the revolution
Compassion is our central fulcrum. Archimedes knew that with a fulcrum, you can move the world.
Compassion as the Framework
Vision
A world where compassionate humans thrive at work and home.
Mission
To build a world where we are supported and encouraged to notice the distress in ourselves and others and act to alleviate that distress, with the support from those around us.
Purpose
To create beautiful interventions and safe spaces, that builds compassion within organisations, and for people at work and in the places they inhabit.
Values
Always learning
As a small organisation working with diverse clients, we are committed to learning deeply in every situation. Always learning means to us that we maintain an attitude of openness and curiosity, and we bring rigour to our research preparation in all relationships. We are open to changing our own way of thinking when others challenge us, or have wisdom to share with us.
Courage
We respect the courage of our clients and our community, who ask hard questions in challenging situations. To us, courage is grounded in truth telling, hope and a commitment to action. We understand that courage can sometimes be lonely, but we hold our ground in trust and solidarity with others. We step up, and we are steadfast even when things are difficult.
Creativity
We take a wide view of creativity: to be creative means to us that we come into situations with a commitment to seeing things that seem fixed in new ways, so that we can support our clients and each other to be continuously creative in building solutions. We craft our work with delight and integrity, and with an aim to bring joy.
Deep listening
Deep listening is core to our practice. We understand this to mean listening with full attention to the way human stories choose to unfold themselves. We listen just as deeply to the unsaid, noticing carefully and respecting when something is withheld, and remembering to keep this in mind when we make plans. We listen with our whole hearts to the wisdom of elders, and to the earth.
Relationality
Our relationality connects us to all our human and more-than-human kin–those who came before us, those who are living now, and those whose more compassionate future we are committed to co-creating. We care for those we know and also for those we don’t know, whose lives are impacted by our actions. We are as generous and as considerate as we can be with the resources we have available, and we are honest about our limitations.
Safety
We are resolute advocates for safety. We extend generous space for each other’s ideas, hopes and misgivings all to be heard and valued. We respect and care for human boundaries, and we pay careful attention to the way we use each other’s human time. Safety means to us that when mistakes are made, we hold fast to a no blame culture for ourselves and others. Our work is informed by trauma-awareness without ever needing disclosure. We always respect cultural authority.
Self awareness
Self-awareness means to us that we think carefully before acting. We are critically attentive to our positions within systems and social situations that give us each the power to cause harm to others. We stop and think about unintended impacts when we are making plans. We give credit to those who are teaching us. When we learn about our blindspots, we acknowledge what has happened, and correct our course.
Our story in brief
A social movement that’s finding another way.
Compassion Revolution started in 2016, as an idea hatched on a long plane ride home. As a recipient of a Westpac Foundation Social Change Fellowship, Mary Freer—Founder and Director spent eight weeks traveling throughout Europe and the United States, and through her deep international inquiry she saw something was about to take seed.
The aim of this work was to cultivate a living awareness of compassion as a more systematic and whole-hearted way of living and working. Compassion Revolution was designed to embroider compassion, kindness and respect into the fabric of high quality service delivery.
We bring compassion and impact together.
We work with partners who prioritise human and planetary flourishing and we build cultures that are caring, safe and inclusive of everyone.
Move at the speed of trust. Focus on critical connections rather than critical mass.
adrienne maree brown
The Book
Compassion Revolution
Start Now*
Use What You Have*
Keep Going*
A new, research-backed take on the power of compassion. Not fluffy. Not nice-to-have. Not kindness, even. No. This is compassion as a revolutionary act. A swath through bullying, blaming and exclusionary workplaces. A full stop to the many destructive practices that drive down the quality of work performance and wear away our mental wellbeing. This book exists so new ways can be paved.
SUMA: The four steps to Compassion
We know that compassion makes moral and economic sense but how do we practise it and maintain our joy and care for ourselves?
In Chapter Two of Mary’s book mentioned just above, you will discover a simple four-step process called SUMA to help you understand how compassion works. With practice, these steps will become your default response in times of happiness and distress.
Where we live
We live and work on the Adelaide Plains, the traditional lands of the Kaurna people and pay respects to elders past, present and emerging.
Always was, always will be.
People would be forgiven if they thought Compassion Revolution was based in Naarm (Melbourne), but our heartland is in Adelaide, South Australia. We deliver our work all over Australia and New Zealand. It is our goal however to more deeply build connection with our place here in South Australia.
We acknowledge the generosity of nature and the role it plays in our wellbeing. The environment is a part of us, and caring for it, is caring for ourselves. We see that we need a stronger connection with the land as climate change will greatly impact our health.
During the conference in 2023, we invited people to ‘cloak’ their heavy things with the promise of composting of the notes left behind. As soon as the compost has broken down we’re planting a Myrtle wattle (Acacia myrtifolia) (look at all those little pops of optimism!) to demonstrate where our roots are, and where our community is a part of what we grow.
A small catalogue of daily gratitudes
FROM THE ARCHIVE
Previous conferences
2022
CRITICAL CONNECTIONS
We never know how our small activities will affect others through the invisible fabric of our connectedness. In this exquisitely connected world, it’s never a question of ‘critical mass.’ It’s always about critical connections.
Mycelium is the vast and intelligent underground network of the mushroom. This super network connects all living plants to one another, carrying nutrients and information from one tree to the next. Compassion across communities works in much the same way.
There’s no going back to the pre-pandemic days of 2019. Across the world writers, thinkers and artists are naming this place we are in as a great turning point; a place of no return; a transition. Our health systems have been revealed as moribund. Our workforce are tired and overwhelmed. Ambulances ramp and patients queue. Now is no time for nostalgia.
2022 conference speakers
2021
THIS YEARS FOCUS
With COVID-19 still raging, Compassion Revolution stepped in and delivered an inspiring Conference that ran over three nights and two days, connecting people all over the world.
Opening night was a hybrid session where South Australia presented in person and many others joined us online. Mary Freer had a conversation with Seth Godin, the theme being ‘Can Capitalism Flourish Alongside Compassion?’, followed by a panel discussion.
The next two days were executed on our digital community platform, with rigorous conversations designed to create cultures of care that are high quality, continually improving, and compassionate. We set an intention that these discussions motivate our community to take action.
Mary also launched her book, Compassion Revolution: Start Now. Use What You Have. Keep Going.
2021 conference speakers
This years hybrid conference enjoyed these outstanding humans who, in all their rich variety of disciplines, brought their perspective of compassion and how to lead, and be led by it.
2020
THIS YEARS FOCUS
Because of COVID-19, more than ever, health and aged care workers were being stretched in ways never imagined.
Compassion Revolution Conference responded by building a digital community platform, having created a warm safe meeting space for connection, support and conversation.
During November, Compassion Revolution curated a month of key speakers and engaged audiences as many as 860 people in conversations of moral imagination and social courage.
We also introduced a Book Club where five books were chosen. These books were themed in resilience, care, inclusion and diversity — and participants had group conversations with the authors, where robust conversations teased out some of the complexities of care work.
2020 conference speakers
This years online conference enjoyed these outstanding humans who, in all their rich variety of disciplines, brought their perspective of compassion and how to lead, and be led by it.
2019
THIS YEARS FOCUS
The Compassion Revolution called for people who care and invited compassionate leaders to bring their wisdom and inspiration to the work of health, aged care and social good.
This was the conference’s inaugural year held on (local indigenous country), at the Melbourne Arts Centre to an audience of 350 people.
Over the two days CR brought together internationally recognised leaders, clinicians and change makers, all focussed on improving our systems of care.
Our first conference was a sell-out and the feedback insisted we keep going.
2019 conference speakers
In our first year, Compassion Revolution Conference brought together speakers from the world, who, in all their rich variety of disciplines, brought their perspective of compassion and how to lead, and be led by it.
All things Compassion Revolution is activated by Freerthinking
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