[Archive Interview from Jun 17, 2025]

In this powerful HOW Conversation, HOW founder Dov Seidman sits down with Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action and author of Fired Up, to explore how an ordinary moment turned into a national movement. Shannon shares how moral courage, storytelling, and a refusal to quit helped build the nation’s largest grassroots group fighting gun violence. 

They discuss: 

• How Shannon turned outrage into organized action after Sandy Hook 
• Lessons on scaling a movement from passion to institution 
• Why “losing forward” is key to long-term change 
• The practice of pausing, humility, and handing over power 
• Her new book Fired Up – part manifesto, part roadmap for reigniting purpose 

Whether you’re an activist, leader, or someone seeking your next bold step, this conversation is for you. 

READY TO START YOUR MORAL LEADERSHIP JOURNEY? Moral leadership is more imperative today than ever before. The HOW Institute for Society was founded on the belief that those in positions of formal authority should also have moral authority.  We are creating the tools leaders need to make principled, ethical and values-based decisions.  We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a world rooted in deep human values and trust in our social fabric. The Institute channels philosophical reasoning to address modern problems. Today, HOW we do what we do matters more than ever and in ways it never has before.  

Learn more at https://thehowinstitute.org/