Mary Gordon Welcomes 2012 Swiss Ashoka Fellows at Induction Ceremony

27 November 2012: Ashoka Fellow, Ashoka Globalizer and member of the Global Ashoka Board Mary Gordon brought congratulations and welcome from the international fellowship of over 3000 Ashoka Fellows worldwide, to two new Swiss Ashoka Fellows, Lars Stein and Jerónimo Calderón, at the 2012 Induction Ceremony held in Zurich, Switzerland this evening.

Working with leading changemakers worldwide for 30 years, Ashoka identifies empathy as one of the three essential skills of a changemaker, accompanied by leadership and teambuilding. Entitled “Empathy – the essential skill for changemaking and leadership” Gordon’s presentation focused on the power of collaborative entrepreneurship and the value of the global Ashoka network.

Earlier in the day, Gordon participated in the Ashoka Empathy Workshop, presenting Roots of Empathy as a successful model of social entrepreneurship, and an effective, evidence-based program for developing empathy in school-aged children.

Gordon was joined by Ashoka Fellows Heidrun Mayer, Founder of Papilio in Germany and Christiane Daepp, Creator of Ideenburo ("Bureau of Ideas") in Switzerland, for the afternoon workshop, all sharing their perspectives and ideas on empathy and the innovative programs they have championed to enable the development of empathy in children.