“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus for creating change.” – Max Carver

We think Max Carver got it right and that if we truly care about community building and making positive changes in the world, we have to invest in learning about how to become even more empathic as empathy is at the heart of true understanding. We asked some deeply empathic leaders to share their perspectives below.

Subha Sundaram

The conditions that allowed me to develop my empathy stem from both personal and professional experiences. Working on HEPA (Health Economic Policy Advocates), I’ve been deeply involved in understanding the struggles students face with health recovery, especially as it intersects with economic barriers. As my team and I come from backgrounds in economics and health systems, we’ve seen how these challenges affect student well-being on both a personal and systemic level. Read More>>

Dashaun Archer

The conditions that allowed me to develop my empathy stem from my exposure to diverse perspectives, the ability to analyze human emotions deeply, and my design to assist and understand others. Read More>>

Amber Henderson

Working customer service type jobs really developed my ability to empathize with people. The year was 2002, I was working as a barista in an upscale shopping center. There was a lady that came in every day for her coffee. One day when she came in, I took her order and as I handed her her drink, she said that she liked that I was always pleasant and positive no matter how busy shop was. She told me that she was a manager at one of the clothing stores located in the shopping center.  Read More>>

Max Yee

Growing up with ADHD, I had many opportunities to learn about suffering and misery through my own lived experiences of having to survive within the school system and my day-to-day misunderstandings. Over time, I made an active attempt to try to understand other people’s perspectives and experiences the way I wished others understood me. Eventually, the empathy I developed became the foundation for my compassion.  Read More>>