Who knew the most notorious
hook up app could be making such a positive impact in the world?
Hook up culture is extremely common with young generations. Thus,
taking dating apps seriously is a great modern challenge. Although most
approach such apps with an insincere attitude, Jack Harrison-Quintana has seen
the great potential these apps can serve. Since working with Grindr for
Equality (G4E). Through the combination of his passions, the availability of
resources, and the void of his specific type of work, Harrison-Quintana has
been able to improve the education and resources of LGBTQ members through
Grindr.
Jack
Harrison-Quintana is clearly intrinsically motivated in his field of work and
his actions correspond thoroughly with the writings of Collins and Amabile.
After finishing his degree, he worked in an unpaid internship at the National
LGBTQ Task Force. It is hard to imagine taking a job without pay after the
amounting debt that students procure in current times. Yet, with his passions
for social justice, he was willing to make the sacrifice. Once he got his foot
in the door, he wrote several books, worked for other organizations, and in
2015 ended up working for G4E.
Jack’s passion for social
justice for the LGBTQ community stems from one of his first major
relationships. After dating this person for some time, she transitioned to a
female after they broke up. Additionally, Jack has been involved with many
other trans people. Because of this exposure on such an intimate level, he was
able to learn to understand their unique struggles in society and decided to
dedicate his life to fighting for LGBTQ equality.
Of all the work he has
accomplished, his current projects with G4E are the most impressive and
creative. First of all, through surveys that he has put out through Grindr in
the San Francisco area, Harrison-Quintana has found that there is a disparity
in PrEP, an HIV prevention medication, prescriptions between races. Due to his
findings, he is able to use geotargeting to place ads in underrepresented areas
on the app in both English and Spanish. This ensures that the gap is closed by
providing access and resources for low-income LGBTQ community members.
Harrison-Quintana has also
expanded his reach beyond the United States. He currently has two major projects
in Lebanon and Indonesia. Again, by using the Grindr app to geotarget, he is
able to determine the area where displaced refugees in
both locations are settling most frequently. Can you imagine being both an
outsider due to your sexual orientation/gender identity but also an outsider culturally
and linguistically? With all of their troubles: not being able to speak a new
language, not knowing their rights in their new location, not having access to
hormones and other medication, etc, G4E posts ads that indicate resources and
assistance for those in need. This work that Jack is doing is lifesaving!
It is clear through his career
path and the way he talks about what he does that he is extremely passionate
about LGBTQ and racial equality. By using his resources as the directory of the
non-profit branch of a well-known company in combination with modern
technology, Harrison-Quintana is able to improve the lives of countless LGBTQ
community members. There is no doubt that Jack Harrison-Quintana has earned a
spot in the top 100 of the “Most Creative People 2016.”
Hookup apps like Tinder or Grindr so often get a bad rep, and it was refreshing to hear a new perspective on this one! Oftentimes, our generation is seen as attention-seeking, short-sighted, and shallow, with a focus on instant gratification. Jack's work, however, is an example of taking something that has in a way come to represent those stereotypes, a hookup app, and using it as a platform for long-term societal change and improvement. His work is also an example of companies or individuals taking user data, something else that gets immediate bad reactions, and using it to create positive change. I had never thought of the other uses for dating app data, but this opens up a whole new area of information that people were much more private about 50 years ago. In fact, even having a dating app specifically targeted to the LGBT community is a sign of progress, and I love the steps Jack is taking to further it.
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