Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen chats with Amanda Mendoza, currently senior research and campaign coordinator at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP), a nonprofit watchdog examining private equity’s impacts across climate and energy, workers and jobs, housing, healthcare, and detention and surveillance.

Mendoza explains private equity in clear terms: as multi-trillion-dollar investment firms funded largely by institutional investors like public pension funds and focused on extracting profit over a handful of years.

The two go on to examine her unique dual research-and-campaign role, including leading the Private Equity Climate Risks Consortium to build public-facing data and scorecards on private equity ownership of fossil fuel assets, information not readily disclosed.

Mendoza shares her nontraditional path from community college and political science through an internship-turned-research-analyst job, a COVID layoff, and climate justice work inspired by Standing Rock.

We also learn about how the efforts by Mendoza and her colleagues to unionize PESP are helping to reduce burnout and improve work conditions.

Throughout, the two discuss building community, leveraging the support of one's professors, and how doing internships can be an important pathway toward one's good work career.

Support the show

The Good Work Podcast is part of The Good Work Project.

To keep up with the pod and the project, follow Dr. Amy Cabrera Rasmussen on Linked In or Instagram.

You also can sign up for the weekly Good Work Newsletter.

Episodes can be found here or on your favorite podcast platform.

If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else to be a guest on the podcast, please fill out the form here.

Thanks for listening!