-

Daniel Martin, PhD
Director of Corporate Compassion Education
Dr. Daniel E. Martin is an Associate Professor of Management at California State University, East Bay, and Director of Corporate Compassion Education at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. Formerly a Visiting Associate Professor at CCARE, a Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Law & Society at UC Berkeley, Director of Research at the Charter for Compassion a Research Fellow for the U.S. Army Research Institute as well as a Personnel Research Psychologist for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, he has worked with private, public and non-profit organizations on pre-employment selection, training, and organizational assessment. He has held international appointments at Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa, Mexico and The D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio De Janiero, Brazil.
Dan holds a Ph.D. in Social and Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Howard University, Washington, D.C., and a BS in Clinical Psychology from San Francisco State, California.
Dan’s research interests include: compassion, social capital, ethical behavior, racism and prejudice, human resources assessment, religiosity, spirituality and humor. Dan has held TEDxHayward at CSUEB highlighting quantitative efforts in Peace Innovation twice.
Dan is published in a range of journals including Journal of Business Ethics, Personnel Review, Human Organization, Ethics and Behavior, and the Journal of Applied Psychology. His current research streams investigate the impact of individual differences and ideology on social corporate responsibility and human resources decision making. Other streams involve the impact of ideology on compassion and psychological well-being. His current applied work on the use of untapped social capital to ameliorate social problems serve as a research, skills development and assessment platform. Dan is also the founder and CEO of Arete Science, LLC, which scales interventions and measurable impact in competence and well-being across a wide array of social and individual needs (Business, Leadership, Psychedelics, SUD and more).
  -

James Ehrlich
Director of Compassionate Sustainability
James Ehrlich is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University School of Medicine. Additionally, James is appointed Faculty at Singularity University, Senior Fellow at NASA Ames Research Center, and a White House / OSTP Appointee to a joint taskforce on Regenerative Infrastructure.
Mr. Ehrlich is also the Founder of ReGen Villages Holding, B.V., a Stanford University spin-off formed in the EU as a Dutch impact-for-profit company, using machine learning software to address the U.N. 17 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically to provide solutions for affordable housing, climate change adaptability, and regenerative resiliency.
Mr. Ehrlich founded ReGen Villages in 2016, with its patent-pending VillageOS™ operating system software to design and operate bio-regenerative and resilient (self-reliant) neighborhood infrastructure and retrofits, integrating clean water, renewable energy micro-grids, high-yield organic food, and circular nutritional flows at the neighborhood scale, to promote healthy long-term outcomes for residents and flourishing communities.
A serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley for over 25-years, James successfully founded and managed technology and media companies with successful exits. For nearly a decade, Mr. Ehrlich executive produced an award-winning national public broadcasting series based on his case study research of organic and bio-dynamic family farms, that at its apex reached over 35-million homes each week and is also the co-author of a best-selling companion book on Hachette, Organic Living THG (2007).
James holds a Bachelor of Science from New York University and Master studies in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. He has won several awards for sustainable design and is a researcher and global lecturer on the topic of regenerative neighborhood development. He has co-authored two (2) U.N. Sustainable Development Goal Platform Briefs (2015/2018) with Prof. Larry Leifer and Chris Ford (AIA) from the Center for Design Research at Stanford University.
  -

Alexandra Albinus
Compassionate Sustainability Course Design Lead
Alexandra Albinus began her collaboration with James Ehrlich (Director of Compassionate Sustainability at CCARE) in 2021 to establish a series of workshop programs and courses on Design Empathy, specific to themes on regeneration, climate resiliency, and adaptability. Alex creatively shapes custom programs for K12 youth, support for undergraduates and master’s students, executive education for professional growth, and helping to define the Design Empathy Instructor certification program.
Alex is a trained architect originally from Germany who studied at the University of Applied Science Munich Architecture Department, and then continued her architectural and design studies in Spain at the University of the Bask Country in San Sebastian. Alex then returned to Germany to complete her architectural degree, graduating with a Dipl.-Ing Architecture, and continued in design thinking training to further her teaching skills.
Alex has worked with professional architectural and design firms to train internal teams on creative collaboration, applying her growing knowledge in climate resiliency and environmental design areas. She moved to Silicon Valley in support of her husband’s post-doc at the Stanford Center for Design Research, while continuing to build her professional design and teaching skills.
  -

Roozbeh Aliabadi, PhD
Director of Compassion in AI
Dr. Roozbeh Aliabadi, PhD, is an entrepreneur, a global thought leader in AI education, an author, and an advocate for ensuring artificial intelligence serves humanity with ethics, empathy, and compassion.
Dr. Aliabadi is the co-founder and CEO of ReadyAI.org, an organization dedicated to bringing AI education to students in over 150 countries. He is also the co-founder of the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY), a global initiative that empowers young minds to solve real-world challenges through AI, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and ethical leadership.
As an author, Dr. Aliabadi has written extensively on AI’s role in education, including books for educators, parents, and children. His latest work, “Intro to AI for Parents (Pocketbook): A Guide to Sparking Fun and Meaningful Conversations with Your Kids about Artificial Intelligence,” helps families engage in meaningful discussions about AI and its impact. His insights on AI and global affairs have been featured in BBC, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, NIKKEI Asian Review, and USA Today.
Dr. Aliabadi has delivered keynote addresses at major global conferences, including Web Summit, AI Global Summit, Global Silicon Valley Forum, and the Aspen Forum. His talks explore AI ethics, education, and the future of compassionate AI, bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and human-centered values.
His research focuses on the intersection of AI, education, and human-centered technology, particularly emphasizing how AI can enhance social-emotional learning, foster inclusivity in education, and support global digital equity.
Dr. Aliabadi earned a Ph.D. from Robert Morris University, focusing on AI interventions in education, a Master’s degree in International Political Economy, and a Bachelor’s in Finance and Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. With eight years of service in the U.S. Army Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), he brings a global perspective to the ethical considerations of AI. His expertise in human psychology, education, and geopolitics makes him a leading advocate for AI that empowers and uplifts humanity.
  -

Emma Seppala, PhD
Science Director
 Emma Seppala, PhD is Science Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University. Her areas of research include positive organizational psychology, health psychology, and cultural psychology. In particular her research has focused on well-being, compassion, social connection and mind-body practices.
She is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, The Huffington Post, and Scientific American Mind. She also consults with Fortune 500 leaders and employees on building a positive organization and is the author of an upcoming book on the science of success, The Happiness Track, published by HarperOne (January 2016). She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Fulfillment Daily, a news site dedicated to the science of happiness.
Dr. Seppala’s research has been cited in numerous television and news outlets including ABC News and The New York Times and she is quoted in books such as Congressman Tim Ryan’s Mindful Nation . Her research on mind-body practices for military veterans with trauma was highlighted in a documentary called Free the Mind by award-winning filmmaker Phie Ambo. She is the recipient of a number of research grants and service awards including the James W. Lyons Award from Stanford University, where she helped found Stanford’s first academic class on the psychology of happiness and taught many well-being programs for Stanford students.
Dr. Seppala received a BA in Comparative Literature from Yale University, a Master’s Degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, and a PhD in Psychology from Stanford University. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Dr. Richard Davidson. Originally from Paris, France, she speaks five languages: French, English, German, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Outside of her experiences in the US, she has worked in France and China.
For more, see her website.
-

Monica Worline, PhD
Research Scientist
Monica Worline, PhD is an organizational psychologist and founder and CEO of EnlivenWork, an innovation organization that teaches businesses and others how to tap into courageous thinking, compassionate leadership, and the curiosity to bring their best work to life. Monica is an award-winning teacher and an interdisciplinary scholar who has served on the faculty of Goizueta Business School at Emory University and on the faculties of the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California Irvine and the UC Irvine School of Social Ecology.
Monica’s writing has been featured in publications such as Harvard Business Review, Chicago Tribune, and BizEd Magazine and her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly and Organization Science. She authored the book Awakening Compassion at Work and is a founding member of the CompassionLab, the world’s leading research collaboratory focused on compassion at work.
Monica completed her doctoral work in organizational psychology at the University of Michigan and is a member of the Positive Organizational Scholarship community housed in the Ross School of Business. She earned her BA with distinction and honors at Stanford University, where her emphasis on humanities continues to provide a strong foundation for her unique blend of critical thinking and creativity.
  -

Jennifer Nadel
Director of Compassionate Politics
Jennifer Nadel is a pioneer in the emerging field of compassionate politics, working to bring the science and practice of compassion into the political arena. She speaks globally about the transformative power of compassion and provides training to those working in the political arena including at the UN and the UK Houses of Parliament.
She founded the think tank, Compassion in Politics, together with Matt Hawkins in 2018. It works on a cross-party basis with 100+ politicians in the UK to improve political processes and outcomes and their advice is sought internationally. Their original research is cited in parliament, influences policy, and has led to new legislation being debated. In 2022 she helped establish the Global Compassion Coalition which now has a global reach of millions.
Jennifer advises and trains grassroots and national campaigns, has run for the UK Parliament, and served on the National Executive Committee of the Green Party. In 2018 she stepped away from party politics to focus on building common ground.
Her Sunday Times Bestseller, WE: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere, co-authored with Gillian Anderson, is a guide to inner and outer change and a rallying cry to move to a less me-centric society. It was featured on shows including CBS This Morning, The View, Dr Oz, the BBC and ITV. Jennifer continues to provide training based on it.
Her most recent book, How Compassion can Transform our Politics, Economy and Society, co-edited with Matt Hawkins, has been hailed as a guide to creating a more compassionate world.
Jennifer is a qualified barrister and award-winning journalist who has broadcast for the BBC. and ITV, from around the world. A regular media commentator, Jennifer speaks internationally at organisations including: Google, Apple, Bloomberg, AOL Build, JP Morgan, the Oxford Union, and at leading universities. American born, she’s currently based in London.