Hello STANDers! We’re thrilled to continue our Featured STANDer series by featuring one of our very favorite people, Dane Howard. Dane is one of our advisors, plus a design / UX ninja, formerly working at eBay and Microsoft. We’re so grateful to have him as a part of our community and excited to share his inspiring words with you today.
1. Who are you (in 140 characters or less)? Design leader, entrepreneur & father. Builder of products & services. Caretaker for culture and ethos. Defender of creativity.
2. What causes are you most passionate about? Why?
Water: Those that provide clean, sustainable water, because it has daily impact and saves lives. (Like charitywater.org). The impact is tangible and immediate when you see the physical and spiritual significance of digging a fresh water well for a community.
Sponsor a child: I enjoy causes that create longer term impact on a single life. For example, we decided years ago to sponsor a couple children through WorldVision. Each sponsored child has the same birthdate as our own children. It is an honor to help provide an education and impact in each of these lives, see them grow and change over time.
Design & Making: I have an unconventional education. I am now a designer. I have seen the benefits of seeing the world through a designers curiosity and empathy. I love causes that leverage the power of design thinking, education and the volunteering of great minds to solve problems.
Leadership: I am a huge fan of programs that help shape the next generation of future leaders.
3. What do you enjoy the most out of the STAND platform? First off, STAND enables me to discover causes through people, which is a natural offline behavior, they are bringing that online. This is powerful as it creates stories of compassion that build in strength through re-telling. The significance is that the act of standing FOR or WITH someone is a much needed and powerful interaction needed in our increasingly mobile and social world. STAND promises to bring weight, significance & soul to the social graph. Its much more powerful than a ‘like’ or ‘favorite’. To STAND is as natural as a hug, but infinitely more powerful.
4. What’s your favorite STAND you’ve created or supported? Why? I will continue to STAND with my daughter, Chloe who was a victim of assault and bullying at her high school. She was born with a deformity, which she has always been taught to embrace as her difference. She is on a journey of giving others with differences a voice. At the same time she is finding her own voice. She recently shared her story with Bono, which she beautifully articulated. They had a conversation about ‘injustice’.
Here is a small excerpt:
Chloe: “This was a hard year for me. I was assaulted at my high school. I was born with a deformed foot. Some girls held me down, took off my shoe and mocked my foot. It was really hard.”
Bono: “Injustice. What happened to you was an injustice.”
Chloe: “About the same time that this happened to me, your single ‘Invisible’ came out. The words of that song spoke to me. They inspired me to not feel as invisible. I wanted the ability to stand up for myself. Your song helped me do that. I wanted them to know I had a voice.”
Bono: “People ask me if I get nervous when I speak to leaders of the world about injustice. No, I don’t get nervous, because I carry the voices of the many. Like a big, powerful punch collected with all the energy of the world. Chloe, You have to use that power when you tell your story.”
Bono: “The logic of the universe bends towards love. When you are right, (When you have truth) and tell your story, it can give you that power. When you are right, you HAVE the Power. You have to use that power to fight injustice.”
After I witnessed this conversation, I knew that I would STAND with and for my daughter on a deeper and more meaningful level. Our experience with Bono was enabled by another great organization Omaze to help raise awareness and money for (RED).
5. Who inspires you on STAND — and why? I think Vivienne Harr is a great inspiration to all, but particularly the next generation of compassionate hearts. I’d love to have my own daughter meet her. The STAND story is stronger because of the strength of her humble beginnings.
I’m probably the most inspired by the millions of stories that have yet to be written. STAND will carve out a place in history that will enable acts of compassion the world has yet to witness, but they will witness it at a global scale, together in real-time. That has not yet been done. That inspires me.
6. Why is it important to you to put your compassion into action? I’ve been fortunate to have a successful design and entrepreneurial career. I’ve experienced moving billions of dollars in revenue and affecting millions of customers based on the things I have helped design. The Question is… To what end? We have a saying we’ve adopted in our family. We share it with both our children: ‘To whom much is given, much is expected.’ I only expect of myself to put that compassion into action.
Thank you, Dane for sharing with us and being such an amazing member of the STAND community (and one of our awesome advisors!) || STAND with Dane and follow @danemhoward on Twitter.
Andi Teggart || Director of Community at STAND || @luckyandi || STAND is live in the App Store! Download STAND here.
