Ricken Patel

Ricken Patel is a public entrepreneur. For 15 years he was the founding CEO of Avaaz, a global civic movement of over 70 million people which the Guardian called “the world’s largest and most powerful online activist network.” He is currently a Principal at Climate Hub, which is building political will to manage catastrophic near term climate risks, and the founding Co-Chair of Democracy Hub, which has become a leading global forum strengthening democratic forces to defeat authoritarian populism. He was voted “Ultimate game changer in politics” by the Huffington Post, named one of the world’s top 100 thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine, and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has appeared frequently on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and other networks and his writing has been published widely including in the New York Times, IHT, Times of India, Euronews, Globo, and LA Times. He graduated first in his university class from Balliol College, Oxford with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and holds a Master in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He lives in Canada with his wife and 4 children.