street artist to create an anti-Elon Musk poster to spread around the city. ⁹

Leadership

Stephanie Taylor is the president of the Progressive Change Institute. She is a former labor union organizer. ¹⁰

Adam Green is the treasurer of the Progressive Change Institute. He was the director of strategic campaigns and civic communications director for MoveOn.org. ¹⁰

Other board members include Harvard University professor Larry Lessig, James Rucker, and George Washington University professor Dave Karpf. ¹⁰

Financials

According to the Progressive Change Institute’s 2023 tax returns, the group had $715,831 in revenue, $773,013 in expenses, and $918,008 in assets. ¹¹

The group gave $115,000 to the P Street Project, the group’s lobbying arm. ⁴

According to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee’s Federal Election Commission filings, the Progressive Change Institute has provided payroll transfers to PCCC. ¹²

1. “Projects.” The Progressive Change Institute. Accessed August 11, 2025. https://progressivechange.institute/projects/#supreme-court-accountability.
2. Otterbein, Holly. “Liberal Groups Back Plan to Expand Supreme Court .” Politico, June 11, 2020. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/11/liberal-groups-expand-supreme-court-plan-313037.
3. Seitz-Wald, Alex. “Clinton’s Sweeping New Debt-Free College Plan.” MSNBC, August 10, 2015. https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/clintons-sweeping-new-debt-free-college-plan-msna657921
4. “Progressive Change Institute, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed August 11, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/461193049/202423209349312587/full.
5.  “Progressive Change Institute – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed August 11, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/461193049.
6. Schonfeld, Zach. “Progressive Poll: Majority Say Supreme Court Faces Legitimacy Crisis.” The Hill, July 19, 2023. https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4103797-progressive-poll-majority-say-supreme-court-faces-legitimacy-crisis/.
7. Kredo, Adam. “Progressive Groups Push Biden to Tap Accused Iranian Lobbyist for Top National-Security Role.” Washington Free Beacon, December 18, 2020. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/progressive-groups-push-biden-to-tap-accused-iranian-lobbyist-for-top-national-security-role/.
8. Ward, Myah, Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan, and Lawrence Ukenye. “Biden’s Junk Fee Push Goes Local.” Politico, August 25, 2023. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2023/08/25/bidens-junk-fee-push-goes-local-00113024.
9. Dil , Cuneyt. “Elon Musk Meets DC Resistance over Reported Interest in the Line Hotel.” Axios, January 23, 2025. https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2025/01/23/elon-musk-the-line-hotel-dc-protest-activism.
10. “Board of Directors.” The Progressive Change Institute. Accessed August 11, 2025. https://progressivechange.institute/about/board-of-directors/.
11. ^[1] “Progressive Change Institute, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed August 11, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/461193049/202423209349312587/full
12. “Browse Receipts.” Federal Election Commission . Accessed August 11, 2025. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?cycle=2026&data_type=processed&committee_id=C00458000&contributor_name=Progressive%2BChange%2BInstitute&line_number=F3X-17.