Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.org, has joined the board of directors of the Center for Public Integrity, one of the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit investigative news organizations.
Newmark launched craigslist in 1995 as a simple platform where people could help each other out with basic needs, like finding a job or a home. The hugely popular classifieds site now attracts more than 60 million unique visitors per month and serves 700 cities in 55 countries. Staying true to his community-building philosophy, Newmark works for the company as customer service representative and has no managerial role.
Yesterday, Newmark announced a major new initiative, craigconnects.org, a 20-year plan to connect and protect organizations (including the Center for Public Integrity) that are doing good worldwide via the Internet.
“Craig Newmark is an iconic visionary who saw the community – empowerment potential of the Internet early on,” said Executive Director William E. Buzenberg. “It’s a great honor to have him on our board where he can help the Center for Public Integrity in its own community building efforts linked to in-depth investigative reporting and truth-telling.”
Called “The Wizard of the Local” by Time magazine, Newmark was named one of the Time 100 in 2005. He was named Person of the Year at the 9th Annual Webby Awards that same year and in 2008 Business Week named Newmark one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Web.
“The Center does high-quality investigative reporting, vital to the future of a free country,” said Newmark. “Citizens need to stand up and be part of that.”