Biography

Wikler grew up in Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

 where he cofounded an entirely student-run newspaper known as The Yellow Press. While a student, he won election to the student senate and launched Students United in Defense of Schools with Peter Koechley to demand increased school funding and succeeded in allowing students to elect a representative to the Madison School Board. He also organized protests against granting Coca-Cola exclusive access to Madison schools. During high school he also worked for Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Ed Garvey

Ed Garvey

- Background :Edward Garvey graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and spent two years in the U.S. Army; he then returned to the University of Wisconsin Law School and earned a law degree.- Law and union work :...

.

In 1999, he begun attending Harvard University, where he studied economics. While a student, he cofounded the Student Global AIDS Campaign

Student Global AIDS Campaign

The Student Global AIDS Campaign is an advocacy group with more than 85 chapters at high schools, colleges, and universities across the United States. The group is committed to bringing an end to HIV and AIDS in the U.S...

 (SGAC) and the Harvard AIDS Coalition. He represented the SGAC at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS in New York, the UN World Youth Forum in Senegal, and the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. He also worked for economist Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. One of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University, Sachs became known for his role as an adviser to Eastern European and developing country governments in the...

 and interned for Sen. Russ Feingold

Russ Feingold

Russell Dana "Russ" Feingold is an American politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He served as a Democratic party member of the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 2011. From 1983 to 1993, Feingold was a Wisconsin State Senator representing the 27th District.He is a recipient of the John F...

. He also served as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Review of Philosophy and contributed to The Onion

The Onion

The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...

.

While at Harvard, he joined TeamFranken, a group of students who assisted Al Franken

Al Franken

Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....

 in writing his #1 bestseller, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. Wikler took a term off to help Franken "through every step of the process" of writing the book. "When I was staying with the Frankens [to finish the book], we'd get up around 10 or 11 and then work for fourteen or fifteen hours," he told an interviewer. "We'd stop only for meals and a little break before dinner. It was exhausting, but it was also exhilarating, because he's so funny. We were constantly cracking up."

After college, he became a founding producer for Al Franken's radio show, The Al Franken Show

The Al Franken Show

The Al Franken Show was the flagship talk show of the former talk radio network, Air America Radio. Hosted by Al Franken, it featured commentary and interviews arguing for left-wing positions on the issues of the day, and comically poking fun at the George W. Bush Administration. The show began as...

where he assisted with Franken's sequel, The Truth (With Jokes)

The Truth (with jokes)

The Truth is a book of political satire and humor by Al Franken, released in October 2005. The book's main focus is on the 2004 presidential election and Franken's research into the Republicans' strategy in their victory--as well as examples of subsequent political overreach which he predicts will...

. "It would not have been possible without Ben Wikler," Franken writes. "Ben reminds me of myself when I was his age, except smarter, wiser, more worldly, better read, more passionate, much much taller, and just as funny. Ben was with me every step of the way on this book. I cannot thank him enough."

In 2006, Wikler served as press secretary for Sherrod Brown

Sherrod Brown

Sherrod Campbell Brown is the senior United States Senator from Ohio and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...

's U.S. Senate campaign and was the first editor-in-chief of 23/6

23/6

Huffington Post Comedy 23/6 is a satirical news and opinion website developed by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp and The Huffington Post launched on November 9, 2007...

, a comedy news website created as a coproduction of the Huffington Post and Barry Diller's IAC

IAC

-Medicine:* Internal auditory canal or internal acoustic canal, an opening in the temporal bone of the skull which contains nerves running from the ear to the brain-Organizations:...

.

In March 2007, he became Campaign Director for Avaaz, where he has helped grow the organization to over ten million members. As Campaign Director, he has run campaigns on climate change, poverty, human rights, and other issues, as well as managed the technology and communication teams. He also hosted the Fossil of the Day Awards at UN climate negotiations from 2007-2009 for the Climate Action Network

Climate Action Network

Climate Action Network is an umbrella group of environmental non-governmental organisations active on the issue of climate change...

.

He is married to Beth Wikler; they live in Brooklyn, NY.