“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.
Najah Elessie
The word “empathy” is so important for me. My whole life is based on this word. It’s an incredible ability to be able to place yourself in someone else’s shoes. I had a life that included a lot of trauma and a lot of pain. But the GIFT that pain gives is empathy. The privilege to say, I went through something similar and I understand your pain point and I can meet you where you are. It’s so important to human connection, so important for humanity. It’s really a superpower. Read more>>
Jake Kenobi
It was overcoming my worst bout of depression. When I was able to look back on things, I realized how much pain I hid from everyone in my life. From there it dawned on me that everyone does that to some extent, giving me immense empathy for the hidden struggles. While depression is still a part of my life, I’m able to ride those waves so much better thanks to an incredible therapist and a new, empathetic outlook. Read more>>
Lisann Valentin
I am naturally very empathic but for me, growing up in a loving yet turbulent household was the training ground for this highly sensitive person who could sense and feel the energy of a room acutely.
Growing in these gifts meant that I got to expand from cultivating safety around me to safety within me. I think that’s the ticket for a lot of us who have experienced the same as highly intuitive creatives and visionaries; once we focus inward the external begins to shift. Read more>>
Ebony Williams
Growing up in Detroit, I was surrounded by the realities of health disparities from a young age. Access to quality healthcare, third spaces, and fresh food was often limited, and I witnessed firsthand how people in my community struggled not only with those challenges, although at that time, no one focused on the concept of “you’re poor”. We pitched in and supported each other and we managed. Read more>>
Alaina Vargas, Pnp-bc
Having struggled with many skin conditions myself, including eczema and acne, I can relate to my patient’s struggle. I found little relief with conventional medicine and was on the strongest steroids created. Then my daughter developed eczema and watching her struggle was heart-wrenching. Because I experienced these struggles as both a patient and a parent, I can easily relate and empathize with my patients and their families. Read more>>
Alessandra Okuma
Since childhood, I never had an easy lifestyle to begin with, which created a deep empathetic impact on my character. Growing up in a family that lacked stability is what taught me the most about understanding others through their own trials, tribulations, and traumas. Due to my own experiences with drug addiction, drug-addicted parents, poverty, abuse, housing displacement, and feeling as if at every turn the world was against me, created this deep desire in me to put myself in others’ shoes, to not only, embody gratitude in my own unsavory situations, but to understand that every person goes through their own unsatisfactory experiences, some worse than others, that molds them into the person they are in the given moment. Read more>>
Lilly Risch
Living overseas during my middle and high school years was a difficult experience that deeply developed my sense of empathy. Immersed in diverse cultures and communities, I was constantly exposed to different ways of life, beliefs, and perspectives. This firsthand experience of navigating unfamiliar environments and building relationships with people from varied backgrounds helped me appreciate the nuances of human emotions and experiences. Read more>>
Christopher Livingston
Ever since I was a child I’ve been empathetic. I’ve always been sensitive and able to put myself in someone else’s shoes. Understand where they’re coming from. Almost to a fault. I cant remember a specific moment that allowed me to develop empathy, it’s just always been there. Maybe it’s because I’m an actor. I think on some level every actor has to be able to empathize in order to tell a story. At least to be able to tell it truthfully. Read more>>
