Cultivate Empathy for All

Our philosophy:
We are more interconnected and interdependent in our world than we think. Our ecosystem is built on the principle of interconnectedness. While science allows us to understand few of the interactions in ecosystem, the entire image of our interconnectedness with other individuals, species and environment is still beyond our intellectual grasp. But we certainly understood the importance of having a system built on the principle of interconnection. As a result, we developed our social, economic and political systems that rely on our interconnectedness. The ability to see the entire system with its interacting parts is called System Thinking. Nature has given us a tool in order to successfully coexist in perfect harmony with our interconnected surrounding. This precious gift is our ability to empathize with others. Empathy comes from the Greek empatheia—em (into) and pathos (feeling)—a penetration, a kind of travel. Empathy is our ability to connect with others physically, psychologically and emotionally. But the misconception that the greater fulfillment lies within hoarding more “toys” has deteriorated the truth of interconnection from our awareness. The resultant individualism born out of greed gives rise to our social, economic and environmental issues and injustice

Our approach:
Cultivate Empathy for All is a volunteer group of empathy enthusiasts who are bringing back the culture of empathy in government, business and social work sectors through system thinking. We reach out to various groups, companies and organizations in the community and provide free presentations on ways in which empathy could be applied in their context and setting.
Volunteers also experience benefits. Through this work, volunteers grow their skillset, deepen their practice of empathy for all, and develop a culture of empathy in our community. It is a win-win for both presenters and audience members.
But this is only one of the ways to address the issue of limited Empathy. Therefore, we invite all social innovative thinkers to come together on this platform and create various ways of cultivating Empathy for all in our world.

About the launch event:
At our event, we will provide a presentation on Empathy Through System Thinking in Government. It will include 1) summary of the biggest consequences faced by humankind due to short sighted government regulations 2) System thinking-ability to see the interconnected nature of our social, economic and environmental systems 3) Empathy-a gift to co-exist in perfect harmony with our interconnected surrounding 4) Empathy through system thinking in Berkeley council to develop a healthier community for all.
At Cultivate Empathy for All, we understand corpocracy is an obstacle for a local government to be solely run for community interest. Election campaign is one of the doors through which corporate money enters in the government. As a result, we are providing a free platform for Berkeley council candidates to reach the hearts of community residents.
At this event, we will also have community leaders (chief guests) who will speak about their work in cultivating empathy for all.