Join us on March 20, 2012 for Ashoka Changemakers' Asia #SocEntChat about Activating Empathy!

Save the date! Ashoka Changemakers® will host a #SocEntChat for Asian audiences on Activating Empathy – Transforming Schools to Teach What Matters on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. IST (@ Indian Standard Time)  / 4:30 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. EST.

Ashoka believes that empathy is central to our ability to imagine, and create, better communities, societies, organizations, companies, and institutions. We believe that empathy is a skill. We believe that empathy is a muscle we all have. And most importantly, we believe that, like all muscles, empathy is strengthened by use and exercise.   

Empathy is more than just awareness and concern. It is about cultural sensitivity and conflict resolution. It’s about the ability to communicate effectively and understand the motivations of others.

Empathy is about standing up, not standing by—uncovering what’s below the surface through active listening and putting words into action. That is why Ashoka is launching a global initiative to ensure that children master empathy, enabling them to be effective citizens, leaders, and trailblazers.

Ashoka Changemakers® launched a global competition on Jan. 19, 2012 titled: Activating Empathy: Transforming Schools to Teach What Matters, where the best ideas, programs, and learning models that ensure children master empathy, enabling them to be effective citizens, leaders, and trailblazers, will be awarded with cash and in-kind prizes.

The Activating Empathy competition seeks to spark greater collaboration among those whose efforts include encouraging social and emotional development, addressing bullying in ways that advance understanding of others’ perspectives, promoting community diversity and respect for differences, or championing children as real-world problem-solvers.

Join us from anywhere in the world to participate in a discussion with innovators, social entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts about the most crucial issues in Empathy and Learning in Asia. Topics of discussion will include learning innovation, changing education systems—and more issues chosen by you.

This is your chance to share your thoughts and ask leading innovators all of your most burning questions. Make your voice heard!

What is #SocEntChat and how does it work?
 
A #SocEntChat is a real-time, Twitter-based discussion about social entrepreneurship that focuses on various issues, areas, themes, and events. It is designed for current and aspiring social entrepreneurs, funders, journalists, and supporters to share their ideas, discuss the state of the field, identify the latest innovations, and pinpoint areas requiring deeper exploration.

Joining the conversation is easy. Just log-in to Twitter at 2 p.m. IST on Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Then:

• Use the #SocEntChat hashtag to make your comments visible in the stream. During #SocEntChat use search.twitter.com or an application like Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com) or thwirl (www.thwirl.com) to follow the #SocEntChat hashtag and keep up with the conversation.
• Introduce yourself and take a minute to get to know the other chatters when you join.
• Send your questions to @changemakers without the hash tag (to keep them out of the stream) to have them considered for this conversation.
• Add the #startempathy hash tag if you have space!

Please remember to use the #SocEntChat hashtag, stay on topic, be respectful, and have fun! And be sure to invite your friends and followers to join the discussion, too. Here is a sample tweet:

Join @changemakers on Mar 20 at 2-4 PM IST for the intriguing #SocEntChat on Learning and Empathy in Asia! Topic: #startempathy. Spread the word & save the date!

If you are unable to attend the live event, a recap of the chat highlights and a transcript of the conversation will be made available at http://changewire.blogspot.in/. 

Catch you all on Twitter: http://tweetchat.com/room/SocEntChat!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the Activating Empathy Competition by 5PM EST on March 30, 2012.