Becky Bay-Lo Wang: Helping the Next Generation of Organizers

Ladderworks is a publishing platform of diverse picture books and online curriculum with the mission to empower over a million kids to become social entrepreneurs. Our current series features interviews by our interplanetary journalist Spiffy with inspiring Social Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders, and Changemakers who are advancing the UN SDGs.

Hi friends, it’s Spiffy, back again on Planet Earth with an eye on leaders making the world a more equitable place! I have one more interview for you this week. Today I’m excited to cruise around with Becky Bay-Lo Wang, co-founder and CEO of Rabble. Are you ready to be inspired?

Spiffy: It’s wonderful to meet you, Becky. I’m curious about the challenges Rabble is addressing. What can you tell me?

Becky: It’s great to be here, Spiffy! We are helping the next generation of activists, advocates, organizers, and artists to better organize their communities and find support from corporate sponsors. Rabble is a one-stop shop for organizers—young and old—to understand, reach, engage with, and find support for their events and social actions. We offer Web3 events technology that awards perks to people who show up and gathers behavioral data to understand what matters most to the community while protecting user privacy.

Spiffy: What motivates you to do it?

Becky: I've had the extraordinary luck of being embedded in two communities that have made me who I am. My mother was an organizer within Chicago’s Chinese community. I watched her spend time on what would engage the community—mahjong parties between big fundraisers to ensure people felt like they were welcome anytime as a part of the community. She made people feel welcome, so they’d make others feel welcome. Years later, when I came out, I felt like I belonged in a radically different way. My first pride was in Chicago, and someone shoved a megaphone in my hand and said, “Organize people!” Then in New York, I watched a sea of faces from 48th to 12th, and I thought—how amazing it was to see strength in numbers. I believe everyone should have a community.

Spiffy: More power to you! What is the impact of your work?

Becky: Community organizers have an opportunity to meet other organizers to learn and multiply power. Through our work, we have connected other food organizers and non-profit organizations with brands.

Spiffy: Tell me about a recent organizational milestone or initiative. What impact does that make?

Becky: On Juneteenth in 2023, we launched Rabble in partnership with Everybody Eats Philly—a grassroots nonprofit tackling food insecurity, at a free BBQ. Check out our video. With one community organization and one event, we fed 2,500 people—a 150% increase. To support the effort, we generated USD 45,000 of cash and perks for donations to the event from 45 brands who wanted to support the community. These included the Eagles, Pirates, Reebok, Phillies, Flyers, and Wegmans. Volunteers signed up from 100 brands. On the platform, 1,200 people registered, and 600 social actions were recorded. There was USD 75,000 in pending sponsorship for Juneteenth in 2024—equating to USD 63 for every action. Additionally, contracts were signed for three partnerships for city-wide activation of about 100,000 users per city, around zero food waste. 

Spiffy: Is there anything else you would love to tell our audience?

Becky: Becky leads Rabble (check out our video)—an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) technology company that lets brands power a social marketplace connecting young people who know what things communities most need, a say in how to do them, and rewards to get those things done.

Spiffy: Thanks for speaking with me today, Becky—it’s been an honor!

Becky Bay-Lo Wang is the co-founder and CEO of Rabble. Before that, she was a four-time start-up chief marketing officer (CMO), consultant at Crossbeat, and lead strategist at Droga5 and Saatchi. Author of the book Creativity and Data Marketing, she has been featured in South by Southwest (SXSW), Financial Times, CBS, and Fast Company regarding the impact large technology companies have on culture and politics. She is also a board member at NALANDA, a Buddhist organization for incarcerated queer youth. (Nominated by Josef Scarantino at All Raise. First published on the Ladderworks website on October 24, 2023.)

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Ladderworks LLC.

© 2023 Ladderworks LLC. Edited by Sujit Kunte. Spiffy’s illustration by Shreyas Navare. For the Ladderworks digital curriculum to help K-3 kids advance the UN SDGs, visit Spiffy's Launchpad: Creative Entrepreneurship Workshops for K-3 Kids and their caregivers here.