Deborah Doane's Page

Describe yourself, briefly

Canadian. Passionate about social justice; and endeavouring to facilitate systemic reform in a number of key sectors. I admire many MPs and senior civil servants, both men and women who manage to succeed in spite of the barriers -- politics doesn't seem to be a game for those of us who genuinely want to change the world, and have a family life at the same time!

What do you do, mostly?

Campaigner, advocate. Head of Sustainable Consumption at WWF; previously head of a coalition of NGOs that achieved legal reform.

What matters most in the world?

Well-being and quality of life -- humans and nature co-existing in a sustainable way.

If you were Prime Minister what would you do?

Regarding the Downing Street project? I would instantly reform working hours of Parliament and start to value a different skill set in Politics (facilitation vs. simply ideas that are driven through without thinking of what brings people to the table).
In general, institute an alternative measure to GDP that reflects well-being and quality of life.

What does Soft Power say to you?

Achieving concensus in decision-making -- leading through encouragement and enticement, rather than stick.
Change requires people, ideas and power -- ideas are easy; its the other two we need to do differently.

Do you have children?

Yes.

What would you like from this site?

Mutual support for others working to reform the way we lead (both in government and elsewhere) to form a more human and nature-centred form of governance -- leadership from values rather than simply "hard" science and an assumption that numbers tell us the whole story. Encouragement to women, in particular, who shy away from leadership because its way of working isn't commensurate with their values. I work in a very male-dominated environment, and many young women I work with just don't find the ways of working comfortable, encouraging, or supportive. This needs to change.