• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, October 17, 2023

WeAre8, an aspirational new social media startup founded by Standard Media Index founder Sue Fennessy, has named long-time ad sales executive Ben Rabunski senior vice president of sales for the U.S.

Rabunski joins from TelevisaUnivision, where he was vice president-integrated sales and strategic partnerships, and previously held senior positions at Group Nine Media, Amazon, Warner Media and The Economist.

He reports to WeAre8 Global Growth Officer and CEO Lizzie Young.

The app, which officially launched in the U.S. in August, and previously in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, utilizes a business model that reallocates 60% of advertising revenues back to the "community, charity and in support of climate change solutions" for every ad viewed.

While it's still in an early stage (1.4 million user downloads), the app already boasts "redirecting hundreds of thousands of dollars back to citizens and charities through its transformational advertising experience, while offsetting more than 1000 metric tons of carbon in the last 12 months by making every ad-campaign placed on the WeAre8 app carbon neutral."