Ben Rattray

Ben Rattray is the founder and CEO of Change.org, the world's fastest-growing website for social action—a place where ordinary folks can mobilize extraordinary support for their causes. He was named in 2012 one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and he was included in Fortune's 40 under 40.

Change.org wields an impressive amount of influence: it has attracted more than 10 million users, 93,000 causes, and a mountain of media attention. Ben Rattray is a graduate of Stanford University and the London School of Economics. Before Change.org, he was on his way to becoming an investment banker. But when his younger brother came out of the closet as gay, Rattray had an epiphany: “[My brother] says the most notable pain he experienced wasn’t the people who were explicitly anti-gay. It was the people who stood by and didn’t do anything about it.” Ashamed of being one of those bystanders, Rattray decided “to never stay silent again.” He founded Change.org so that others might feel empowered to make the same decision.

Rattray leads Change.org’s strategic vision and product development. He is a frequent public speaker about the intersection of technology and social change, and has appeared in various media outlets, including The Daily Show.