Big names throw weight behind people-power website

ASHTON Kutcher, Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Arianna Huffington are among the big names to lend their support to the leading people-power website.

20/01/2011 WIRE: FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2011 file photo, actor Ashton Kutcher attends a special screening of "N...

BIG names in technology, business and the media have thrown their support behind leading people-power website change.org in a bid to increase its influence.

The site, which allows users to start grassroots petitions, has announced that a who’s who of business people has invested a combined $25 million in the site’s growth. The big names include Virgin founder Richard Branson, business magnate Bill Gates, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner, editor Arianna Huffington, Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and former Yahoo! chief executive officer Jerry Yang.

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Virgin founder Richard Branson has lent his support to change.org.

Change.org Australia’s national director Karen Skinner said the commitment of these leading figures was an exciting development.

“We are the largest social-change platform in the world and this next stage will allow people to have better tools to shape the world around them,” she told news.com.au.

“These investors want to ensure that technology is used for social good or social change, not just for business and making money.”

Kutcher said the site enabled people to take responsibility for their own circumstances.

“Change.org is a global disrupting force that distributes the power of democracy to everyone,” he said.

Business magnate, computer programmer and philanthropist Bill Gates is among the investors. Picture: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

The site has more than 80 million users across 196 countries, and they are winning campaigns nearly once an hour. About 2.5 million Australians have visited the site in the past three years and 1.1 million Aussies have lent their support to a successful campaign.

The latest expansion will pay for a larger engineering team to build better technology. It will focus on better mobile technology, building tools to enable politicians to directly engage with petitioners, and making the site more effective globally.

Change.org launched in Australia in November, 2011, and it is becoming an increasingly effective way for everyday people to effect change. Some of the biggest wins the site has achieved locally include:

● Nasser Zahr winning a long-outstanding payment from insurance company AAMI

● Paula Orbea forcing Wicked Campers to remove offensive slogans from its camper vans after her petition gained 120,000 signatures

● Jennifer Li sparked a global campaign to ban so-called pick up artist Julien Blanc

● A group of former sex workers successfully petitioned Target to stop selling Grand Theft Auto V due to the its perceived “sexual violence” against women.

Although the site has sponsored content, Ms Skinner said any profits made were invested back into the site.