Eli Pariser

Eli Pariser in 2009 became the chair of MoveOn's board of directors. Formerly he was international campaigns director for MoveOn, an Internet website that mobilizes liberal activists for the U.S. Democratic Party and specifically in support of Barack Obama, and claims an email list of 5 million people.

"The son of two 1960s activists who founded an alternative high school in Camden, Maine, Pariser graduated from college at 19," reports Mother Jones magazine. His emergence as an Internet activist began "in the immediate aftermath of September 11, when he wanted to protest the president's demand for vengeance." Pariser "created an online petition, 9-11peace.org, which urged 'moderation and restraint.' In what would prove a powerful lesson in online organizing, Pariser emailed the link to 30 friends. They did likewise, and so did their friends."

"A few days later I got a call saying the site was crashing because too many people were logging on," Pariser recalled. Within two weeks, more than half a million people had signed the petition. The petition also brought him in touch with MoveOn founder Wes Boyd, and soon thereafter the two merged their websites.

By 2008 MoveOn had become one of the largest contributors of money to Democratic Party political candidates and electing Democrats is now its primary mission. For example, Eli Pariser sent a January video to MoveOn's massive email list warning that "a lot of Democrats think we are going to ... slide into victory. I don't. ...  We need to make sure we that we win, and we've got a big plan to do that ... to get out the vote for the Democratic candidate." 

Affiliations

 * Cofounder, Avaaz.org
 * Director, Campaign for America's Future
 * Advisory Board (2009), New Organizing Institute
 * Advisory Board, SumOfUs
 * Advisory commitee, Witness
 * International Advisory Board, AccessNow.org

Related Sourcewatch

 * 99% Spring
 * Avaaz
 * Americans Against Escalation in Iraq
 * internet activism
 * MoveOn
 * Working For Us PAC