September 11, 2011

change.org

Posted by Dr. Laura Guertin

Start, join, and win campaigns for social change.

Nice!  I was aware of change.org, but never spent much time on their website or really thinking about the power and effect this website can have.  And it is only a website, but wow, it makes the democratic process accessible to anyone with an email address.  Anyone can generate an online petition to gather voices from people they have never met to rally together for social causes.  Amanda from change.org spoke at the Fair Trade Cities and Universities Conference in Philadelphia on September 9, and her 8-minute speech on how one person wanted to buy fair trade flowers, and used change.org to start a petition and was able to get 1-800-flowers to sell fair trade roses (see the Victory description).

I can see where change.org could serve as a very powerful tool, even when trying to raise awareness of campus issues.  I know we will definitely use this site to drum up support when my campus puts forth its Fair Trade resolution.