The Role of Empathy in Entrepreneurship
"What does empathy look like in action, and how can you incorporate [it] into your business model?" Ashoka, a non-profit organization that looks to entrepreneurial talent and new ideas to solve complex social problems, posed this very radical question. In response, three social enterprises from around the world shared their stories on how they build empathy and compassion. Their methods range fr... posted on May 26 2015, 17,198 reads

Turning To Gift To Cure His Cancer & Society
Faced with the harsh reality of being diagnosed with stomach cancer, Brice Royer took a leap of faith and became voluntarily unemployed and turned his focus towards living in a 'gift economy'. With his belief that the gift economy "is an important way to reduce social stress and isolation...which leads to healing," Royer's story has caught the attention of many. Read more about his remarkable jour... posted on May 25 2015, 22,843 reads

How Science Helps Us Find the Good
How do we find the good in this world when troubles seem so near? Is it by way of gratitude and kindness, and turning away from all thought that impedes? This lovely article explores the many ways in which we can begin to cultivate our longer-term inner evolution by way of our awareness of good.... posted on May 24 2015, 14,953 reads

Street Cuts
Mark Bustos cuts hair in an upscale salon in New York City. But on Sundays, his only day off, he roams the streets looking for anyone in need who would appreciate a haircut. What started as a response to the poverty he saw in the Philippines while on vacation, has become a weekly habit of giving back to the people that need it the most. This video is the first in a series that follows Bustos as he... posted on May 23 2015, 2,960 reads

How To Forge A Mentoring Relationship
Author Paulo Coelho once wrote that a teacher isn't someone who simply teaches something, but rather someone who inspires the student to give their best. To that end, we must consider those who have most inspired our lives - and the benefits they've shared as we've grown. In this article, Patrick Cook-Deegan explores the many ways in which we might deepen the mentoring relationship, in order to cr... posted on May 22 2015, 27,563 reads

What Fosters True Freedom?
What is it that fosters true freedom? Is it the education of our youth, or the breaking through of social barriers? In this lovely article, Ashoka Fellow Kim Feinberg presents what she believes to be the answer--a holistic education which garners respect, and builds upon the energy of toleration and compassion. It is from this premise that The Tomorrow Trust was born -- a non-profit organization h... posted on May 21 2015, 8,666 reads

Grow a Key Inner Strength
As the complications of life start to build -- whether it is health issues, financial concerns, or relationship problems -- it's important to find resources that enable you to skilfully navigate these challenges. And some of the best resources -- like mindfulness, compassion and determination -- are ones that already lie within you. Psychologist Rick Hanson, Founder of the Wellspring Institute for... posted on May 20 2015, 16,248 reads

Is There a Fingerprint for Compassion?
As society continues to learn more and more from scientific research when it come to things like medicine and the environment, it has also led to something that might be a little more surprising: matters of the heart, or more simply … compassion. With the help of several scientific teams, researchers are starting to discover that one of the main nerves in the body might just be the fingerpri... posted on May 19 2015, 13,344 reads

Reforming The Prison System: Shaka Senghor & #Cut50
Convicted of the murder of a fellow drug dealer, Shaka Senghor spent seven of his 19 years in prison in solitary confinement -- a bare six by eight-foot cell. Today he leads a new initiative to transform the justice system by cutting the U.S. prison population in half by 2025. His message of personal and political transformation provides us with an opportunity to question the enormous costs of cag... posted on May 18 2015, 12,193 reads

Stitches of Hope
"Kay Eva was travelling through rural Cambodia on the day she realized her life calling. She was with a group handing out supplies to those in need when they approached a devastatingly poor family living under sheets of tin." What she learned that day changed her life and the lives of several Cambodians whom Eva's non-profit Stitches Of Hope serves. In this article, the author describes Eva's fe... posted on May 17 2015, 15,539 reads