“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.
Mel Sangyi Zhao
One of the reasons I really love being a filmmaker is that it makes me the best version of human being that I can be. First of all, to be a better writer, I have to learn to truly observe people. I have to learn to see them as they are, not as what I want to or don’t want to see them to be. Read more>>
Sophia Holloway
**The Birth of Empathy in a Year of Upheaval** Memphis, 1968. The air was thick with smoke, sorrow, and the sound of voices demanding change. It was the year Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated just miles from where I was born—a year when America itself was convulsing, gasping, and grasping for justice. Read more>>
Sara Meinking
I grew up with a parent who lived with a disability. This was back in the 70’s-80’s, when the disability acts were just coming into play, businesses weren’t required to provide ADA logistics into place that would make life a little less challenging for those with a disability. Read more>>
Rebecca Hurt
Being an actress has helped me develop empathy. I find that my wanting to be an actress was just another way of expressing my purpose of creating space and connections for others to express the things that they may not have had the opportunity to express. When you create these spaces, you are able to see that we are all the same on the inside. Read more>>
Jan Dunn
Listening. Listening is the portal to many things and empathy is one of them. I’m the youngest of six children and we all came in different shapes and sizes. Just like everyone, I had to go through immaturity, struggle, celebrations, and tragedy to realize that being heard and accepted is a basic human need. Read more>>
Christina ‘UB’ Munny
This is an intriguing question because I’ve always had an intense sense of empathy from a very young age, but only recently grew back into that sense of empathy. Read more>>
Brittny Button
I think empathy has always been at the heart of who I am, and it’s one of the strongest values I try to live by and teach my children. For me, empathy isn’t just a trait—it’s a daily practice. If we don’t have empathy, what do we really have? It’s the foundation for how we connect with others and build real, meaningful relationships. Read more>>
Allyson Galloway
In my life family and friends have struggled, some with addiction, some with alcoholism but through it all I still wanted to take care of them. I was raised in the Catholic Church and above all else you were taught forgiveness. I have learned all my life to forgive those around me for the mistakes they’ve made. Read more>>
RaShaye Freeman
I believe empathy is an action word. It goes beyond just relating to the feelings and experiences of others as if they were my own. True empathy is to feel deep compassion for the holistic well-being of others. True empathy is to feel compelled to do what I can to alleviate suffering and to promote healing. Read more>>
