Compassion as a Catalyst: Bridging Divides to Build a Better Future

“[When] people inevitably begin to experience their new allies’ humanity, in effect, it leads to greater compassion.” These words from Sol Erdman, founder of the Grand Bargain Project, echo a central truth about the challenges and opportunities facing America today. Compassion, often seen as a personal value, also plays a crucial role in fostering the kind of collaboration necessary for solving national challenges.

At the recent Muhammad Ali Index Launch, an event aimed at measuring and advancing compassion across the United States, Erdman participated in a panel discussion exploring the “business case for compassion.” While the event highlighted compassion’s importance in diverse spaces—from communities to economies—it also underscored the need for action that bridges divides and creates shared purpose.

But what does it take for compassion to evolve from a personal value into a catalyst for collective action and systemic reform?

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At its core, compassion is a deeply human trait. Studies in neuroscience reveal that our brains are actually wired to empathize, that we are, contrary to what we are often told in the media, actually designed to connect with each other. Mirror neurons, for instance, help us understand the actions of others by simulating the observed behavior in our own brain and so allow us to feel another person’s joy or pain almost as if it were our own. This instinct, once a vital survival mechanism that fostered cooperation in early human communities, now faces challenges in the modern world. Amid vast networks and competing interests, turning compassion into collective action often feels like an uphill battle.

So, what prevents this natural human inclination from becoming the catalyst for large-scale collaboration?

One major obstacle is how compassion is often dismissed as ‘soft’ or even a weakness, tricking us into believing it slows us down or clouds our ability to ‘win.’ We’ve been conditioned to see success as something rooted in competition and self-interest, where compassion is cast aside as impractical or naive, leaving us vulnerable. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. When compassion is applied with clarity and purpose, it becomes a powerful tool—cutting through division, inspiring trust, and creating the kind of collaboration needed to solve our biggest challenges.

Another, perhaps even more fundamental, barrier lies in the erosion of trust, both in one another and in the institutions meant to serve us. “People are angry and afraid about where their own lives are going,” Erdman observed. “They don’t feel their kids are going to have a better future. They feel the system is rigged against them, and you can’t, in my experience, get people to care about others when they feel threatened.”

In a world increasingly shaped by competing interests and conflicting narratives, mistrust thrives. This mistrust can be seen in communities divided by partisanship, economic inequality, and the pervasive influence of media outlets that profit from sensationalism and polarization. It chips away at our ability to see each other as allies in solving shared problems.

And so, when we feel like compassion is impractical, unnecessary, or leaves us vulnerable, we lose sight of what the purpose of government is; what it does and who it serves. Yet, despite these challenges, examples of compassion aren’t hard to find—particularly in times of crisis. During extreme weather events or at the height of COVID, communities came together in remarkable ways, providing mutual aid, resources, and hope. On a local scale, compassion seems to thrive, especially when the stakes feel immediate and human.

Psychological studies shed light on this phenomenon. Research by Paul Slovic on the “identifiable victim effect” shows that people are far more likely to empathize and act when they can put a face to suffering. This human tendency explains why local disasters often elicit such strong responses, but it also reveals the barriers to scaling compassion. When problems become abstract - numbers instead of names - our instinct to help can falter.

The challenge, then, is not that people lack compassion - it’s that our largest issues are rarely framed in ways that activate it. Too often, political and systemic challenges are presented as abstract problems devoid of the human stories and stakes that make them resonate. But what if we reimagined how we approach these issues? What if we talked to each other with such profound compassion for one another’s situations that the drive to create practical solutions became unstoppable - not out of obligation, but from an unshakable desire to see everyone thrive?

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This belief is at the heart of why the Grand Bargain Project created its workshops. These workshops are more than conversations - they are visioning processes designed to foster empathy, connection, and understanding among people from all walks of life. They encourage participants to look beyond their individual circumstances, to explore how the issues they care about intersect with the experiences of others, and to collaboratively develop solutions that address shared challenges.

Each workshop provides a structured framework for addressing six critical issues - economic mobility, education, healthcare, clean energy, tax reform, and federal debt - through a lens of shared humanity. Grounded in real-time feedback and designed for collaboration, these sessions bring diverse perspectives together in an inclusive and action-oriented environment, where differences become strengths rather than barriers.

“This is our rigorous approach to compassion,” Erdman said during the Muhammad Ali Index Launch. “I’m offering our approach as a possibility. Here’s a roadmap for the future that’s better for your family. You enlist them and say, by the way, we’re enlisting other people who don’t agree with you. So you’re addressing the issues that are front and center on their mind now, and they are drawn to that future. They join together; they begin to see each other as allies instead of enemies.”

When compassion forms the foundation of our discussions, it transforms the way we approach problem-solving. Compassion shifts the focus from winning arguments to building shared solutions, from entrenched divisions to collective progress. These workshops align intentions and build mutual understanding to demonstrate what’s possible when we come together. Many individuals committed to creating a better future for all.

Interested in participating in or hosting a workshop? Learn more here…