Ashoka's Empathy Initiative advocates for embedding empathy into education and society, emphasizing its importance for personal and communal success in a rapidly changing world. The initiative aims to cultivate understanding and demand for empathy as a crucial life skill, mobilizing educators, parents, and social entrepreneurs to promote empathy learning from early childhood. By collaborating with influential schools and organizations, Ashoka seeks to develop models that integrate empathy as a core learning objective, thereby transforming educational environments.

1. ASHOKA’S
EMPATHY
INITIATIVE

2. “In this time of economic hardship, political
instability, and rapid technological change, empathy
is the one quality we most need if we’re going to
survive and flourish in the 21st century.” Arianna Huffington
“I want my son to be respected in his classroom not because he
got a perfect on his SAT’s, not because he’s the smartest kid in the
class. I want him to be respected because he’s the best teacher in
the class; because he communicates well; because he has empathy
for his peers; because he’s always willing to stop what he is doing to
help one of his friends.” Sal Khan, Khan Academy
“Leadership is about empathy. It is about
having the ability to relate to and connect
with people for the purpose of inspiring and
empowering their lives.” Oprah Winfrey

3. “If you aren’t given the tools of applied empathy
as a young child, we shouldn’t be blaming you – we
should be blaming us. We have to have a revolution
so that all young people grasp empathy and practice
it. This is the most fundamental revolution that we
have to get through.”
Bill Drayton, Founder and CEO, Ashoka

4. WHAT IS EMPATHY?
The ability to understand the
feelings and perspectives of others
and to use that understanding to
guide one’s actions.

6. imagine a
world where
every child
masters
empathy

7. where
empathy is as
fundamental
as reading and
math in early
education

8. where parents
prioritize
empathy in
their children,
and help them
develop it

9. where
institutions
cultivate
empathy
learning and
practice

10. It’s time to

11. Start Empathy is a global
network of social entrepreneurs,
educators, thought leaders,
parents, young people, business
leaders, journalists, universities,
philanthropists and others who
are connecting, collaborating, and
aligning knowledge and resources
to make empathy learning a
norm, particularly in childhood.

13. The world is changing—faster than ever
before—from a society run by elites to a
society in which everyone can drive change.
In this new world, empathy plays a crucial
role in innovation, changemaking, and solving
entrenched systemic problems. We need the
skill of applied empathy to :

17. 1. CHANGE THE CONVERSATION
Creating a world in which every child masters empathy as readily as they do math or
reading will not be the work of one or two players in education, or even a few hundred.
It demands all of us. Ashoka seeks to catalyze a shift in mindset across society,
helping educators, parents, and others understand more clearly what success looks
like in today’s rapidly changing world, and why it’s essential that children grow up
mastering empathy and other skills that will enable them to be effective changemakers
throughout their adult lives.

18. Through strategic use of
digital and traditional media,
and both online and offline
events and actions, we will
cultivate understanding of
and demand for empathy as
an essential skill.
Start empathy, please
(and start it in schools)

19. We are partnering with leading
organizations to reach parents, educators,
students and thought leaders to promote
empathy learning and practice.

20. 2. ACCELERATE EMPATHY ENTREPRENEURS
Ashoka has a critical mass of Fellows who are currently working with children and
young people, as well as many others whose innovations contribute to a more
empathetic society. We are mobilizing this community to collaborate toward the vision
of a world where every child masters empathy. We are also identifying and electing new
Ashoka Fellows who are developing pattern-changing models that will cultivate deeper
collective capacities for empathy across society.

21. Jill Vialet, Eric Dawson, Mary Gordon, Molly Barker,
Playworks Peace First Roots of Girls on the run
Cultivating safe Partnering with Pre-K-8 Empathy Using physical and
early environments schools to build safe, emotional training to help
Bringing babies into girls challenge the status
for play. effective school climates classrooms to help quo and see themselves
where children learn how students understand as part of a healthy,
to be engaged and their feelings and the
79% active citizens. feelings of others.
well-balanced society.
of teachers said that
bullying at recess has 400,000
decreased 95% 39%
girls served in the US &
Canada since 1996
of students said that decreased social
65% they understand how
aggression of students 191
said that more other people feel
active councils in 46
students have
on-task behavior in 84% 78% states, and 37,000
increased helping volunteers engaged in
the classroom said that they want to behavior of students 2010-2011 alone
come to school more

22. 3. TIP ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Ashoka is identifying influential elementary schools and school networks—public,
public charter, and private—that are ready to help lead this transformation in education.
We are collaborating with these schools to develop and showcase models of school
environments that integrate empathy as a core learning objective and strategy. With
these model schools and the Initiative’s other partners, we seek to inspire and enable
other schools to clearly identify, and then assess, the habits and skills young people
need to be effective, solution-oriented, empathetic citizens.

23. Many schools across the country
are modeling the impact of making
empathy a priority and how to do it.

24. By engaging the
most influential of
these schools around
the Start Empathy
vision, connecting
them to the Start
Empathy network,
highlighting their
efforts, and distilling
and broadcasting
their core strategies,
we’re helping
accelerate these
schools’ leadership
in transforming
education.

25. Contact:
empathy@ashoka.org
http://empathy.ashoka.org