Ben Rattray

Benjamin Michael "Ben" Rattray[1] (born June 16, 1980) is the founder and former CEO of the online petition website Change.org, which he founded in 2007. Rattray was included in the 2012 Time 100 list of the world's most influential people,[2] listed as one of Fortune's 40 Under 40 rising young business leaders of 2012,[3] and given the Commonwealth Club of California's 21st Century Visionary Award in 2014.[4]

Ben Rattray
Rattray in 2012
Born (1980-06-16) June 16, 1980
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Alma materStanford University
London School of Economics
OccupationCEO of Change.org
Awards2012 Time 100 list member

2012 Fortune 40 Under 40 Rising Young Business Leaders list member

2014 Commonwealth Club of California 21st Century Visionary Award

Personal life

Rattray was born in 1980 in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Judy (née McCaffrey), a county sales manager at First American Title, and Michael Rattray, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara County. He has one older sibling, Zack, and three younger siblings, Lindsay, Nick, and Tyler.

At Dos Pueblos High School, Rattray was "sporty and handsome" and "a homecoming king". He wanted to grow up to be an investment banker, then retire at age 35 and go into politics.[5]

Rattray attended Stanford University during the technology boom of the early 2000s, studying political science and economics.[6] He changed career paths to focus on "the pursuit of effective collective action" after comments one of his brothers had made when revealing his homosexuality.[5] He later attended the London School of Economics.[7]

Rattray lives in San Francisco.[8]

Change.org
Main article: Change.org

Rattray launched Change.org from his house in 2007. The site has gone through multiple iterations, starting as a social network for social activism,[9] changing into a cause-based blogging platform,[10] then transitioning to a petition platform in 2011.[11]

The goal of Change.org, according to Rattray, is to "change the balance of power between individuals and large organizations".[12]

"The power unlocked when people have the capacity to more rapidly and effectively organize with others is unprecedented in human history", Rattray wrote in an e-mail to Change.org staff members. "But what's needed for this to be truly transformational is a solution that turns people-power from a force that is episodically realized to one that is deeply embedded in our political and social lives — something that makes people-power pervasive and sustained."[12]

In February 2012, Rattray stated that Change.org was "growing more each month than the total we had in the first four years", with more than 10,000 petitions being started each month on the site, and that in 2011 the company's employees had grown from 20 to 100.[13]

Change.org announced a $15 million round of investment led by the Omidyar Network in May 2013 and said its staff had grown to 170 people in 18 countries.[14]

References
  1. According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California.
  2. Katchpole, Molly (April 18, 2012). "Ben Rattray - 2012 Time 100: The Most Influential People in the World". Time. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  3. VanderMey, Anne (October 11, 2012). "40 Under 40". Fortune. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  4. "Change.org: Tech for Good". Commonwealth Club of California. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  5. Ed Pilkington (April 13, 2012). "Change.org thrust into spotlight in wake of Trayvon Martin case". The Guardian. London. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  6. "Online petitions crack through board rooms, capitals". Fox News. April 7, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  7. Marieke van der Vaart (July 1, 2011). "U.S. petition website helps Saudi women hit the highways". The Washington Times. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  8. Mattioli, Dana (August 21, 2007). "Q&A: Ben Rattray of Change.org". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  9. "Change.org: Social Network For Social Activism". ReadWrite. February 7, 2007. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  10. "Change.org moves from social media to blogging in order to raise cause awareness". VentureBeat. October 8, 2008. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  11. "Online petitions: Shifting the power to consumers". The Baltimore Sun. February 12, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  12. Ylan Q. Mui (January 23, 2012). "Change.org emerges as influential advocate on issues from bullying to bank fees". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  13. Kristof, Nicholas D. (February 4, 2012). "After Recess: Change the World". The New York Times.
  14. Empson, Rip (May 21, 2013). "With $15M From Omidyar And 35M+ Users, Change.org Wants To Prove Socially-Minded Startups Can Attract Big Numbers". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
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