“I will get things done for America, to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier…”

This is the first line of the AmeriCorps Pledge that I took more than 15 years ago, and I still remember it to this day. As I reflect on the journey that led me to write my upcoming book, Empathy for Change: How to Create a More Understanding World, I’m reminded of this pledge and the quote that convinced me to join AmeriCorps in the first place:

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world…

On Tuesday, May 18, I gave the opening Keynote at the 2021 AIGA DotGov Design Conference entitled “Prioritizing Empathy to Achieve Lasting Change,” and shared lessons learned from my three years working between two White House Administrations.

This is the second post of a six-part series that will review the main points of the keynote to share with a wider audience. By the end of this series, you’ll learn what is blocking progress and change in this sector, and meet some incredible humans who are creating a better world. …

George, this resonates with me on so many levels. Thank you for your vulnerability, and for sharing these stories. It's so pervasive in design, and civic design as well.

I certainly have felt this in larger institutions and in management consulting when it's everyone out for themselves and increasing the amount of money we suck from our clients to build the business. I have been a product of this world, yet I've also been blinded by the trauma I experienced. I didn't think it would get any better where I was leading innovation efforts. I was so wrong--being on the…

Last Thursday I co-hosted a conversation with Arlene Corbin Lewis, the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for Code for America in Clubhouse. We were joined by Jasmyn Latimer, Service Design Lead for Code for America; John Foster II, COO of Fearless Tech; and Stephen Chang and Tom Malarkey of the National Equity Project. They shared their experiences building equity in their design practices, and eventually the world.

Below is my opening remarks, which I gleaned from my recently published book: Empathy for Change.

I’ve spent my career as a “public entrepreneur” that has witnessed an emerging new power world —…

Antionette Carroll was raised by her grandmother in St. Louis (in the historically underinvested municipalities of Kinloch and Normandy), Missouri. Her grandmother “was the epitome of a strong black woman…When I think about what I wanted to be in life, I always looked to her, because she seemed like she could handle it all,” says Carroll. “One of the things I also started to recognize was that she was a product of trauma, and tried to hold everything in.”

The year 2014 proved to be important for Carroll. Antionette started her year off with a New Year’s resolution to follow…

This is the fifth of seven case studies that go into more depth into organizations and leaders who lead with empathy and creating systemic change in the world. They are referenced in the book Empathy for Change: How to Create a More Understanding World.

Mari Nakano believes the roots of empathy start at a young age. “It is tied to a number of factors like who your parents were, and what kind of challenges you faced and where you grew up. …

It’s my birthday! Please purchase a copy of Empathy for Change if you haven’t already, and if you have already done so, I would love, love, to have you write a review of it. Here’s a review guide to help you to do so!

On a personal note: I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on where I was last year versus where I have landed this year. To say that this year has been nearly the polar opposite of where I was last year is an understatement. I was on the West Coast in a Fellowship away from my…

This is the third of seven case studies that go into more depth into organizations and leaders who lead with empathy and creating systemic change in the world. They are referenced in the book Empathy for Change: How to Create a More Understanding World.

When I met Monica Curca at a local coffee shop, she had just recently moved back to the Washington, DC area from Orange County, California, where she was actively engaged in peace-building activities at the US-Mexico border detention centers for migrants formed during the Trump Administration. …