Client · 1997–1999
Starbright Foundation
Technology for seriously ill children
Role: Software Engineer (via Digital Evolution)
Organization
What the company did
The Starbright Foundation—supported by figures such as Steven Spielberg and General Norman Schwarzkopf—created technology experiences to help children living with serious illnesses feel less alone.
Relationship
How I relate to it
Through Digital Evolution I helped build Starbright World: moderated chat, educational content, multimedia, and live video conferencing for hospitalized children—years before social networking had a name.
Influence
What stayed with me
Visiting UCLA Medical Center and watching children use what we built permanently changed how I think about technology. Nearly thirty years later, Triangle Health still feels like a return to that purpose.
Projects
Work from this chapter
Starbright Foundation · 1997 – 1999
Starbright World — a social network before social networks
An early online community that gave seriously ill children moderated chat, profiles, educational multimedia, and live video so long hospital stays felt less isolating.
Read the case studyPeople
People I worked with
Collaborators from this organization who appear in the People directory.
Fractional CTO at SourceSeek · Technical Lead, Starbright World
Dave led the technical direction for a product that crossed classic web development, desktop multimedia, custom real-time networking, and early Intel video hardware. His role was essential in turning an unusually ambitious healthcare-community concept into software children could depend on.
Healthcare technology founder · Project Manager, Starbright World
Howard gave me two memories that have lasted for decades. He took Vu and me to UCLA to see children using Starbright World, permanently changing how I thought about software’s human impact. Later, while celebrities were recording audio for the application, he asked Melissa Joan Hart to leave me a surprise message: “Berk is the greatest!”
UI Designer, Starbright World at Digital Evolution
James translated the product direction into the interface screens children used. His designs gave the experience its warm, non-clinical visual language, and Vu and I painstakingly reproduced those details in the application.
Founder, Civic Design Studio · Product Designer, Starbright World
Tommy shaped the overall product and interaction design for Starbright World. Vu and I worked carefully to preserve his intent in the implementation—the gentle movement, approachable navigation, and sense of belonging were fundamental product requirements, not visual decoration.
Software Engineer, Starbright World at Digital Evolution
Vu and I built the Starbright World experience side by side. I still remember him running to the third floor of our Brentwood office while I initiated a ProShare call from my desk—the first time live desktop video felt real. Howard later took both of us to UCLA to see children in the oncology department using what we had built.
Connected
Related organizations
Themes
What defined the work
Elsewhere