Change.org

During my second semester of grad school, my health policy professor quickly polled our class by asking how many of us petitioned our local, state and national representatives.  Did we write letters?  Did we call or send an email?  Despite all of us wanting to end up working in the field of health policy (I later changed my concentration), very few of us petitioned our government representatives with either positive or negative feed back.   From that point I made a conscious decision to start writing into my representatives to express concerns for or support of upcoming policies/laws. 

Imagine my surprise when I came across an op-ed that discussed the impact that ordinary citizens are having on government policy and/or pressuring businesses to make better, more socially conscious decisions with regards to their business practices.  Change.org has allowed ordinary citizens, both young and old to create a petition, gain signatures and make a difference in their community.  Probably some of the more notable examples are of a young woman who stood up to Bank of America after they began to impose a $5 a month banking fee.

Now it is easier than ever to send a letter to our representatives.  Lobbying and advocate groups have to technology to help them mobilize similarly minded individuals, encouraging them to take a stand.  While many of the petitions I see on a daily basis come to my email inbox are from Change.org, there are others from a variety of public health and biking advocate groups.  With the simple click of a button (most of my information is already stored and automatically enters itself) I have signed a petition. 

In the words of Ina Garten, "How simple was that?"