ONE vision

Elif (she/her) is the founding president of ONE - Organization of Networks for Empathy, and the editor of Fostering Empathy Through Museums (2016), and Designing for Empathy (2019), which are considered reference books in empathy-building through museums, a new field of inquiry she pioneered in 2014. Elif Gokcigdem developed Designing for Empathy® as an intellectual framework, and an international platform for multidisciplinary, multisector, and multicultural collaborations to deepen our understanding of empathy, and to develop strategies, scholarship, and empathy-building experiences that consider the wellbeing of the whole —all of humanity and our planet. In 2018, Elif curated and co-chaired the world’s first summit on Fostering Universal Ethics and Compassion through Museums with His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India. Elif grew up in Istanbul, Turkey, studying history of art, Islamic art and mysticism, and later, museum studies in the U.S.. Elif’s 30 years of professional experience includes academia, museums, and a  corporation where she established and led major strategic international partnerships in arts, culture, museums, and biodiversity conservation around the world.