[Brian Edwards]

Tell how purpose in action has led you to change things in your life, community or organization for the better. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Discussion

[Pamela Kilborn-Miller]

Hmmmm. Great question Brian! I’ll be happy to ponder it and share a few examples soon.

[Pamela Kilborn-Miller]

Greetings! Before I answer Brian’s excellent discussion question regarding Success Stories, I’m curious about the original catalyst that sparked each person’s purpose? For example, I witnessed someone being hurt when I was a young child, which led to firmly dedicating myself to becoming a good person, helping others, and creating a better world for all.

I don’t want to monopolize the conversation, so I’ll wait for others to answer Brian’s question before I offer a few humble examples too. : )

Best Wishes, PamKM

[Pamela Kilborn-Miller]

Brian Edwards requested our Success Stories, so here’s one humble example with the caveat that many people contribute to each success. The global campaign below grew out of my graduate work via the United Nations, but the City of Louisville in Kentucky delivered the following positive impact on the ground.

In 2010, I managed a TED Prize-winning project called the Charter for Compassion that included a campaign to create “Compassionate Cities” around the world. Over 100 cities participated from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, and Asia too, I believe.

“What impact did our campaign have?” The Mayor of Louisville promoted becoming an official Compassionate City as part of his election platform. A year or so after he won, I was told that the University of Louisville researched the cross-sector impact of the carefully planned and implemented citywide campaign. Among other things, they discovered the following:

1. Employees who worked for “compassionate businesses” took fewer sick leave days than businesses that didn’t incorporate compassionate practices, which Louisville defined.

2. Business entrepreneurs were very interested in moving to Louisville so their kids could attend its “compassionate schools,” which had measurably less bullying.

Karen Armstrong won the actual TED Prize for her “Charter for Compassion” which we promoted across all sectors. The work was nonpartisan and we did not focus on religion. If you’re interested, TED produced the following Charter for Compassion video (3 min), which remains timely today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxO-6SaNMvg

I believe the campaign is still active around the world but it might have a different name now. Also, Seattle was the first official “Compassionate City.” : )