Our Story
Contagious Compassion (CC) is based on the fundamental belief that each person has a light within that shines brighter when in service to others. It is through service that we develop self-awareness and nurture compassion. It is our aim to support students in igniting their own personal light and thus launching a lifelong passion for commitment to their community.
Contagious Compassion identifies qualified student candidates, enrolls them in a workshop to assist in developing and clarifying their own personal vision and teams them with seasoned advisors who will coach students along their path of community service.
The Core Values We Promote
Compassion and service
Personal challenge
International and intercultural understanding
Celebration of differences
Personal responsibility and integrity
Mutual responsibility and respect
Stewardship of the environment
Sense of idealism
Role modeling and action
In April 2008, Seattle hosted His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Seeds of Compassion conference. This community-focused event celebrated and explored the relationships, programs and tools that nurture and empower children, families and communities to be compassionate members of society. At one event, a youth representative on the panel discussed the crisis in Darfur. She shared how deeply she felt the need to do something to help the children there, and how that led her to initiate her own successful charitable effort.
“I just wish there was an organization which could help students become philanthropists… we have the ideas…we just don’t know how to do it.” In her view, she continued, “compassion is contagious".
Inspired by this dialogue, Heide Felton, Melissa Lloyd, and Libby Miller gathered in the lobby immediately afterwards and in that moment, Contagious Compassion was born. A vision was conceived to create an organization that would help students motivated by service to answer the question, "How do you do it? "
To implement this vision, the Contagious Compassion’s (CC) strategy includes establishing a world class Advisory Board with functional expertise in the business of philanthropy and/or leadership in the development of youth and youth services.
CC is also seeking strategic partnerships with leading educators, organizations, and institutions to assist in curriculum development and ensure the optimum learning experience.
For those of you interested in participating in an advisor/mentor capacity, please contact us for more information, or complete the Volunteer Application form.