Biography of Martin Kearns
Martin Kearns is an innovator in the field of online networking. He pioneered integration of network-centric principals for civic organizing and advocacy work. He is President of Netcentric Campaigns, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the advocacy efforts of foundations and nonprofits by building networks of people to move change forward. He started the organization in 2000, to provide a professional suite of communication tools, trainings and services to help the environmental movement communicate more effectively. He is also the co-founder of a global network of activists who use cell phones for civic action and engagement.
He is a consultant on online networking strategy in advocacy campaigns. Clients include the Ford Foundation, Packard Foundation, Barr Foundation, Open Society Institute, Hewett Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation, Brainerd Foundation, American Heart Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Greenpeace, and the Moore Foundation.
He speaks frequently at major conferences including the Personal Democracy Forum, Environment Grant Makers Association, Momentum, the Media Consortium, NTEN, River Rally, State Environmental Leadership Program, Harvard’s Berkman Center, Conservation Leadership Institute, Organizers Forum-West, True Spin Conference, Media Reform Conference, Rootscamp and the New Organizing Institute. He developed an extensive curriculum to train community organizers in online networking strategies in the US and internationally. He has written chapters in Rebooting America and Mobilize2.0, and his essays have been published in Huffington Post.
Previously, Kearns founded the Georgia River Network, a group dedicated to preserving Georgia’s rivers. He also spent three years working at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and served for two years as a Jesuit International Volunteer in Kingston, Jamaica teaching computers at St. George’s College and working with inner city youth. Kearns has a Bachelor of the Arts from LeMoyne College and a Masters in Environmental Science from Yale University.