Every day I get to interact with passionate students who often ask me how I maintain hope in the face of significant global challenges. My answer: I can believe change is possible because I have actually seen it happen. If you’ll indulge me, I’ll share a few of the social problems that loomed large as I was coming of age and experiencing life as an emerging adult, about the same age as the students who work alongside me at the center each day.
As I describe each issue, I’ll share a little about how I personally interfaced with it, a bit about the interventions that led to positive change, and some evidence of success (have fun with the footnotes!). You’ll see our Ballard Center philosophy in the examples that follow: The experiences of individuals matter. Change is possible through thoughtfully planned interventions. Our work can make a difference if we focus on outcomes and measure our results.
Motor Vehicle Fatalities
As a child in the 1980s riding to school, seat belts were a relative novelty and fatalities in automobile accidents were common. I rode to school most days in my dad’s 1953 Chevrolet truck, which was not equipped with any safety features other than its thick metal exterior. With advancements in seat belts and other automotive technologies, in addition to seat belt laws enacted in the 1990s and public awareness campaigns (“click it or ticket”) of the early 2000s, vehicular fatalities fell precipitously. I was in my own car accident just a few months ago. Both cars were totaled, but thanks to our seat belts and the other driver’s airbag, we both walked away from the accident with almost no injuries.
South African Apartheid
During my junior high and high school days, a social issue of major international focus was the policy of apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the South African government. I became aware of the issue mainly because it was mentioned by my favorite band, U2, in a song (“Silver and Gold”) on their Rattle and Hum album. I learned about the role of the arts in creating positive change through the Artists Against Apartheid effort, of which U2 was a part. After that I learned about the work and captivity of Nelson Mandela and celebrated when he was released from prison in 1990 and elected as president of South Africa in 1994. Last year, as part of a visit with our collaborators at the Bertha Center for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town, I had the privilege of standing in the prison on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela had been held, listening to the firsthand stories of another former prisoner who led my tour at this UNESCO world heritage site.
Equal Pay for Women's Soccer
In 1999 I watched the US women’s national soccer team beat China in the FIFA World Cup from the stands of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. For decades I didn’t even realize there was a national men’s soccer team, because the heroes of the women’s team loomed so large, with four World Cup wins (1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019) plus four additional appearances in the finals or semifinals. Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Briana Scurry—when I was in college, these were the world champion soccer players, and I saw them at their best. Yet for all that time, the women’s team players earned pennies on the dollar4 compared with their male counterparts (who since 1991 have won zero titles, had zero finals appearances, and made only one semifinals appearance, in 2002). This became one of the most symbolic examples of the gender pay gap in my generation. In 2022, however, after a long legal battle and public awareness campaign, the US women’s national soccer team achieved a $24 million settlement and a promise of parity moving forward.
American AIDS Epidemic
When I was 15 years old, the AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed at the Salt Palace in my hometown of Salt Lake City, UT. During this display, portions of the quilt were shown as part of an effort to raise awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS and to mourn those who had lost their lives to the disease. The quilt was absolutely massive. Each square of the quilt was personalized by the loved ones who had been left behind. Volunteers—including me—read into a microphone the names of people who had died as a result of the epidemic. I personally read aloud about 100 of the more than 100,000 names. Research has demonstrated that the AIDS quilt had a measurable effect on the way people discussed the issue, leading to preventative behavior. The quilt was therefore not only a memorial but also a successful intervention. When I was in college, I spent time with people in Los Angeles in hospice who were dying of AIDS. I held their hands and kept them company while they experienced their final days. As a child life volunteer at the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, I supported pediatric HIV/AIDS patients and their families while they waited to receive their antiviral treatments. Thanks to advances in both treatment and prevention, an HIV diagnosis does not have to be the death sentence it once was, and many global organizations continue to work toward eradicating the disease in regions where it continues to spread, including the United States.
The Ozone Layer
My whole family remembers fondly the day my young siblings and I taught our parents about the effect of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) from aerosol spray cans on the depleting ozone layer. My mom started to spray air freshener from an aerosol canister in our downstairs bathroom, and all three of us kids (all elementary school age) went hollering toward her and collectively lectured both parents about the damage they were causing to our planet’s atmosphere. Within the week, our family was boycotting aerosol cans. (We didn’t know then that CFCs were no longer used in aerosol cans due to federal regulations and that the main culprit at the time was actually refrigeration.) By 1987, when I was 10, the Montreal Protocol put in place an international agreement to all but eliminate HCFCs. The ozone layer is still on track to return to the levels of my childhood by the year 2060.
Berlin Wall
I remember vividly the day the Berlin Wall came down. And I remember how impossible it had seemed right up until the moment it happened. Five days before the fall, hundreds of thousands of East German citizens gathered together in the center of East Berlin to call for democratic rights. Facing the pressure of the people after the event, the German Democratic Republic quickly put together a press conference on November 9th, 1989, announcing that East Germans would be able to travel through transit points to West Germany, effective immediately. With extreme emotion, thousands of people ran to the wall. Harald Jäger, the officer in charge of one of the East Berlin checkpoints, gave the order to open the barrier, as the sheer number of people gathered was too great to stop. I recently visited what remains of the wall in Berlin and was reminded of the power of collective gathering centered on a singular purpose.
My experiences with these issues—and many more—have given me hope that change is possible. I understand that it’s easy to look around at our current world and feel burdened with the challenges our human family is facing together. However, when I step back and consider the positive changes I’ve already seen, I’m reminded that we are moving forward every day.
It is my great honor to work alongside this generation of rising social impact leaders. I am eager to center them in a broader community of changemakers who can share experience, perspective, and expertise to work in unity toward greater human flourishing.