Liz Howald

It looks like a coffee shop, but Liz’s goal with the cafe she owns is to be a soft place to land. And her unique skills, backgrounds and passions come together to do just that: not just for her customers, but also for her team.

What makes you feel proud?

I feel proud when someone tells me I am a good friend. I feel proud when I see my children demonstrating kindness and inclusiveness, when I see them showing curiosity and determination. I feel proud when I can tell that my husband and I are successfully modeling the values that we hope our children will grow to appreciate and embody. And, I feel really proud when I manage to pour a beautiful latte...it's a lot harder than it looks!

What’s the single biggest problem you’d like to solve in your community?

Ever since I was young, I have been hyper-aware of how pre-conceptions of "the other" (other races, other religions, other cultures, other socio-economic groups) shape how we interact with and treat people at the micro and macro level. I spent most of my college, grad school and post-graduate career working to understand how ideas of "the other" are formed and how education can be used to combat dangerous stereotypes. I think that the tendency to dehumanize "the other" is at the root of so many community struggles. I hope to find ways that we can foster connection and conversation that will promote understanding and change in the broader community.

One year from today, how do you hope you’re different?

I hope that I'm a little more comfortable answering "Yes" to all of those "Am I doing enough?" questions. Not necessarily because I'm doing more, but because I'm more at peace with the idea that "I am enough."

“I hope to find ways that we can foster connection and conversation that will promote understanding and change in the broader community.”

What keeps you up at night?

I think, like a lot of women, I struggle with the question of "Am I doing enough?" Am I doing enough to guarantee that someday, when I'm old and gray, I will look back on the life I've lived, the things I've done, the choices I've made and the people I have served and feel like I did enough with all the chances I've been given?