By Ashima Gujral:
Someone has rightly said: “change is the only constant”. Change.org is one such initiative which has been set up with the objective of making change, a habit for the world. It is a social platform which allows anyone, anywhere to start a campaign to change the world with a mission to build an international network of people empowered to fight for what is right.
By a campaign, they mean any issue, anything that one cares about. From the most localised problems to nationalist movements, one can start a campaign on just about anything. And Change.org helps them mobilize people to make them win their campaigns. They provide help through the best advocacy tools for free and by providing training and advices from the best of campaigners and the best media outreach and access to potential partners and more members.
Change.org was started in 2006 by two classmates from Stanford University, Ben Rattray and Mark Dimas. They currently have above eighty staff members with offices in San Francisco and Washington DC along with the support of organisers throughout the world.
With the help of Change.org, thousands of people are able to start campaigns everyday about issues that bother them and are able to create awareness and bring about action through the right target. Many people have been successful in bringing about the change in their societies. From cases of abolishing untouchabilty to paying the long held dues of government teachers to banning toxic pesticides worldwide, Change.org has played a pivotal role in gathering mass support for making dreams a reality.
When one sees such an initiative being taken up by someone to provide a worldwide network of people supporting a common cause through such simple ways, one feels elated and encouraged to take up issues that might be taking a toll on him but the lack of knowledge or the means stop him from taking the first step and moving ahead. Change.org fulfils its social responsibility with this first step. Now the duty lies on our part to make more and more people aware about the presence of such a platform to fight for what is right and bring the desired change in the society. Kudos to www.change.org.