I turned 30 in March! I love birthdays, they remind me of how loved I am by friends both old and new. My birthday was also a good chance to reflect on life in general and I got to say, it’s pretty great. I’m doing what I love, making a positive impact in the world,…
Category: Human Behavior
Why people do what they do and what we can do about it.
Personal: Why I do what I do.
Individual: Why individuals do what they do.
Interpersonal: Why people communicating with 2-7 people do what they do.
Organizations: Why organizations do what they do.
Community: Why communities do what they do.
Growing an Engaged Education Innovation Community: SXSW EDU Workshop by Deborah Chang, Jessica Falkenthal, and John Baldo
Welcome On March 7th, 2018, Jessica Falkenthal, John Baldo, and I presented Growing an Education Innovation Community at SXSW EDU, one of the country’s most influential education innovation conferences. We wanted to support, inspire, and learn from fellow education innovation community builders so that together, we could work towards that better future for all. This post…
My Quarter in Review: Summer 2017
I spent much of this last quarter in deep contemplation, both with other people and in my own writing and reading. Questions I grappled with included: What does it take to create a process towards equity that in and of itself is equitable? How do I determine, as the Founder and Executive Director of #NYCEDU, where we…
Learning is Fundamentally Human: Cornell BigRed//Hacks ‘17 Keynote Address by Deborah Chang
Cornell BigRed//Hacks is the oldest student-run hackathon in the country. This year, 40+ teams worked on hacking together a technology solution for an education problem. I was invited to give the keynote speech as an educator, serial entrepreneur, and community builder. This is a transcript of my speech.
My Quarter in Review: Spring 2017
For the first time in five years, I didn’t organize Startup Weekend Education NYC. Instead, I was its facilitator! This was significant for several reasons. I passed the baton. Eugene Leventhal and his organizing team did all the heavy lifting. I was there to share our previous Startup Weekend Education NYC resources, but they recruited the coaches,…
Reflections on my TEDxPrincetonU Talk: How to fail successfully
November of 2013, I gave a TEDx talk on how to fail successfully based on my own experiences. At the time, I was a budding entrepreneur who was working on a multitude of ideas including one that I laugh about most: The Conversation Coach. The main point of the talk was: “For my entire life I…
TEDxPrincetonU: How to Fail Successfully by Deborah Chang [Transcribed]
“For my entire life I was taught how to be successful, but I was not taught to fail.” But “the only thing that’s certain about the future is that it’s uncertain. So failure is inevitable. And if failure is inevitable, we need to work that into our process of learning and growing.”
My Quarter in Review: Winter 2017
A Look Forward After two years of organizing #NYCEDU on a part-time volunteer basis, I’ve officially stepped into a new role as “founder.” In taking this step, I’m accepting the responsibility for guiding #NYCEDU from a loose collaboration of education innovators to an organization with the processes and discipline to scale up in both members and…
My Personal Mission Statement (v. 4)
January 10th, 2017: As a tree grows, it shifts its resources from growing quickly to growing deeply. That is how I’ve grown this past year, and my personal mission statement, lightly updated but more heavily imprinted, is a reflection of that growth. January 9th, 2019: As I read this personal mission statement over, I conclude that I’m…
My Quarter in Review: Spring 2016
Progress is the goal, not perfection.
Deborah Chang 