Change.org, the world’s leading petition website, has hired Tom Bage as UK Communications Director. Bage joins the organisation from his role as Associate Partner at consultancy Pagefield, and will be in charge of boosting engagement with decision makers as the platform “seeks to capitalise on three years of explosive growth in the UK”.
Bage will join Nadia Gilani at Change.org, who recently joined as Communications Manager from her time working with national newspapers including the Metro and Mail Online. He replaces John Coventry who has remained at the organisation to oversee the communications operation in Europe, India and Australia.
Brie Rogers Lowery, UK Director of Change.org said: “Tom is one of the brightest communications talents working in the UK today. We are incredibly excited to be bringing his energy, talent and insight to help us write the next chapter in Change.org’s UK story.”
Tom Bage said: “Change.org has exploded onto the UK’s political landscape and given countless people a voice on the issues they care about. Direct digital democracy could be the thing that reverses the breakdown in trust between citizens and politicians - and Change.org’s potential in this space is enormous. I’m delighted to be joining the team.”
The coming months will see Change.org - which has grown from 200,000 to 6.5 million UK users in just three years - strengthen its “Decision Maker” product which allows politicians, institutions and businesses to respond directly to petitions and engage in conversation with Change.org users. The tool has already been utilised by politicians including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg MP, Matthew Hancock MP and Stella Creasy MP, as well as major UK brands such as British Airways and John Lewis.