What the company does?
Empathable provides immersive and thought-provoking journeys through another person's eyes which empirically result in increased empathy. Data shows that increasing empathy this way improves employee fulfillment, psychological safety, and staff retention.
The Current Landscape
According to HBR and abundant research, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion industry is currently ineffective at creating a meaningful sense of inclusion. This is because most competitors offer trainings focused on bullet points and statistics which do not change behavior. The few immersive learning platforms out there are providing material which creates discomfort and can be triggering. They are missing the essential element of nonjudgmental facilitation of all individuals' current understanding and acceptance of DEI.
Company Birth Story
The concept started as an immersive giant sparkly shoe that people can walk into. After measuring the heart rate, sweat, and temperature of participants, it was clear that this experience evokes both positive emotions and a comfort in sharing perspectives. Empathable then won the Harvard Culture Lab Innovation Fund Award and has since been shared with over 10,000 participants, including Fortune 50 clients such as Cisco, Ford, Deloitte, and Altria.
The Solution
Empathable applies an experiential learning approach that is meant to inspire people into celebrating a pluralism of viewpoints and perspectives. It's clear that quarterly training is a non-sustainable approach to inclusion. That’s why Empathable's iOS and Android app will allow users to have a 1-4 minute point-of-view, immersive experience per day. This is how they as a country can win the marathon of curing the -isms (racism, sexism, and genderism, to name a few).
Empathable works with the top research labs in the country to create this research- and data-based immersive experience. It is guided by trained facilitators to ensure psychologically safety and meaningful insights are achieved.
Empathable's vision is to create a future where everyone can authentically bring their full selves to their work, their families, and their communities. Empathy is a skill that can be taught and learned, and increasing empathy is the key to making this future a reality. Learning empathy takes practice but the results of this work carry exponential benefits, both personally and professionally.
Empathable strives to build a world where the lifelong journey of increasing one’s empathy is common, valued, and consistently practiced.
A Customer Story
“Working with Empathable has been an absolute pleasure. I was nervous going into the sessions but walked away with the tools and desire to speak up more than ever before. It challenged pre-existing thoughts I didn't even realize I had and opened my eyes to new perspectives. Empathable was such an impactful experience, one that I still think about to this day!” – Meg, HR leader at a Finance organization
"I’ve been through so many DEI workshops and Empathable is the only one that I felt was memorable and created change."--Cheryl, Director in a top Private Banking organization
”[Empathable] brought us closer together as a team and was incredibly valuable in creating trust, being there for each other, and being focused as a team as opposed to a bunch of individuals." -COO of a Big 5 consulting firm
The Team Culture
Micah J Wonjoon Kessel, Founder and CEO
Micah's expertise is in the intersection of social science, experiential design, and technology. Micah’s experience includes being the Emotions-Centered Design Lead at the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Lab and Design Consultant at Outsmarting Implicit Bias Lab at Harvard Psychology. He is the founder of the design studio, Sherlocked, the only 5-star rated immersive experience of its kind in the world according to Trip Advisor. He has been an advisor/creator of concepts for Google, Disney, Microsoft, and the Diabetes Fund.
Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD. is their lead science advisor and an integral part of their approach to research and due diligence in efficacy. Lisa is among the top one percent most cited scientists in the world for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. She also holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital where she is Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior.
Chris Branin, the CFO, is a proven Ieader in managing fiscal oversight for major infrastructure projects ranging from $100-500M. He was Director of Regional Operations for DaVita, Inc., a Fortune 200 company, the creator of worldwide standards for clinical, social and operational practices in kidney care, and Senior Consultant and Chief of Staff in the University of Virginia Health System.
A founder quote
I believe that culture changes best by inspiring people. Building culture through inspiration runs circles around trying to teach people to be empathic or inclusive through knowledge sharing statistics, and bullet points. They at Empathable are in the business of inspiring your company to love their community. That’s how they run their culture and that’s how they want to help a country of dissatisfied employees find their greatness together.
Check It Out : https://empathable.com/
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