Daniel Ben-Horin
Ben-Horin in 2013
NationalityAmerican
Occupationsocial entrepreneur
TitleFounder of TechSoup (formerly CompuMentor)

Daniel Ben-Horin is an American social entrepreneur,[1] known for founding the technology assistance nonprofit CompuMentor, now known as TechSoup, in the late 1980s.[2] He is also a former journalist who has written for publications such as The Arizona Republic, The Nation, The NY Times, and Mother Jones. Ben-Horin's debut novel, Substantial Justice, was published in June 2020.[3]

Early life and education

Ben-Horin was born to Jewish parents from Latvia and Ukraine, who both emigrated separately to British Mandatory Palestine and met on a kibbutz in 1930. Ben-Horin's father was a Zionist activist and journalist. After the couple moved to Queens, New York in 1945, his mother earned an M.A. from Columbia University and became a probation officer for New York City.[4] He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[4]

Career

Journalism and socialist views

After college, Ben-Horin lived in Phoenix, Arizona for six years,[4] where he worked at The Arizona Republic before becoming an editor of the Phoenix New Times.[5] In 1974, Ben-Horin moved to San Francisco.[4] He has written for publications such as The Nation,[6] Mother Jones[7] and Redbook.[8]

In 1977 he wrote the article "Television Without Tears", a socialist analysis of television and its role in popular culture and ideology, which was published in the journal Socialist Revolution.[9][10]

Nonprofit career

From 1981-84, Ben-Horin served as the Executive Director of Media Alliance, a nonprofit association of media workers in the San Francisco Bay Area.[4] In 1985, Ben-Horin became active on the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL),[11] where he encountered technologists who wanted to share their knowledge with nonprofits, but had no outlet to do so.[12] The following year, Ben-Horin approached WELL members with a printer problem and was overwhelmed by the assistance he received in resolving the issue.[11] This led to him establishing CompuMentor in San Francisco in September 1986,[13] with the objective of trying to "help nonprofit organizations use available technical tools to produce better work and to activate a truly skilled sector of the population--technically adept people--by getting them into the community to do what they do best--talk about technology and teaching."[14]

In April 2009, Ben-Horin received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (NTEN), and two months later the Ashoka Foundation elected Ben-Horin as a Senior Fellow for his work.[15] The NonProfit Times named Ben-Horin in its Top 50 most influential people in the nonprofit sector four years in a row from 2004 to 2007.[16]

Ben-Horin was the CEO of TechSoup until 2013,[17] when he became Founder and Chief Instigator,[18] with Rebecca Masisak replacing him as CEO.[19] As of 2017, TechSoup Global had a staff of 212 and an annual operating budget of $34 million.[20]

Fiction

In 2013, Ben-Horin returned to his first love, writing fiction. His novel, Substantial Justice, was published in July 2020 by Rare Bird Books.[21] Substantial Justice received positive reviews.[22] Kirkus Reviews called it a “remarkable first novel”.[23]

References

  1. Praszkier, Ryszard; Nowak, Andrzej (10 October 2011). Social Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice. Cambridge University Press. pp. 94–99. ISBN 978-1-139-50433-1.
  2. "Disconnecting from the Network". The NonProfit Times. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  3. Ben-Horin, Daniel (2020). Substantial Justice. Rare Bird Books. ISBN 978-1-64428-112-3.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Ben-Horin, Daniel (25 November 2007). "A Serious Side of Fun". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  5. The Nation - Volume 216, page 238
  6. Armstrong, David (1981). A Trumpet to Arms: Alternative Media in America. South End Press. p. 346. ISBN 9780896081932.
  7. Mother Jones. Foundation for National Progress. 1979. p. 16.
  8. PC World, Volume 5 (1987), page 269
  9. Ben Horin, Daniel (1978). "Television Without Tears". Australian Left Review. D.B. Young Pty.
  10. Ben-Horin, Daniel, TV Without Tears - Outline of a Socialist Approach to Popular Television (full article), Australian Left Review, 1(65), 1978, 26-39.
  11. 1 2 Hawken, Paul (May 10, 2007). Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World. Penguin Publishing. ISBN 9781101202326.
  12. The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier by Howard Rheingold, pages 261-262 (Addison-Wesley 1993)
  13. Management Review. American Management Association. 1914. Daniel Ben-Horin.
  14. Feldman, Diane (1977). A Match Made in Computer Heaven. Management Review. ISBN 9780231038393.
  15. "TechSoup Global". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. October 11, 2018.
  16. "Top 4-50 Equity and Influence Fueled Nation's Top Executives" (PDF). Non Profit Times. August 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  17. "TechSoup sees upside for nonprofits in downturn". San Francisco Chronicle. 22 March 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  18. "Daniel Ben-Horin". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg News. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  19. Guthrie, Julian (March 22, 2009). ""TechSoup sees upside for nonprofits in downturn"". SF Gate.
  20. "TechSoup". GuideStar.org. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  21. "" Substantial Justice by Daniel Ben-Horin"". Rare Bird. July 14, 2020.
  22. Redmond, Tim (August 31, 2020). ""A fun ride through SF and NorCal in the 1980s"". 48hills.
  23. ""Substantial Justice: A deftly composed and highly enjoyable crime story "". Kirkus. July 14, 2020.
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