About Alex Budak

Thanks for checking out my Tumblr! I’m a social  entrepreneur and travel writer, passionate about seeing and changing the  world.  I’m currently the co-founder of StartSomeGood.com, the crowdfunding platform for changemakers.  Through StartSomeGood I’ve helped launch over 100 new social ventures and projects.  

I received an MPP from Georgetown University in 2010. Need a good nap?  Check out my econometrics-based thesis, “Facebook, Twitter and Barack Obama: New media and the 2008 Presidential election,” which is also available on the Kindle should you need portable nap material.  

I graduated from UCLA in 2007 with a double major in Geography and Political Science.  I received the Distinguished Senior award, but I’m more proud of having never missed a single home basketball game during my time in Westwood.

My interest in social change began at UCLA, where I led efforts to reform undergraduate admissions policies.  My passion for the field grew while at Ashoka, where I hosted the AshokaTECH Podcast.  I’ve also had the privilege of working with social change organizations BUILD, Sparked.com, Change.org and PICnet.

I’ve visited 26 countries, and survived everything from the bathroom on a Russian train to a rat temple in India.  Along the way I love sharing photos and stories of my adventures, most recently writing for the Huffington Post and Lonely Planet.  

I like adventures, roadtrips, photography, health and fitness, UCLA sports, and I look forward to the day that POGs are popular once again! 

Get in touch

Want to swap travel tales?  Chat about social entrepreneurship?  Work together?  Just say hello?  Email Me — I’d love to hear from you!

Featured interviews

If you still want more of me, you’re probably my Mom (Hi Mom!), but here are a few of my favorite interviews I’ve done that shed a bit more light on who I am and what I’m passionate about:

ABC News - SaveOne.net | IdeaMensch.com | LonelyPlanet |  MTV.com | TrendHunter.com

Why UnpoppedCollar?

I went to graduate school at Georgetown University where I came face-to-face with the horror that is not just single popped-collars, but cantaloupe-and-grapefruit-colored-double-popped (in case one gets unpopped?) polo shirts.  The name of my site is a reminder to myself to resist the urge to conform to the pastel-polo mafia, and keep my collar properly — and permanently — unpopped.