Will Byrne

Will Byrne
Occupation	Activist, entrepreneur, CEO

Will Byrne is an activist and entrepreneur. Will was named one of Forbes’s 30 Under 30,^[1] and his writing has appeared in Forbes and Fast Company.^[2][3]

Career

Early career

Prior to founding Groundswell, Will worked in journalism at Der Speigel as well as The American Academy in Berlin, Germany before joining Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign.^[4]

Obama for America

During his work on President Obama’s 2008 Campaign, Will utilized online and offline community organizing tactics. While doing this work, Byrne and his co-founders saw the impact of community organizing in the political sphere.^[5][6] Rather than joining the administration after Obama was elected, Will went on to develop these tactics as a social entrepreneur.^[7]

Groundswell

In 2009, Will, Max Harper, Marcus Ryan, John Lauer, Kristen Psaki, and Tony Ficarotta co-founded Groundswell after working on President Obama’s 2008 campaign. Groundswell is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that uses collective buying power to drive positive social change, especially in the clean energy sector.^[8]

Stanford Design School

In 2015 Will joined the Stanford Design School as a Civic Innovation Fellow.^[9]

Honors and Awards

• Forbes 30 Under 30 Selection; Social Entrepreneurs, Forbes Magazine (December 2012) ^[10]
• Global Fellow, Ashoka Innovators for the Public, December 2011 ^[11]
• Global Shaper, World Economic Forum, 2011
• Champions of Change, White House Executive Office of the President, 2011 ^[12][13]
• Young Atlanticist Network, Atlantic Council, January 2014
• Cordes Social Entrepreneurship Fellow (Global), 2010
• Lisa B. Hall Fellow, Concord Academy, 2013 ^[14]

See also

• Social entrepreneurship
• List of social entrepreneurs

References