Men Doing Wonders Series - Dan
This year, to celebrate the month of Father’s Day, we asked men that running impactful enterprises and are part of our Ethical Lifestyle Hub Directory, what is driving them to lead a business with purpose. Those we highlight are men of strength, compassion, and resilience - working toward bettering the world around them as well as being a Father or mentor. This blog highlights Dan Osborne of Project Jambo
Project Jambo is a social enterprise that believes that each positive human interaction builds a positive chain of connection. The longer and stronger the chain, the less room there is for social isolation and extreme ideas that label and divide us rather than unite and empower us.
Tell us about you and why you started your organisation
I was born and raised in the United States, but have spent the last thirty years in Melbourne, Australia. I started my career as part of a small group on Wall Street that created the OTC (over-the-counter) foreign currency derivatives market. Today that market's daily volume is in the hundreds of billions of dollars. I then developed a ground breaking proprietary foreign exchange hedging system that was available to clients of my forex risk management consulting firm.
The events described in my published short story "Away from the Cliff’s Edge" have propelled me in an entirely new direction, but one that is equally exciting and rewarding.
I am the co-founder of the social enterprise Project Jambo. Project Jambo believes that we can no longer take social harmony for granted but instead need to take responsibility for it by having courageous conversations with those holding different views relative to our own. We provide workshops with activities and games that teach the skills needed to have productive disagreements and promote social peace.
Did fatherhood encourage you to set up an impactful business? Why?
I have one child, a daughter named Tessa, who is just finishing university. I found that having a child makes you think a lot more long term than just your own life span. I am a student of history and many of the changes I am seeing in western society today seem very similar to some of the negative political and social changes that have caused so much pain and suffering over the last few centuries. I am particularly concerned about the intolerance for different points of view on big issues and the toxic polarisation this is causing in society. Our divisions impair our capacities to problem solve as a society. I’m amazed at the number of people who have told me that they are reluctant to voice their opinions in unfamiliar social situations for fear of being attacked verbally or having their point of view rudely dismissed.
What impact do you hope to achieve through your business?
Project Jambo believes that we all need to take responsibility for social peace and harmony by having courageous conversations with those holding different views relative to our own. If we refuse to engage with these people, we further the polarisation and division that may lead to conflict and even violence.
What legacy do you want to leave behind as a father to your child?
I guess for me there are a few with respect to Project Jambo. Firstly, I hope to demonstrate through action that one can reinvent themselves at any stage of their life. I am currently working in a very different space from where I started! Also, I hope that my daughter will perhaps consider the idea that if you feel strongly about making a change in society, you should not be intimidated by the size of the problem. As Margaret Mead said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
To learn more about Project Jambo, visit: https://www.moralfairground.com.au/project-jambo
Become an Ethical Lifestyle Hub Member today : https://www.moralfairground.com.au/ethical-lifestyle-hub-membership