Ben Erwin — Disruptor Awards

In 2017, Ben Erwin was named Senior Vice President of Business Development for the Charity Network, which is comprised of the three leading digital fundraising platforms—Charitybuzz, Prizeo, and Chideo—assisting charities with the transition from analog to digital. Erwin manages all Business Development, Partnership, and Sales activities, working with an extensive list of celebrity, charity, and brand relationships in the entertainment, fashion, sports, music, non-profit, tech, and luxury verticals.

Early in his career, Erwin realized he needed a purpose beyond making money. “Charitybuzz offered me a chance to help build something in technology that was purpose-driven and disrupted the charitable sector, with the motivation provided by helping thousands of organizations fulfill their missions,” he says. One of the first Charitybuzz employees in 2007, Erwin has seen the organization’s phenomenal growth over the last ten years from startup to a proud part of the Charity Network. “I’m still excited about the opportunities.”

Erwin holds a BA in Political Science from The George Washington University. In 2011, he co-founded the RFK Young Leaders (RFKYL), a program of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) dedicated to empowering young human rights defenders and motivating a diverse community of young people to take action for social justice and human rights. RFKHR, a longtime member of Charitybuzz, “was an organization that really resonated me,” Erwin says, “but it had never engaged a younger generation. So I saw an opportunity in the marketplace to create a young leader program to educate and inform the next generation, and build community. Like the beginning days of Charitybuzz, it was entrepreneurial with no playbook. We just had to hustle to make it happen.” Today, the RFKYL community has grown to over 2,000 of the most dedicated young professionals and human rights defenders in New York City and Washington DC.