Empathy in tech is on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry to help humanity solve our most pressing and complex problems.
- Technical Empathy - Close the empathy skills gap in the tech industry by leading a scientific revolution that embraces new research.
- Ethical Empathy - Ensure empathy is used for social good through ethical, equitable, and responsible choices.
- Actionable Empathy - Build a thriving community that makes effective empathy training accessible, affordable, and widely available.
Why empathy? It is the evolutionary mechanism humans evolved so that we can collaborate effectively. If we want to make substantive changes on big issues and ensure the tech industry is equitable, fair, and just, we must understand what empathy is, what it isn't, and how we can leverage it effectively for the common good.
Through events, training, and community, we aim to create an intentionally diverse and inclusive space for people who care about empathy and technology to collaborate, share, and learn from each other.
When empathy is effectively embedded into company culture, communication practices, and codebases, teams can write higher-quality code, collaborate better with others, reduce bias, and create technology that is more helpful and less harmful.
You don’t have to know how to code. You don’t need to be a natural empath. Come as you are and learn from new perspectives. All roles and experience levels are welcome.
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IT STARTED WITH A BOOK…
In 2021, Andrea Goulet signed a book contract with a major publisher to write Empathy-Driven Software Development. It provides a practical framework that helps developers apply empathy throughout their daily work. As the book progressed, Andrea imagined a community where the deep nuances of empathy could be explored to help people, particularly folks who work in tech, apply empathy effectively. She purchased the domain, reached out to her network, and launched a newsletter on LinkedIn. She knew she was tapping into something important when over 30,000 people immediately subscribed.
ALONG CAME A FRIEND…
Casey Watts had recently finished his book Debugging Your Brain, which uses software development analogies to help people incorporate psychological principles in their daily lives. When Andrea and Casey were introduced, they became instant friends. They shared research papers, swapped stories, and provided emotional support to each other. After a few months, Casey helped launch a Discord server, and the pair began hosting public workshops to provide accessible and affordable training at the intersection of empathy and tech.
THEN A COMMUNITY…
Soon, more people joined as leaders, and a core team formed. Katie Werremeyer, Nyota Gordon, Sam Taggart, Daniela Duran, and Ellen Leonard volunteered their time to create a strategic direction and produce more workshops.
AND NOW A MOVEMENT...
In 2024, the Empathy in Tech core team decided to take the formal step of becoming a non-profit so that we can expand our mission further. We shifted our focus from live event workshops to producing a podcast and an online conference. What started as a humble vision is now a reality…and we’re just getting started.