Hi! I’m Ben Orenstein.

Throughout my life, the same thing has always made me happy: creating containers and filling them with love.

Sometimes the container is an institution like a company or community, sometimes it’s artistic like a barbershop quartet, and sometimes it’s a recurring event like the dinner I host every Sunday. Regardless, it’s always my people that make life worth living.

After failing out of college, I tended bar at The Olive Garden, broke into the tech industry, discovered a love for programming, got a little famous teaching it, started a software company, stepped down when I lost the love, discovered a passion for local politics, and co-founded a pretty thriving community in my city.

I live in Somerville, MA and love it here. I want to see the city achieve its (substantial) potential, so I've been getting very involved politically. I started a publication about the city government, moderated a mayoral debate, built a tool to email residents summaries of city council meetings, and created a site where people can ask an AI questions about Somerville law.

As an Enneagram 7, I am excitable, optimistic, pain-avoidant, and a bit of a dilettante. Sometimes, as Sasha says, in the search for moreness, I miss the suchness. Growth edge.

If you’d like to write me an email, I am—and expect to be until the bitter end—ben@ben.net.