Global Launch of Compassion Shift at Emory University Honors Dalai Lama's 90th Birthday

Three-day event unveils new digital tools to scale compassion education worldwide

ATLANTA, Oct. 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Emory University hosted the Compassion Shift Global Launch on September 30–October 1, bringing together global leaders, scholars, and the Emory community to celebrate the 90th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Emory's Presidential Distinguished Professor and Patron of the Compassion Center. The event inaugurated Emory'sYear of Compassion and showcased bold new steps to embed compassion at the heart of education, leadership, and society and underscored Emory's role as a global hub for advancing compassion-based education and scaling its impact worldwide.

Organized by the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics (Compassion Center), the three-day convening featured keynote addresses by His Eminence Samdhong Rinpoche and Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Group, along with panel discussions and collaborative sessions led by eminent global voices on compassion and service. A key highlight was the unveiling of new digital learning platforms designed to democratize access to compassion-based education across schools, healthcare institutions, workplaces, and communities worldwide.

The event also provided a powerful global platform for Piramal Foundation to spotlight its innovative approaches to nurturing compassion and sewa (selfless service) while building resilient communities. The Foundation's leadership emphasized that through collective compassion, it is possible to shape Viksit Bharat—not merely as a developed economy, but as a nation and a world where prosperity and happiness emerge from shared well-being.

Representing Piramal Foundation were Aditya Natraj (CEO), Monal Jayaram (Co-Founder and Senior Core Team Member, School of Education and System Change – SOESC), Kartik Varma (Co-Founder and Senior Core Team Member, Piramal School of Health), and Anshu Dubey (Core Team Member, SOESC). 

"A thriving society depends on personal fulfillment and human connection and right now both are in crisis. The Compassion Shift is our response: a global effort to advance the understanding and practice of compassion so humanity can truly flourish," said Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Executive Director of the Compassion Center at Emory University.

The launch also celebrated the Compassion Center's three decades of work alongside His Holiness the Dalai Lama and outlined ambitious plans to embed compassion into the systems shaping society.

Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Group, congratulated the whole team of Emory stating: "I am filled with joy and excitement looking at the possibility of cultivating compassion across the globe, which will change our world towards deliberate action for whole humanity… where prosperity and happiness arise from collective compassion."

Adding to the leadership perspective, Aditya Natraj, CEO of Piramal Foundation, noted: "In a world defined by burnout, disruption, and rapid change, we need leaders who can lead with compassion. Only with that lens we will be able to build stronger organizations and societies."

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SOURCE Emory University