This event is made possible by Threshold Society

Selçuk started his Sufi journey in 1988. He studied and learned to play the ney with Halil İbrahim Yunga and started whirling with his Mevlevi Shaikh Nail Kesova. Selçuk took Classical Turkish Music classes with the famous music master Kani Karaca. Since then, he has had the opportunity to work with many Shaikhs and music masters. Selçuk became a member of the International Galata Mevlevi and Music Ensemble in 1990. He took part in many international festivals and workshops as a Director, Chief Ney (Turkish reed flute), and Kudüm (rhythm instrument used in Turkish classical music) player. He is also a vocalist/soloist in Mevlevi order ceremonies. Selçuk has taken part in over 250 international festivals and educational seminars around the world.

The Threshold Society is rooted within the traditions of Sufism and inspired by the life and work of Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi, is a non-profit educational foundation with the purpose of facilitating the experience of Divine Unity, Love, and Truth in the world. Sufism is a living tradition of human transformation through love and higher consciousness. The Threshold Society is affiliated with the Mevlana Foundation, founded by Celalettin Celebi and recognized by UNESCO as the authentic representative of the Mevlevi tradition.

Dervishes from around the world will join us to recite Rumi's poetry, play the reed flute, and whirl to offer us a unique shared experience of a living tradition.

CT Anderson is the Founder and Creative Director of Springclean, an organization dedicated to the circular economy of textiles. An experienced corporate executive, she currently serves as Senior Vice President in Environmental, Social, Governance for a US-based, global bank. 

Over the last 20 years she has held roles in the private and public sector on issues of environmental and social impact. Most notably, the retailers: Belk Department Stores and Walmart. She has consulted for numerous organizations and worked in real estate development.

She has traveled to over 40 countries, speaks several languages and enjoys traveling with her family all over the world.

Ibrahim is an impact-driven experience strategist and designer currently completing his MBA at INSEAD in France and teaching Social Innovation Design at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). He's driven to create empathetic, human-centered products that address individual and collective needs. He most recently launched Justli, a racial justice lifestyle service empowering people to continuously learn, act, and grow. Previously Ibrahim was a management consultant at PwC working across industries with clients ranging from global Fortune 100 firms to local nonprofits. He's published several articles and spoken at conferences internationally on topics at the intersection of design thinking and society. Ibrahim completed his Master's in Systems Engineering and BSE in Computer Science from Penn and also holds certifications in Cultural Ethnography, User Experience, Visual Thinking for Human-Centered Design, and habits coaching. 

Erika Blumenfeld is a transdisciplinary artist, writer, and researcher whose practice is motivated by the wonder of natural phenomena and the links between nature and culture. Her work explores how the emotion of wonder might activate social and ecological connection and promote kindness toward other humans, other species, and our natural world. Examining entanglements between ecology, geology, astronomy, cosmochemistry, and meaning-making, her work as a whole intends to study the notion of an embodied relationship with the cosmos—that we are, in our very chemistry, of and from the stars. Blumenfeld often works in collaboration with scientists and research institutions, including NASA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, McDonald Observatory, and the South African National Antarctic Program. Her work has been exhibited and published widely, and is the recipient of many awards, including Guggenheim and Smithsonian Fellowships, a Rauschenberg Foundation Artist-in-Residence, and a Creative Capital Award, among others.

Sarah Brenkert (she/hers) is the principal evaluator at the Seattle Aquarium. In addition to her work as a social science researcher, Sarah has a background in informal learning theory, exhibit design and development, and early childhood education. Sarah holds Master of Science in early childhood and elementary education from Bank Street College of Education in New York City, and formerly held leadership positions in education and evaluation at the Children’s Museum of Denver and at Denver Zoo. Sarah is insatiably curious about how and what people learn and feel when they spend time in zoos, aquariums, museums and science centers. Sarah's favorite part of her job is working with others to ask interesting questions and explore stories of impact and transformation in free-choice learning spaces.

Working in museums for more than twenty years, Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko believes they have the power to change lives, inspire movements, and challenge authority. A museum director since 2001, she is a frequent presenter at national museum meetings and is often asked to comment on museum issues. As the president and CEO of the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, she served as one of the motivational forces behind the Museum’s decolonization initiative, working with the Wabanaki communities in Maine to develop policies and protocols to ensure collaboration and cooperation. In September 2019, Cinnamon joined the Illinois State Museum (Springfield) as its new director. In 2016 Cinnamon gave her first TEDx talk, We Must Decolonize Our Museums (www.tedxdirigo.com). Her most recent book: Inclusive Museum Leader, a compilation of essays she edited with Chris Taylor is published in 2021 by the American Alliance of Museums.

Nitin is a forest filmmaker. He tells stories of uncommon people and extraordinary forests. His YouTube channel has over 1.8 million subscribers. He is the founder of the Healing Forest project --a resource of ideas using creativity and mindfulness to tap into the healing powers of nature. Nitin is an Asia Society Fellow, being one amongst 21 people chosen from across Asia each year. He has also won a special award by the British Council for creative entrepreneurship in the social sector.

Ryan Driscoll (he/him) has spent over ten years working in formal and informal science education with a focus on environmental justice, youth development, and community conservation. Through this work, he has had the opportunity to see first-hand how empathy can help people connect across differences and also connect to non-human beings.  A self-described JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Knight, he has a passion for helping others develop their skills and talents while working to dismantle inequitable systems.  His most recent work has focused around mentoring graduate students in co-creating community conservation programs and facilitating workshops focused on empathy and inclusion.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the design and architectural field, Anne is responsible for design and execution of museum experiences at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. In her role as Senior Director of the Center for Creative Experiences, she oversees the Museum’s  exhibits, collections, arts programs, design consulting and business development programs, leading complex design teams consisting of artists, scientists and researchers. In addition, she is leading the Museum’s inclusive design initiative, working with cultural organizations in Pittsburgh to make the city a hub for accessibility in the arts. In 2014, Anne was the lead designer for “XOXO: An Exhibit About Love and Forgiveness”, a traveling exhibition designed to further the principles of love and forgiveness. Since joining the Museum of Pittsburgh in 2006, Anne has contributed to the development Museum's Play with Real Stuff design philosophy for informal learning environments.

Dave Glenn became the Volunteer Engagement Manager at the Seattle Aquarium in 2018, stewarding a program with 1,251 volunteers annually who provided more than 113,000+ hours of service in 2018.  Prior to this role, Dave served as Youth Engagement Coordinator at the Aquarium, responsible for leading the Youth Ocean Advocates volunteer program which engages 250+ young people annually in service at the Aquarium and in our community. Recently, the Youth Ocean Advocates volunteer program received the Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s Significant Achievement Award for Volunteer Programs.  Dave has served as the Director of Volunteer Services at Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center and in a variety of education and volunteer management roles at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. 

Dr. Gokcigdem is an author, thought leader, and founder of ONE - Organization of Networks for Empathy, a platform that enables a global community of empathy-builders to gather for exploration, collaboration, and innovation under the umbrella of Designing for Empathy™ framework, summits, and workshops. Designing for Empathy™ is a framework pioneered by Dr. Gokcigdem, which enables multicultural and transdisciplinary experts from around the world to collaborate across sectors to deepen our explorations, understanding, and experimentations of empathy and empathy-building with the goal of developing solutions to eliminate the empathy deficit in our world.  Dr. Gokcigdem’s pioneering Empathy-Building through Museums Initiative was recognized by His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama in 2018 with an invitation to curate the world’s first summit on: Fostering Universal Ethics and Compassion Through Museums Summit with Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India. The content of this inaugural summit and workshops were informed by Dr. Gokcigdem's two books on the subject: Fostering Empathy Through Museums (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), and Designing for Empathy: Perspectives on the Museum Experience (American Alliance of Museums, 2019), which collectively became the seed for the Annual Designing for Empathy™ Summit & Workshops that enable ongoing collaboration through experimental workshops and transdisciplinary dialogue expanding our understanding of the role of empathy as a pathway to care, kindness, compassion, and love.

Elaine Heumann Gurian has worked in the museum field since1968, first as a community activist, then a director of museum education, and subsequently a professional deputy director for institutions dedicated to social justice and during the process of transforming themselves to address and embrace formerly marginalized groups. Starting in 1993, she has been a senior consultant to many government institutions worldwide -- local and national – dedicated to presenting a more fulsome and complex portrait of their history and people. Throughout her entire career, Gurian has been a teacher, writer, and mentor to community-based activist students and practitioners within the heritage field. Her work continues as an elder with the publication of her new book, Centering the Museum by Routledge - Taylor and Francis in 2021.

Brian Henderson has served as the Director of Glencairn Museum since 2013.

Glencairn’s founding mission is to engage visitors in the history of religion though the

Museum’s collections of art and artifacts that cross timelines and cultures from around

the world. Under Henderson’s leadership the Museum has refined that mission and

created an impact statement and interpretation plan with a clear focus on empathy.

Interpreting art, artifacts, and other ex- pressions of faith through the lens of religious

belief and practice, Glencairn Museum emphasizes the common human endeavor to

find higher meaning and purpose in our lives that unites people as human beings,

seeking to stimulate reflection, build understanding, and foster empathy among a

diverse audience.

Philip Himberg is the Executive Director of MacDowell. Philip oversees the creative mission as well as the financial well-being of the nation’s first multidisciplinary residency program. He arrived at MacDowell in May of 2019 from The Sundance Institute where he spent 23 years guiding all aspects of the Sundance Theatre Program, including its Theatre Labs and satellite residency programs in Massachusetts and Wyoming, and internationally in several locations in East Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. Under his aegis, the Institute’s Theatre labs have supported many hundreds of playwrights in the creation of important new work which has been produced across the U.S, off and on Broadway. Philip’s collaboration with IDEO produced “Creative Tensions”, a dynamic model for group conversation and discovery. Himberg is also a playwright, and his most recent play, Paper Dolls, had its world premiere at the Tricycle Theatre (now Kiln Theatre) in London in 2013 and its U.S. premier in Washington at Mosaic Theatre in 2018. He is a former member of the Tony Award Nomination Committee, served as past president of the Board of Theatre Communications Group and was a trustee of the Kiln Theatre, London. He has taught at NYU/ Tisch and the Yale Drama School. In addition to a B.A. from Oberlin College, Himberg holds a degree as a Doctor of Chinese Medicine, and previously was a practicing acupuncturist and herbalist. 

Zorana Ivcevic, PhD, is the Director of Creativity & Emotions Lab, and a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Ivcevic studies the role of emotion and emotion skills in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote emotion and creativity skills. She is Associate Editor of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, and the International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving. She collaborated with colleagues from Denmark, Spain, China, and Croatia and published her research in journals such as Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Personality, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Creativity Research Journal, Journal of Creative Behavior and others. Dr. Ivcevic received the Award for Excellence in Research from the Mensa Education and Research Foundation and the Berlyne Award for Outstanding Early Career Achievement in psychology of aesthetics, creativity, and the arts from the American Psychological Association. Zorana can be found at zoranaivcevicpringle.com and contacted at zorana.ivcevic@yale.edu or @ZoranaPsych.

Donna Jonte, Manager of Art and Wellness & Family Programs at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, works with all audiences, from PreK to older adults with dementia, developing and implementing programs that link art and wellness and combine viewing art, talking about art, and making art. Donna was named the DC Art Educator of the Year in 2019. Before becoming a museum educator, Donna wrote and edited for Belles Lettres: A Review of Books by Women and taught K-8 art for ten years at Friends Community School in College Park, Maryland. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in English Literature from Mills College and a Master’s in Teaching from George Mason University.

Zviko Kanyoka is a Project Coordinator at Play Africa. She has a background in architecture, where her architectural explorations have been a result of both conscious and subconscious weavings of building empathy and ecosystemic connections. As a dedicated spatial agent, placemaker and urbanist, she is currently working with Play Africa, a children’s museum, to expand on its history of  building communal empathy with and for children through various programmes and exhibits. She was a featured speaker/panelist at various events, including the inaugural RISE Africa Action festival 2021 by ICEI Africa, sharing her insights and passion on Designing Playful African Cities with Children. Her most recent work with Play Africa has been aiding with the development of a free and virtually accessible toolkit that offers urban professionals, educators and urban actors a proudly African perspective and approach to placemaking with and for children.

Kathayoon Khalil, PhD is the Director of Engagement for Zoo Advisors. Prior to joining Zoo Advisors, Kathayoon was the Conservation Impact Manager for the Oregon Zoo and the Principal Evaluator for the Seattle Aquarium. She received her PhD in Learning Sciences and Technology Design from Stanford University, her Masters of Environmental Science from the Yale School of the Environment and her Bachelors in Organismal Biology from Claremont McKenna College. Kathayoon is a conservation psychologist and a social scientist. Additionally, Kathayoon collaborates with colleagues from around the world on research projects to advance our understanding of learning in zoos and aquariums. Kathayoon is also a researcher for Fostering Empathy for Animals, a joint project among the Seattle Aquarium, the Woodland Park Zoo, and the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. In this capacity, Kathayoon participates in publications, public speaking engagements, and conducts workshops on empathy development and measurement. 

Will Kittel, Empathy Fellowship Coordinator, is passionate about the transformative impact of approaching work with an anti-racist and empathy-based lens. Will joined the Seattle Aquarium from the local Seattle political realm where she was a community organizer and manager of various political internships and fellowships. Through her nonprofit career Will has developed an extensive knowledge in building fellowship and internship programs from the ground-up. Outside of work, Will loves to discuss pop culture and be in community with fellow trans Women of Color.

Susan Lanzoni is a writer and historian of psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience, who teaches at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She received her PhD in the history of science at Harvard University, and has taught history of science for over twenty years at Yale, Harvard, and the Ex College at Tufts. Her 2018 book, Empathy: A History, won the Cheiron best book prize in the history of the social sciences, and her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, American Scientist, Psychology Today and The Washington Post. In her new book in progress, “Enacting Empathies: How to cultivate the many different empathies for yourself, others, and the world,” Lanzoni elucidates the capacious nature of empathy through its bodily, emotional, cognitive and aesthetic dimensions.

Anna Rebecca (AR) is an evaluator, community organizer, and relationship-builder with over ten years in the cultural and informal learning sector. They have a Masters degree in Museology from the University of Washington, have experience working with grassroots collaborations, small community-based organizations, and large museums. AR joined Woodland Park Zoo as the Evaluation Specialist for the Empathy Collaborative Project - an initiative focused on community collaboration and co-design.

Adeeb Mahmud brings to FSG experience from the private, nonprofit, and international aid sectors, and has led projects across a range of clients in global development and health. Adeeb has advised some of the leading foundations, corporations, and nonprofits, including Pfizer, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Bank Group. His work focuses on global development, global health, and mission investing, involving strategy and evaluation projects. Adeeb has conducted field research in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa. Adeeb has also authored several FSG white papers on issues involving climate change, anti-corruption, and international corporate volunteering. Before FSG, Adeeb worked in business development of a start-up biotechnology company in Boston. Previously, he was a management consultant working with global health care clients. During graduate school, Adeeb co-founded IDEAS, an organization helping developing world nonprofits scale up through government funding. He has also worked for the World Bank in Washington and Bangladesh.He studied at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Masters in Public Policy, and was selected as a Harvard Reynolds Fellow for Social Enterprise. He received his BA in Middlebury College, cum laude, with honors in economics.

Alison Jane Martingano, Ph.D., is Postdoctorate IRTA at National Institutes of Health (NIH). She specializes in social, personality and health psychology. Her research investigates how people are able to understand each other, particularly how different types of communication, empathy and stereotypes influence people’s understanding of each other. She also investigates the impact of integrating technological advancements into human interactions. Alison Jane defended her Ph.D. in Cognitive, Social and Developmental Psychology in 2020 at the New School for Social Research. Alison Jane also holds an M.Phil. and M.A. in psychology from the New School for Social Research and a B.Sc. (hons) from the University of York. As a postdoctoral Researcher at the National Institute for Health she continues to use her methodological expertise to investigate emerging technologies for health benefits.
Alison Jane’s research has been published in academic journals such as Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, PLoS One, and Social and Personality Psychology Compass as well as being featured in programs such as BBC Radio 4, The Digital Human. She is the winner of several early career research and teaching awards and is a passionate educator, having held several teaching positions at various higher education institutions.

Monica O. Montgomery MA is a museum leader working at the nexus of equity, community and inclusion. She is the Curator of Social Justice, Special Projects + Programs + Social Justice, for the FUTURES exhibit presented by Smithsonian Institution, Arts + Industries Building. She has independently curated 40+ social justice, contemporary art and public history exhibits, experiences and festivals, with renowned organizations like the South African Embassy, Brooklyn Museum, Portland Art Museum, Teachers College, Woodlawn Mansion, Weeksville Heritage Center, The Highline, TheNew School and more. She is the CoFounder and strategic director of Museum Hue, leading the premiere multicultural group, in advancing the visibility and viability of BIPOC in museums, building diverse representation and equity.  Monica is a seasoned public speaker who frequently keynotes and panels at museum, arts, education and visitor experience conferences like SxSW edu, Association of Art Museum Curators. She gave a TedX talk entitled 'How To Be an Upstander', challenging everyone to stand up, speak up and act up for social good. Monica is a graduate professor teaching courses around Museums and Social Change at: American University, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Pratt Institute and NYU. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Broadcast Communication from Temple University and Masters of Arts in Corporate Communication from LaSalle University. She was featured and cited in the media on PBS Newshour, Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, Humans of New York, Fox, C-Span, Hyperallergic, Radio One, Black Art in America.

Mentored by Gregory Hines, Andrew Nemr is an international tap dance artist. As a performer, choreographer, educator and speaker, Andrew’s work explores tap dance as a vehicle for storytelling and community building, using his personal story to speak about identity, faith, and love. He has played with Grammy Award winning musicians across multiple genres, founded and directed the tap dance company Cats Paying Dues, and co-founded the Tap Legacy™ Foundation, Inc. (along with Hines). “A masterly tapper” (New York Times), Nemr’s work has been recognized with a TED Fellowship, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and residencies with BRICLab, More Art, and Surel’s Place. Nemr is recorded on the Grammy nominated recording Itsbynne Reel by Dave Eggar, the DVD Documentary and companion album Tuesdays at Mona’s by Mona’s Hot Four, and narrates the DanceTime Publications DVD, Tap Dance History: From Vaudeville to Film. The documentary short film Identity: The Andrew Nemr Story is currently touring the film festival circuit.

Dr. Lidewij Niezink works on the development of empathy theory and practice for nearly 20 years. She writes, consults, trains and speaks on empathy for scientific, professional and lay publics. Dr. Niezink teaches Applied Psychology at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and works as an independent empathy scholar focusing on integrating practice based experiential methods with fundamental and applied research. She holds a PhD from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands and publishes in national and international (academic) books and journals. Dr. Niezink was a fellow of the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute in 2007 and was elected a Fellow of the ICCO in 2013 before joining the International Center as the Director of Research. Her work now focuses on empathy praxis. Together with Dr. Katherine Train she founded Empathic Intervision (www.empathicintervision.com). They develop evidence based empathy interventions and education for diverse organizations to identify opportunities and co-create solutions to challenges. They are also writing a book on Integrative Empathy, combining research from science in psychology, philosophy, social neuroscience, the arts and anthropology. Dr. Niezink can be reached at info@empathicintervision.com.

Micah Parzen is a husband (to Marguerite), a father (to Abner and Oscar), an anthropologist (Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University; BA UC Berkeley), and an attorney (JD UC Davis). He joined the Museum of Us as its CEO in August 2010. Over the past ten years, he and his team have gradually transformed the Museum from a musty, dusty, and tired institution into a leading edge museum. Micah currently serves as the chair of the board of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, which supports the 28 arts & culture organizations in Balboa Park, and on the Mayoral-appointed Balboa Park Committee. He also sits on the boards of the Western Museums Association and La Jolla Country Day School. His past board service includes the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program, the Waldorf School of San Diego, and ElderHelp of San Diego, where he was chair for two years.

Winslow Porter is an award-winning director, producer and creative technologist specializing in virtual/augmented reality as well as large-scale immersive installations. Winslow formed the influential, new media studio the New Reality Company in 2016, creating the critically-acclaimed cinematic VR experiences Giant and Tree. Shortly after, he was named Adweek’s Top 100 creatives as digital innovators. In 2018, Tree won the Lumiere award for Best Location Based VR Short as well as 7 other notable awards after being shown at over 100 notable conferences and festivals such as TED, UN General Assembly and Gardens By The Bay. He is currently a Cultural Leader at the World Economic Forum, a mentor in residence at the New Museum Incubator and NYU Tisch, a member of the Onassis Institute’s ONX art/tech accelerator, as well as a creative director at R/GA Global. Winslow’s new immersive AR experience Rainforest (in partnership with Epic Games and Microsoft) transforms participant’s settings into their own private jungle environment to elucidate pressing concepts and concerns of sustainability and conservation. Winslow is also an artist in residence at the Smallhold Mushroom farm in Brooklyn, creating the first volumetric time lapse of mushrooms growing. 

Steve is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge (Trinity College), where he is a Gates Scholar. He currently studies misinformation and political polarization on social media as a member of Sander van der Linden's Social Decision-Making Lab. Previously, he studied Psychology and Symbolic Systems at Stanford University, where he worked with Professor Jamil Zaki on a series of studies about theatre and empathy. He has published in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and the Journal of Experimental Psychology, and his research has been covered by outlets such as the BBC, NBC, and the Guardian. He has also written about psychology for the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, and Psychology Today. In 2022, he will start a postdoctoral position at NYU with Jay van Bavel, funded in part by a “Synergy Scholar” award from the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding. His Twitter is @steverathje2. 

Tom Rockwell is Creative Director at the Exploratorium, San Francisco’s museum of science, art, and human perception. During his fifteen years at the Exploratorium, Tom has led the exhibits and media departments, the development of new galleries for the museum's move to the waterfront in 2013, as well as the Geometry Playground exhibition and other National Science Foundation supported projects. His interests include exhibiting the human sciences, mathematics, and fundamental physical phenomena, as well as exploring the relationship between science, art and religion. Prior to coming to San Francisco Tom founded and ran Painted Universe, Inc. where projects included exhibitions such as It’s a Nano World, The Enchanted Museum: Exploring the Science of Art, and illustrations for The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene.

From my research and explorations, I came to see the central  role and importance of empathy in human connection, conflict resolution, and general well being. It forms the foundation of caring, community, compassion, love and all the values that hold society together and make life worth living. I've now dedicated my life to a project on promoting and fostering the value and experience of empathy.  I'm working to build a movement to support building a global culture of empathy and compassion. I'm looking at nurturing societal transformation, where empathy becomes the primary social and cultural value in the world culture.  I'm doing this through the organization I founded, The Center For Building a Culture of Empathy. We have many empathy building initiatives. Part of that effort is to create a documentary on the nature and importance of looking at the world through each others eyes.

Aparna Sadananda comes to mindfulness practice from a science background, embracing Eastern mysticism with a Western spirit of inquiry. She holds a PhD in cellular neuroscience from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India. With more than 5,000 hours of experience teaching yoga and meditation, she is a senior teacher and trainer at Yoga District in Washington, DC. She is also an artist specializing in Indian folk art. 

I am a conservation photographer and social scientist  based in Florida. When I was 11 years old, my father gave me a camera and I was hooked on photography in just a few minutes. Since that time, I have traveled throughout North America and to over 40 countries to create images of nature and wildlife. In 2021, I was recognized by the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) as the Emerging Photographer of the Year and in 2004 I was named BBC Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year. While working as a conservation photojournalist, I became deeply curious about whether my images were making a difference. I went back to school to pursue this interest and I am currently a PhD candidate at the University of Florida's School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences, where I study visual framing and the influence of environmental images on people's attitudes and behaviors. I also hold an MSc in Conservation Science from Imperial College London and a B.A. in Science and Technology Studies from Brown University. I am also a National Geographic Explorer, a Past President of the North American Nature Photography Association, and an Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Sheldon Scott (b. 1976, Pawley’s Island, SC) mines his experiences growing up in the Gullah/Geechee South and professional background in storytelling to examine the Black male form with particular emphasis on biases of usability and expendability in relation to constructs of race, economics and sexuality. The artist’s works have been presented at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; American University Art Museum, Washington, DC; and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC. As a finalist in the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, Scott presented work in the exhibition, The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC.

Artist, adventurer, ambassador. Michelle has 25+ years' experience leading creative approaches to challenging initiatives. Passionate about uniting talent, empathy, art and culture, she inspires others to action through a balance of thoughtful leadership and execution of contextually relevant solutions. Currently working for VSP, Michelle manages strategic programs providing vision care to under-served communities and through disaster relief operations. Prior to that, she spent two decades in Saudi Arabia, dedicating her career to the Kingdom’s emerging cultural and museum field. As a founding leader of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, founding director of Saudi Arabia’s first children’s museum and director of the Saudi Aramco Community Heritage Museum, her focus was on inspiring social development and cultural enrichment through creativity, learning and cross-cultural engagement. Michelle holds an M.A. degree in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester, UK, and a B.A. degree in International Relations from the University of California, Davis.

Kevin Shah A.K.A. Captain Empathy, is focused on creating a world where people seek to understand one another by making empathy a daily habit. He believes empathy is the superpower we all can learn and become superheroes. He comes from the intersectionality of tech product leadership and Empathy and safe spaces facilitator to create the world’s first and only Empathy Gym platform called Jaago to build the empathy muscles. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Jaago and also works at T-Mobile to build IOT products for families with T-Mobile. Jaago’s mission is to create a world where people seek to understand one another by making empathy a daily habit.

An artist and film producer from Saint Petersburg, Russia, Aleksandra Sheren received her art degrees from the International School of Photography and Cinema, and the renowned Lendocstudio film school. She has been numerously featured in 'Photographize Magazine' and included in the 'Photographize Magazine Annual book', as well as published at the Marvelous Art Magazine. Sheren has exhibited at Agora Gallery, New York, at the Photo D’Femme Contest “Seeing Women” exhibitions in France, and had an online exhibition in the Marvelous Art Gallery. She has been featured as an emerging artist to watch for by ArtConnect, a platform for contemporary art worldwide. Her style is leaning most towards photo surrealism, but not confined to it. She holds membership in the Circle Foundation for the Arts, a platform for extraordinary visual artists. Besides her photo art, she is currently working on a project in filmmaking.During the Empathy Summit 2021, Sheren's latest short-film: Portraiture will be the artistic focus of a workshop. 

Greg Stevens is the director of the Master of Arts in Museum Professions program and the Institute of Museum Ethics at Seton Hall University. Greg is also principal of Purple Cow Career and Talent Development, helping museum and non-museum professionals through career transition. Previously, from 2007-2017, Greg directed the American Alliance of Museums Professional Development program, through which he addressed career management, leadership development, and skills-building for museum colleagues. Prior to AAM, Greg held positions at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, National Building Museum, and Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Greg co-edited (with Wendy Luke) A Life in Museums: Managing Your Museum Career (2012, The AAM Press), and has produced numerous articles, workshops, and online programs on career and leadership topics. Greg earned his M.A.T. in Museum Education from The George Washington University and his B.A. in Theatre from San Diego State University.

Dr. Katherine Train’s interest in empathy started while training as a pharmacist. She realized she had technical expertise, but lacked skills to understand adequately the needs of patients. This led to an exploration of these capacities, first as a coaching training and then as research towards a masters and PhD degree at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her main research focus has been to understand the context of and capabilities required for working empathically in a service capacity in under resourced organizations. Since 2004 she has been researching needs and integrating these findings into the development of interventions to facilitate skills for empathy.

Together, Drs. Lidewij Niezink and Katherine Train developed and co-founded Empathic Intervision, an Integrative Empathy practice in employee routines with embodiment techniques, reflective listening and perspective taking. They are currently researching the effects of Integrative Empathy as a peer support intervention for service delivery staff in a large NGO in South Africa. They are interested to extend this research in other contexts to include the biomarker and physiological effects of empathy practices and their consequences. You can contact them through https://empathicintervision.com, and info@empathicintevision.com.

Jim Wharton, PhD, is the Director of Conservation Engagement and Learning at the Seattle Aquarium, a conservation organization whose mission is Inspiring Conservation of our Marine Environment. Empathy has become a key driver and strategy in this work, connecting people to animals and ecosystems and encouraging them see the ocean as a source of hope, wonder and belonging…not to mention essential to their survival. The Aquarium has shared effective practices and strategies for fostering empathy through publications and workshops with over 50 zoos and aquariums with a combined attendance of more than 60 million annually. The Aquarium has recently partnered a children’s book, Catastrophe by the Sea, that encourages readers to empathize with less traditionally charismatic animals.

Amy believes we are not here merely to make a living. Amy J. Wilson is a change leader, community builder, movement maker, and an empathy advocate. Her journey to spark change started in AmeriCorps, leading a project to rebuild 50 homes in four months in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. She was a chief architect of Booz Allen Hamilton’s Building a Culture of Innovation movement, which transformed the 100-year old firm. Amy later served for three years as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, where she created a shared language and led a movement for innovation and change in government. In her debut book, Empathy for Change, she hopes to inspire others to embrace kindness to enrich the world and change the systems around them. In her free time, she enjoys baking pies, traveling internationally, and telling stories.

*Please note that:

The Summit & Workshops Agenda is currently taking shape, and content here is subject to change.

All Times are in U.S. Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Registration is now open!

By Monica O. Montgomery, MA

Social Justice Curator & Museum Engagement Consultant

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

From George Floyd to Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin to Eric Garner, stories about the unjust deaths and police brutality against black people regularly flood the media and our timelines as a racial reckoning continues to occur in the US. As the #BlackLivesMatter movement gains momentum, museums can play a critical role in fostering empathy and providing opportunities for audiences to discover avenues to action. In this session participants will have the opportunity to discuss activism through a lens of artistic interventions, explore strategies to Hear (listen to voices of victims and movement music), Care (cultivate empathy and advocacy for liberation struggles) and Act (take intentional steps towards supporting black lives.). Guided by the motto ‘Hear. Care. Act! Social Justice Curator Monica O. Montgomery will lead a workshop designed to provide insights for racial equity and interactive learnings around modern movements.

By Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, PhD

Senior Research Scientist, and Director of Creativity & Emotions Lab,

Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

&

Elif Gokcigdem, PhD

Author & Founder, ONE

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

In this workshop we will unpack how learning about objects teaches us about empathizing with people. When we walk into a museum gallery, often times we see objects from far away cultures with little context. These objects are very much like refugees from other cultures. This workshop challenges us to consider what we might be missing as we encounter these objects: What do we need to know to understand the objects? How much do the labels help? What is missing? How can we use encounters with objects as mirrors to better understand ourselves and others?

By Kevin Shah & Ryan Driscoll

Co-Founders of Jaago

(The Empathy Gym App)

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM 

This interactive workshop enables people to share stories and listen through their cultural lens, where: 

• Participants will explore the concepts of cultural lenses and unconscious biases and how they impact the way they view and engage with the world.
• Participants will examine various dimensions of their identities and reflect on how their cultural lens has been shaped by the intersection of the various aspects.
• Participants will share two aspects of their identity and how they have shaped their cultural lens in small groups to practice vulnerability and empathy.

By Anne Fullenkamp

Senior Director of Creative Experiences, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21 (12:00 PM - 2:00 PM)

& 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 25 (12:00 PM - 2:00 PM)

Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh created the traveling exhibition "XOXO: An Exhibit About Love & Forgiveness" with the goal to create a space where families can explore their emotions through playful, interactive experiences. In this workshop based on the exhibit content, you will dive into these same themes through a series of hands-on activities designed to help children and families channel emotions in positive ways. You will ask questions, listen, and learn more about the people around you. This workshop is suitable for all ages, with specific focus on practicing adult child communication strategies. 

Using the XOXO story puzzle as jumping off point, workshop participants will engage in an active discussion about how to use playful and practical tools to discuss emotional topics. The group will be invited to contribute to a collective virtual story puzzle and practice ways to use this tool with people of diverse ages, experiences and learning styles.  Participants can also make their own puzzles and share with the group.  The session will conclude with an open dialogue of play as a tool for informal learning for adults, as well as children, and what our role as facilitators, curators and designers can be.

By Tom Rockwell

Creative Director, Exploratorium

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Who do we easily feel empathy for, who is hard for us, and who is neutral? This activity will guide participants through experiences of differential empathy, encouraging reflection about what facilitates, and what poses barriers to, engaging empathically with different people.

By Aparna Sadananda, Yoga & Meditation Teacher

&

Donna Lee Jonte, Manager of Art & Wellness and Family Programs, The Phillips Collection

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Guided by a mindfulness teacher and a museum educator, participants will experience a 20-minute, art-inspired meditation followed by an interactive, 15-minute discussion of the artwork and reflection on the meditation itself. While building empathy by stepping into Wilmer Wilson IV’s photograph Self-Portrait as Henry Box Brown, we will practice techniques for mindful looking and thinking that we can carry with us wherever we are.

By Aleksandra Sheren

Artist & Film Producer

&

Elif Gokcigdem, PhD

Author & Founder, ONE

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23

12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Portraiture, a short film by Aleksandra Sheren will be the artistic focus of a non-judgmental listening exercise co-developed by Aleksandra Sheren and Elif Gokcigdem. ABOUT "PORTRAITURE": A portrait photographer is having yet another day in her studio, when changing a camera lens she suddenly starts seeing people differently. This short film is exploring the difference between our persona and the true essence beyond our roles, gender, age, racial identity. With all the facets that create our diversities, there is always a shared field where we are very similar to one another. The song playing with this film was written as a dedication to my own moment of transformation in life. Although this movie is a fiction story, it is also partly a real record of how people were acting spontaneously in front of the camera while listening to the music.

Jim Wharton, PhD, Director of Conservation Engagement and Learning, Seattle Aquarium

Sarah Brenkert, Principal Evaluator, Seattle Aquarium

Dave Glenn, Volunteer Engagement Manager Seattle Aquarium

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26

12:00 PM - 2:15 PM

Great minds...think divergently! Join us for an experimental design charette to create a mobile, community-centered experience to inspire conservation action through the development of empathy for animals. 

Be part of a facilitated design process to imagine a brand-new outreach experience that will bring marine animals and conservation activities into neighborhoods. No design or zoology experience needed - just curiosity, creativity and empathy. This mobile interactive experience will inspire participants to adopt and understand the perspective of wildlife. Charette contributors will engage in facilitated activities and work collaboratively to address this playful, empathy-centered design challenge. 

By Edwin Rutsch

Founding Director,

Center for Building a Culture of Empathy

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30

1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

An Empathy Circle is a structured dialogue process that effectively supports meaningful and constructive dialogue. The basic process can be fairly easily learned in about 15 minutes and it is a life long practice to deepen. An Empathy Circle increases mutual understanding and connection by ensuring that each person feels fully heard to their satisfaction. The practice is the most effective gateway practice for learning, practicing and deepening listening and empathy skills, as well as, nurturing an empathic way of being. How to?

You can take part in Empathy Circles as well as, an Empathy Circle Facilitation Training year round. Edwin Rutsch can also design and host customized Empathy Circles and Trainings for groups and organizations. If you are interested in these offerings, please reach out to Edwin here.

By Lidewij Niezink, PhD

&

Katherine Train, PhD

Co-Founders of Empathic Intervision

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

How can we hold a space to understand the complex consequences of our

behaviours in this world? With climate change threatening our very existence on this planet, this is an urgent issue to explore. In this workshop we will make use of imaginative empathy to understand an environmental

issue. We will unpack and explore the perspectives of the multiple stakeholders touched by and impacting upon it.

Fatih M. Durmuş graduated from the Graphic Arts Department at the Fine Arts Academy - Mimar Sinan University, College of Applied Industrial Arts (UESYO) in 1981. 

Nasreddin Hoca (Nasreddin Hodja), Durmuş’s first illustrated book written by Alpay Kabacalı, was published in 1992, and later was reprinted in eight languages. Durmuş’s later work which he wrote and illustrated, include: Türk Masalları ve Hikâyeleri (Turkish Folk Tales and Legends), also published in Bosnian;  Dede Korkut Hikâyeleri (The Book of Dede Korkut), also published in Azeri; and, Nasreddin Hoca Fıkraları (Jokes of Nasreddin Hodja). His most recent book: Mesnevi Hikayeleri (Stories from the Mathnawi) was published by Pan Publishing in 2020. Durmuş's books have been reprinted several times for distribution to school children by various municipalities around Turkey, and have received the prestigious TEDA translation grant by the Turkish Ministry of Culture for publishing in other languages. As part of the IFLA - International Federation of Library Associates’ “The World Through Picture Books” project, Durmuş’s Dede Korkut Hikâyeleri (The Book of Dede Korkut) was selected by librarians in Turkey among the “Top 10” books that best represent Turkish culture and values in 2013, and was showcased in international exhibitions in Paris Bibliothèque Nationale, Library of Children’s Literature in Tokyo, and Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Durmuş has received various awards throughout his professional career as a graphic artist and has participated in various exhibitions. He is a freelance artist, and lives with his family in Istanbul, Turkey.

Safia is a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (DEIB) advocate and advisor focusing on DEIB both as a functional tool for businesses and as a policymaking space. She holds a B.A. in International Business from Texas A&M and postgraduate certifications in budget and public finance, diversity and inclusion, and corporate social responsibility from the George Washington University, Cornell University and the University of Colorado. Safia currently works as a program specialist at Aramco's Washington, DC office, managing large, complex projects that streamline business, environmental, and social impact objectives while enhancing organizational reputation. She previously served as a Small & Disadvantaged Business Coordinator at the US Department of Agriculture, purchasing food for national-level federally funded feeding programs, and advocating for socially economically disadvantaged businesses to reduce entry barriers for becoming a federal prime contractor.
Safia's identity is a tapestry of experiences and cultures stemming from a childhood spent in Morocco, Cote D'Ivoire and the United States. As an Arab American, immigrant woman she's lived the experience of the “other” from an early age and has learned to embrace life in the cultural "in-between." She believes policies that remove opportunity barriers for historically marginalized communities are the best opportunity for impact and shaping mindsets and is working toward a world where celebrating DEIB goes beyond the workplace and into our systems and communities.

With dozens of clients across sectors and over 400 professional coaching hours, Greg Stevens, principal of Purple Cow Career and Talent Development, is passionate about helping people and organizations succeed.

In addition to his coaching work, he is currently the director of the Master of Arts in Museum Professions program and the Institute of Museum Ethics at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, where he oversees a vibrant program focused on preparing students for dynamic careers in museums.

Previously, from 2007-2017, Greg directed the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Professional Development program, through which he addressed career management, leadership development, and professional skills-building for museum colleagues. Prior to AAM, Greg held positions at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, National Building Museum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and Kellogg Performing and Visual Arts School. Greg is proud to have co-edited (with Wendy Luke) A Life in Museums: Managing Your Museum Career (2012, The AAM Press), have written numerous articles and book chapters on museum practice, and frequently facilitate workshops and seminars on career and  leadership topics. He earned my M.A.T. in Museum Education from The George Washington University and his B.A. in Theatre from San Diego State University.

If you’re interested in learning more about Purple Cow Career and Talent Development, please reach out to set up a complimentary call with Greg.