Edinburgh Futures Institute Presents:
How Compassionate Leadership Transforms the Human Future of Work
Free Community Event – In Person or Livestream

July 10, 2025 – 10:30-11:30 AM BST / 9:30-10:30 UTC
Location: room 3.35 (level 3), Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) / virtually

The Compassion in Financial Services Hub warmly invites you to join a talk on How Compassionate Leadership Transforms the Human Future of Work by Evan Harrel and Laura Berland from the Center for Compassionate Leadership.

Spaces at EFI are limited – please RSVP to cfsh@ed.ac.uk if you would like to attend in person. If you would like to attend virtually, please RSVP to cfsh@ed.ac.uk to receive Teams link.

Session Topic

In this AI era defined by complexity, disruption, and disconnection, compassionate leadership offers a powerful and effective response. Learn how to harness compassion as a strategic force to build resilience, foster human thriving, and drive sustainable performance.

Drawing on research and real-world insights, we’ll explore how to lead with compassion—through presence, empathy, and courage—and how to lead for compassion—by shaping systems that prioritize care, dignity, and connection. Participants will leave with practical tools to lead change that is future-ready.

Speaker Bios

Evan Harrel is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Compassionate Leadership. He leads the Center’s thought leadership efforts and the integration of scientific and business research into its curriculum and training. After receiving a degree, cum laude, in economics from Princeton University and an MBA with distinction from Harvard University, Evan built a multi-decade career in financial services, including managing a thirty-billion-dollar equity mutual fund.

Laura Berland is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Compassionate Leadership. Drawing on her experience as a serial tech entrepreneur, Fortune 500 executive, nonprofit board member, meditation educator, yoga therapist, and executive advisor, she develops leaders and equips them with transformational practices that foster meaningful organizational change. Through the Center for Compassionate Leadership, she has created a new model for these turbulent times that melds evidence-based principles of human leadership and the latest scientific

Edinburgh Futures Institute
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences │ The University of Edinburgh
1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9EF

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