Ady Barkan

Not to be confused with Adi Barkan.

Ady Barkan
Barkan in 2019
Born
Ohad Barkan

(1983-12-18)December 18, 1983
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedNovember 1, 2023(2023-11-01) (aged 39)
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Cause of deathComplications from ALS
Education
Occupations
  • Activist
  • attorney
EmployerCenter for Popular Democracy
Known forFed Up, Be a Hero
SpouseRachael King
Children2
Websitebeaherofund.com

Ohad "Ady" Barkan (Hebrew: אדי ברקן; December 18, 1983 – November 1, 2023) was an American lawyer and activist. He was co-founder of the Be a Hero PAC[1] and was an organizer for the Center for Popular Democracy, where he led the Fed Up campaign.[2] Barkan confronted Senator Jeff Flake on a plane in 2017, asking him to "be a hero" and vote no on a tax bill that threatened cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.[3]

Barkan, who was diagnosed with the terminal neurodegenerative disease ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) in 2016 shortly after the birth of his son, was called "the most powerful activist in America" in a headline from 2019 in Politico Magazine.[3] In 2020, he was included on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[4][5]

  1. ^ Reston, Maeve; Ramirez, Gabe (October 24, 2019). "A neurodegenerative disease took this man's future, but his legacy might be the 2020 election". CNN. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  2. ^ "Ady Barkan". The Nation. January 16, 2018. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Allen, Arthur (March 24, 2019). "The Most Powerful Activist in America Is Dying". POLITICO Magazine. Archived from the original on July 23, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "Ady Barkan: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020". Time. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  5. ^ Ady Barkan I TIME100 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2023.