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The Impact of Roots of Empathy Around the World

Watch our two minute video and hear childhood trauma global leader Dr. Bruce Perry, policy maker Maurice Meehan from Belfast, Christy Clark former Premier of British Columbia and Chair of the Roots of Empathy Canadian Board, Lyle Viereck Roots of Empathy Canadian Board member, Dr. Liz Gregory clinical psychologist, Robbie Kane from the Hawaii Community Foundation, and Dr. Michele Borba educational psychologist, express their tributes to Roots of Empathy.

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Roots of Empathy Testimonials

Who better than the experts themselves to paint a broad picture, through testimonials, of the scope and impact of our work and influence?

Watch our videos below to hear from these experts.

Dr. Bruce Perry

Dr. Bruce Perry is the Principal of the Neurosequential Network and Senior Fellow of The Child Trauma Academy. Dr. Perry is a renowned expert on childhood trauma and children’s mental health, neuroscientist, and bestselling author of What Happened to You? co-authored with Oprah Winfrey.

Maurice Meehan

Maurice Meehan, Head of Health Improvement at Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland, reminds us of how Roots of Empathy can address centuries old conflict by helping children find respect for difference and inclusion of “the other”.

Dr. Michele Borba

Bestselling US author, educational psychologist, and “20 year fan of Roots of Empathy”, Dr. Michele Borba shares an enthusiastic story of her first encounter with a Roots of Empathy class in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.

Zita Cobb

Business entrepreneur extraordinaire, Zita Cobb award winning innkeeper of the world-class Fogo Island Inn celebrates the innovation behind Roots of Empathy and the fact that the organization is founded by a fellow social entrepreneur.

Graham Allen

Graham Allen, a thirty-year member of UK Parliament, speaks to his founding of the groundbreaking Early Intervention Foundation and his connection and support to Roots of Empathy.

Robbie Kane

Robbie Kane is the Program Director at the Hawaii Community Foundation. She supports and oversees the impact of the Roots of Empathy program in Hawaii. Kane speaks to the authenticity and cultural respect that the program shows to native Hawaiian culture and celebrates our success as a Social and Emotional Learning Program.

Lyle Viereck

Lyle Viereck, Creek Indian Tribe (Muskogee) and African American heritage, gives an emotional narrative on how he connected to Roots of Empathy and supported our Indigenous programming in British Columbia. Lyle is also a Roots of Empathy Canadian Board member.

Dr. Andrew Meltzoff

Dr. Andrew Meltzoff is an American psychologist, neuroscientist, and an internationally renowned expert on infant and child development. He speaks about the power of the Roots of Empathy innovation.

The Hon. Christy Clark

The Hon. Christy Clark is Former Minister of Education and Premier of British Columbia, and is recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN). She speaks to the importance of the Roots of Empathy program, and the reason she became the Chair of the Canadian Board.

Dr. Liz Gregory

Dr. Liz Gregory of Wales, a clinical psychologist and UK Board member gives a unique perspective on her experience as a Roots of Empathy Instructor when on sabbatical in Canada.

What Scientists Say About Us

“We went out to see a (Roots of Empathy) classroom visit and it was fascinating to me. I could see immediately that the program Mary Gordon had set up was indeed connected to the research that was going on in brain development and pro-social behavior in infants and young children”
Dr. Andy MeltzoffProfessor, Department of Psychology, Co-Director, Univeristy of Washington Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences Job and Gertrud Tamaki Endowed Chair

“You can really see that Roots of Empathy takes research very seriously and I think that the best kind of interventions are those where you really have a good crosstalk between the people on the ground that do the interventions, that understand the needs of children from different backgrounds.”
Dr. Christian KeysersDept. Head, Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN). Professor, Social Neuroscience, Dept. of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

“The results we have on prosocial behaviours and aggression…[show] there is significant impact of the program. All the increase that the program affects in children in prosocial behavior comes through the path of increased empathy.”
Dr. David LatschProfessor of Developmental Psychology, Division of Social Work, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

“Mary Gordon has created a brilliant strategy for teaching young children the essential skills to see the mind within each person…Empathy in all its forms is encouraged and cultivated in this science-based, emotion-inspiring, life-changing immersion in the inner world of human development.”
Dr. Daniel SiegelClinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA

“Roots of Empathy reminds each student fortunate enough to have this marvelous program of what being vulnerable feels like and how we need to care for each other in this complex world.”
Dr. Daniel SiegelClinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA

“The Roots of Empathy Program is solidly grounded in both current advances in developmental psychology and in recent findings in affective neuroscience”
Dr. Allan N SchoreClinical faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.

“Roots of Empathy models key principles for learning empathy that can be used by anyone who wants to be more empathetic or help their children become that way”
Dr. Bruce PerrySenior Fellow of The Child Trauma Academy, Houston, TX, Professor (Adjunct) in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and the School of Allied Health, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria Australia.

“By providing many opportunities to see skills modeled, to apply these same skills in real-life situations, and to reflect on their learning, the program increases the chances that students will develop competencies that will guide their future behaviours and shape their dispositions.”
Rolheiser and Wallace, 2005

“Roots of Empathy is an effective school-based curriculum for fostering the development of student character.”
Berkowitz and Bier, 2005

What Global Influencers Say About Us

“Empathy, an innate human quality that arises in a child from nurturing attachment relationships is increasingly rare in our stressed, alienated, and disconnected culture. Mary Gordon’s Roots of Empathy program…provides young students with an environment in which they can interact with someone even more vulnerable than they, under the care and attention of loving adults. Empathy grows naturally.”
Dr Gabor MateMD, Author of Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers

“Mary Gordon introduces us to the wisdom of babies and shows us what they can teach us- and our children- what it is to be human. Over a lifetime, I have learned that the human capacities for empathy and respect must be fostered from earliest childhood to reduce violence in the world and build a truly civil society.”
The Honourable Landon PearsonFormer Advisor on Children’s Rights to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs

“Roots of Empathy is solidly based on scientific knowledge of the human condition. But more than that, it takes us into the pedagogy of how one can develop and foster attachment, emotional literacy, authentic communication and social inclusion.”
Michael FullanProfessor Emeritus, Education, former special advisor to the Premier and Minister of Education in Ontario

“Mary Gordon has created a brilliant strategy for teaching young children the essential skills to see the mind within each person.....Empathy in all its forms is encouraged and cultivated in this science-based, emotion inspiring, life-changing immersion in the inner world of human development.”
Dr. Dan SiegelClinical Professor of Psychiatry UCLA School of Medicine, Founding Co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center, UCLA

“The beauty of Roots of Empathy is that it intentionally and effectively addresses the fundamental relational poverty that our society is experiencing.”
Dr. Bruce D. PerrySenior Fellow of the Child Trauma Academy (Houston, TX) and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine

“We have to start with the next generation of parents. Imagine a child...born into a family where violence was the norm...He finds it hard to concentrate, to trust adults, to form relationships. Jacob's teachers notice this...His teachers also see the difference Roots of Empathy is making – a weekly school-based programme that teaches children social skills and seems to have brought down the aggression of kids in the playground.”
The Right Honourable Jacinda ArdernPrime Minister, New Zealand

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