Summit Description: Experienced practitioners delve into the essence of the Empathy Circle practice, elucidating its significance as the cornerstone and entry point of the Empathy Movement. The practice is based in mutual Active Listening. Speakers discuss; 

• Personal stories of using the practice?

• Why and how does the practice work? 

• Why is this the foundational practice of the Empathy Movement?

• What are the benefits and challenges? 

• Sharing deeper insights into the empathic way of being that is created.

• Derivatives built on the Empathy Circle practice.

• A reunion and reconnection of circle trainers, trainees, facilitators, practitioners and supporters. 

• What are ideas and potentials for the future?

• and more! 

Join us in this community of practice. 

Register Now

Dates 

• Saturday, November 2, 2024

• Saturday, January 4, 2025

• Saturday, April 5, 2025

Time: 9 am PT to 12:30 pm PT  (3 hrs. 30 min)
World Times
      

Location: Zoom https://zoom.us/j/9896109339  
RECORDING:   Part of the event will be recorded and posted to social media for educational and promotional purposes. You have an option of being in a non recorded breakout group. 

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Speakers and Hosting Team
Speakers will have 5 to 10 minutes to speak on some aspect of the Empathy Circle Practice. If you would like to be a speaker, email EdwinRutsch@gmail.com
Send a one sentence bio, the title of your proposed talk, a 2 or 3 sentence abstract for consideration, length of talk 5 or 10 min.

Program: Saturday, November 2, 2024

All times are Pacific Time

9:00 am PT  Introduction (10 min)

• • • Hour 1 Host: Ruth Cook

    • Overview of Summit 

9:10 Speaker: Edwin Rutsch (20 min)

• Bio: Founding Director of The Empathy Center, developer and long term "evangelist" of the Empathy Circle practice.

• Topic: The history of the Empathy Circles development.

• Abstract: An overview of the various influences of the practice, how it was conceived and developed, possibilities for the future. 

9:30 Speaker: Rasha Kutty (10 min)

• Bio: Rasha Kutty is the Founder and Chief Facilitator at Empathy Matters Private Limited, with master’s degrees in Management and Psychology, and certifications as an Instructional Designer, Empathic Intervision Facilitation, and Empathy Circles Facilitation. 

• Topic: Three Years of Weekly Empathy Circles - Reflections and Learnings 

• Abstract: Over the past three years, our weekly empathy circles have profoundly inspired participants across the globe to become better listeners and more reflective thinkers. In this talk, I will share key reflections and learnings gathered during this period, demonstrating how consistent participation in empathy circles leads to deeper connections and enhanced well-being. 

9:40  Speaker:  Lou Zweier (10 min)

• Bio: Empathy Circle Facilitation Trainer and developer of the Empathy Circle Facilitation. Lou Zweier has been holding Empathy Circles, training Empathy Circle Facilitators, and working with Edwin Rutsch since 2016; he is a former executive of the California State University System, a current member of the Empathy Center Board of Directors, and a Principal Partner at the Authentic Leadership Center.

• Topic:  Why the deceptively simple structure of the Empathy Circle is so effective

• Abstract:  The Empathy Circle is a simple but very powerful practice for creating mutual understanding and connection; sometimes even healing and conflict resolution.  Understanding the role and importance of each of piece of its structure contributes to the effectiveness of the circle, and in encouraging participants to stay in the practice.  

9:50  Speaker: Minter Dial  (10 min)

• Bio: Minter Dial is a professional speaker, award-winning author (books include "Heartificial Empathy" and "Making Empathy Count") and documentary filmmaker. 

• Topic: How To Bring Empathy Circles into a Business Context 

• Abstract:  In business, one of the biggest issues is poor communications, which tends to be exacerbated by time pressures. Over the last several years, I've been using Empathy Circles with executives within the context of a seminar or training to show the power of active listening. In this session, I'll present how I use the EC in my training and specifically how to integrate the learnings into the business.  

10:00 am PT 

Hour 2 Host: Cara Jean Wilson

10:00 am Speaker: Anita Nowak  (10 min)

• Bio:  Anita Nowak is a faculty member at the McGill Executive Institute, multiple TEDx Speaker, podcaster and author of Purposeful Empathy: Tapping Our hidden Superpower for Personal, Organizational, and Social Change  

• Topic: Empathic Listening for Inner Development and Outer Impact

• Abstract: As Bayo Akomolafe put it: "The times are urgent: Let us slow down.” We need to listen deeply to one another to heal our wounds and overcome the othering that divides us. Empathic listening is a practice that can help us reach higher levels of consciousness - perhaps even in time to save the world.

10:10 am Speaker: Maria Ross   (10 min)

• Bio: Maria Ross is a speaker, author, leadership trainer, podcaster, and empathy advocate who has spent decades helping forward-thinking teams connect and engage through empathy to accelerate growth. Her newest book is The Empathy Dilemma: How Successful Leaders Balance Performance, People, and Personal Boundaries. 

• Topic: What role can empathy circles play in a corporate environment? 

• Abstract: How can we remain human-focused and inclusive, and still maintain high performance, personal boundaries, and our own mental health, without being treated like villains?  And what role can empathy circles play in a corporate environment? Maria will help you balance between empathy AND accountability and where Empathy Circles, along with other modalities can work well to support teams. 

10:20 Speaker: Bill Filler (10 min)

• Bio: : Bill Filler is retired special education teacher who has worked with at-risk children of all ages of rover 30 years. He has been involved in the Empathy Circle since 2017. He co-created the Empathy Circle Facilitator training with Lou Zweier and Edwin Rutsch, and has been holding trainings since March 2020. He is a member of the Empathy Center Board of Director

• Topic:  You can’t understand the Empathy circle unless you experience it.

• Abstract: The structure of the Empathy Circle creates a mutually empathic atmosphere where one can be heard and understood and provide that experience to others. The rules are in place to provide that empathic experience, but that is not enough. At its core, The Empathy Circle is experiential.

10:30 am Speaker: Rob Volpe  (10 min)

• Bio: Rob is an Empathy Activist and author of the award-winning book Tell Me More About That: Solving the Empathy Crisis One Conversation at a Time 

• Topic: The Importance of Listening in the 5 Steps to Empathy 

• Abstract:  It doesn't matter how curious and open we are. If we aren't listening, empathy will remain out of reach. Rob explains where Active Listening fits on the way to reaching empathy and how the Empathy Circle skills can help you get there. 

 
10:40 am Speaker: Bob Brown   (10 min)

• Bio: Bob Brown is a pilgrim on the spiritual journey. For years, he hosted an Empathy Tent in Thousand Oaks, California and offered empathic listening.

• Topic: Why Empathy Circles Are So Effective 

• Abstract:   Being in an empathy circle fosters healthy brain chemistry.  It affirms my dignity as a human being.  It gives me the confidence to take my rightful place in the human adventure.

10:50 am Speaker: Annette Dubreui  (10 min)

• Bio: Annette Dubreuil is an Embodied Creativity Facilitator, Coach and Focusing Teacher for people who want to transform themselves to change the world—to make it more caring and flourishing. 

• Topic:  Adding Focusing to Empathy Circles

• Abstract:  Focusing is a deeply embodied practice that gives us access to the wisdom of our bodies, whispered to us via our felt sense. Empathy Circles that use Focusing practice allow for deep sharing with rich details; these details make space for the sharing to cross with our own experiences resulting with greater resonance. If combined with empathic reflections of how something relates to our own experience, we can have an increased sense of common humanity that builds our self-compassion; this is especially true for empathy circles that Focus on a specific topic. 

11 am PT:  Empathy Circle - 90 min

Empathy Circle Host: Janna Weiss

A 90 min participatory dialogue using the Empathy Circle process.

How to Empathy Circle   (10 min) 

Empathy Circle (1:00 hr)  

Debrief (15 min)  

Next Steps: (2 min) Edwin Rutsch

Program: Saturday, January 4

All times are Pacific Time

9:00 am PT  Introduction (10 min)

9:?? Speaker: Cara Jean Wilson (10 min)

• Bio: Empathy Facilitator, Executive Coach with Taking CARA Business, and creator of The CARA Method for neurospicy inclusiviTEA.

• Topic: Empathy Reflection @ home & work

• Abstract: I use the empathetic reflection tool/skill from empathy circles EVERY DAY.  From with my child as a way to help him articulate the world, to my family as a tool for starting family meetings, and in my work as an executive coach as a way to support leaders in a session and as a trainable tool for them to use with their teams. 

9:?? Speaker: Ruth Cook (5 min) 

• Bio: Ruth was drawn to becoming an Empathy Circle Trainer and Facilitator, by listening to the courage shared of hardships lived through and are still being living through, via the Empathy Summit of July 2023. 

• Topic: "Listening, hearing and speaking from honesty, experience and acute awareness"

  • • Sharing my personal impacts of the empathy circle?

• Abstract: Hearing authentic stories of people who had experienced personal, community and nationwide atrocities, and then entering into an empathy circle for the first time to articulate from my heart with strangers, what I heard, had a big impact on how I began to hear and interpret what others were saying with my friends, colleagues, my own community and strangers.
  
  

The effort of listening is more on what They are truly saying and Feeling rather than how am I interpreting What I hear and What do I think of what I hear?”

Not interjecting my opinions, thoughts, questions, judgements onto what they say, purely acknowledging their point of view of what they wanted to say, is that feeling of equanimity. Not particularly to accept what they say and how it seems they feel, but recognising this Is how the other person is living through their experience, at this particular moment in time.

9:xx am Speaker: Janna Weiss 

• Bio:   Empathy Circle Trainer and Facilitator, Member of the Empathy Summit Team

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10:00 am PT  Introduction (10 min)

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11 am PT:  Empathy Circle - 90 min
A 90 min participatory dialogue using the Empathy Circle process.

How to Empathy Circle   (10 min)

Empathy Circle (1:00 hr) 

Debrief (15 min)

Next Steps: (2 min)

Empathy Summit: Links

Website:    http://EmpathySummit.com
Date:                  https://EmpathySummit.com/dates/Nov-2-2024-Empathy-Circles
World Times:                           https://bit.ly/ESNov2Times  
Registration:     https://bit.ly/SummitRegNov2
Partners:    http://EmpathySummit.com/sponsors 
Volunteers:              http://EmpathySummit.com/volunteers
LinkedIn Event:     https://Linkedin.com/events/7202537801140113408
Facebook Event:            https://FaceBook.com/events/1002802594777326/
Feedback:         https://bit.ly/3yJ545U 
Final Report:    https://EmpathySummit.com/dates/Nov-2-2024-Empathy-Circles