Be Your Own Hero

Heroes face foes and then go on to battle them in their noble pursuits. The ones we’ve regaled throughout society are fantasized versions of the person we want to be when we look in the mirror. The person who won’t shy away from doing the right thing despite their overwhelming fears, insecurities, and doubts.

Can we all jump off buildings and perfectly land from a 20-floor drop on the cement below with our bones intact? No. That’s the fantasy.

The real heroes are the ones that show up without the cape. They face the fight through their fright. Heroism isn’t only for our beloved women and men in uniforms spanning the military or the hospital. It’s for all of us, with each intentional act ushered in by the question: Will I be the person I/he/she/they/we/humanity needs?

I had that choice this Monday at an event organized to address innovation needs in the child welfare system. The Hackaroo, designed by FOUND3R, was a collaborative and engaging event exploring high-fidelity ideas that leveraged Web3 technologies to address local or state issues/problems. Upbring, a Texas-based child wellbeing direct service nonprofit, was the official cause partner.

Each Hackaroo attendee was tasked with choosing between three problems:

1. Child Welfare Data Management
2. Transitional Age Foster Youth (TAFY)
3. Financial Stability

We then found our way to numbered tables to self-organize into teams tackling each issue and, in a few hours, would identify the problem components, solution, and approach to our blockchain initiative within a 2-year horizon. Each individual brought forth enthusiasm and desire to change, regardless of familiarity with the problem set.

Here in lies the most significant element of product innovation: Voice-of-the-customer (VoC).

Every UX Researcher and Product Innovator can attest to the value of understanding the true customer. While our table chose to address Child Welfare Data Management, the data was not the actual voice. It was the voices of the children affected by trauma that were not present in the room to speak to the case study brief.

Our team collaborated to address the inconsistency, mismanagement, and data processing challenges with 7+ independent systems, 15+ data sources, and 90+ data collection steps a child encounters while in state conservatorship. Throughout the data collection process, one primary stakeholder, Child Protective Services, was our focus.

Monday was a day I had a choice. I could sit back or speak up because I was one of those children supported by Child Protective Services.

At six years old, my knees didn’t buckle as I was ushered into the ominous room by the kind woman, my CPS-assigned counselor. Yet, internally, I was shaking. The door opened to a fluorescent-lit room of young women who turned to look at the new arrival. Their faces were abject and worn not by age but by trauma. Each of us held the age-qualifying title of ‘girl’, but our hearts, minds, and bodies had been molecularly worn by the events we were there to discuss.

This was group therapy. It was my first attempt to vocalize my experiences and I sat in silence. It enveloped me as my tongue seized at the utterance of a syllable. There would be no availing battle cry from my lips that day. I carried that silence with me for decades to come. Every time I denied it the weight within me grew, as if I carried amassing chains every time I lied about my childhood or upbringing.

I denied a truth I didn’t acknowledge until the trauma compounded and encircled me with shame, guilt, anger, and overwhelm. I am a childhood sexual abuse survivor, and it took me nearly twenty years to accept and begin to heal from my truth.

I scraped off the shame and used my voice to advocate for every child who faces abuse by participating and leading a team in the Hackaroo. It was an empowering experience to deliver a second-place-winning proposal.

In our pitch deck presentation, my team and I conveyed that it was more than data being managed, it was the life path of the child being determined. With every piece of data collected on us, a story unfolds, and when your story is one of challenge, pain, and abuse, your life’s direction changes.

It’s why it’s crucial not just in this scenario and poignant example of Child Welfare Data Management but in all of our stories to find our voice. To be the hero we need and for those that come after us.

Heroism looks different for everyone, but it looks a lot like vulnerability, truth, and heart to me.

Thank you to the creative minds, collaborative spirits, and ingenuity of the individuals I worked with to make our pitch successful. This unique, needed, and powerful event wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Kelsey Driscoll from Upbring and David All from FOUND3R.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the organizations mentioned in the paper or the viewpoint of the publication. The author's content is of their own opinion and should not be interpreted as endorsed or supported by the organizations or the publication. The author takes full responsibility for the accuracy and authenticity of the information presented in this article. Readers are encouraged to form their judgments and opinions based on their research and assessment of the content.