Mary Gordon

Speaker Bio:
Mary Gordon is recognized internationally as an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator, author, child advocate and parenting expert who has created programs informed by the power of empathy. Over two decades ago, Ms Gordon created Roots of Empathy, a national and international not for profit children's charity which now offers programs in every province of Canada and in 14 countries.

Ms. Gordon speaks to and consults with governments, educational organizations, and public institutions, including the World Health Organization and the United Nations. Ms. Gordon is often a keynote presenter at international conferences such as Skoll World Forum and UBS Global Philanthropy Forum, Collision, and Digital-Living-Design (DLD) among others. She is a frequent participant on global panels discussing empathy. She is the recipient of many awards recognizing her contribution to innovation in education and international social entrepreneurship, including the 2018 Governor General of Canada Award for Innovation. Ms. Gordon is a Member of the Order of Canada, Order of Ontario and the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is also the recipient of honorary doctorates. Ms. Gordon is an Ashoka Fellow (Globalizer) and is a Director of the Ashoka Global Board, Washington DC.

Ms. Gordon is featured in international documentaries, Who Cares? by Brazilian filmmaker Mara Mourao, Love, Hate & Everything in Between by British filmmaker Alex Gabbay. Ms. Gordon has also given several TEDx Talks and has had several dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Roots of Empathy is quoted in more than 400 Academic journals and both Ms. Gordon and the program have been featured in the New York Times, the LA Times, the Washington Post, the BBC, The Globe and Mail, Time Magazine, Japan's NHK, CBC and in features on PBS, CNN, NBC, The Guardian, The Irish Times, The Financial Times, The Independent and the Huffington Post. She has written many articles, book chapters, children's books and her book, Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by Child, is a Canadian bestseller and is available in multiple languages.

Presentation: "What happened?"

The pandemic has almost been a universal experience, yet it has not built solidarity. The lockdown experience has affected everybody in similar ways, yet individually. Parallel pandemics of loneliness have eroded mental health and wellbeing. This session will look gently at "what happened" to our children. It will look at relationships and how they are our salvation, to help is to heal. The Roots of Empathy Recovery Program is designed to promote children's mental health and wellbeing as we build their emotional literacy so that they can tell their story and make sense of the world.