Why Kindness Matters

This World Kindness Day join Karuna's Venerable Tsultrim for this online event, as she discusses "Why Kindness Matters" with Professor Robin Banerjee, and Compassion in Politics with Jennifer Nadel. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session, discussing the topics explored by guest speakers.

• Professor Robin Banerjee a professor of developmental psychology and the inaugural Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global and Civic Engagement at the University of Sussex.  He formerly served as Director of Teaching and Learning and later as Head of the School of Psychology at Sussex, one of the largest and most academically diverse communities of psychology students and staff in the UK.  In his current role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Robin is the University’s strategic lead for global and civic engagement, establishing and strengthening institutional relationships with stakeholders and partner organisations in the local community as well as internationally.  Professor Banerjee’s research focuses on the social and emotional  development of young people, and he works closely with practitioners and policymakers in the areas of education and mental health. He founded the Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness, an interdisciplinary research centre focused on illuminating the nature of kindness and its impacts on people and communities. Professor Banerjee recently led The Kindness Test, a partnership with the BBC that became the world’s largest ever public science project on kindness, as well as The Screen Test, a partnership with the Radio Times that marked their centenary by exploring the power of television and radio in people's lives.  He is also an expert advisor to EmpathyLab, an organisation that works with schools, libraries, and other community stakeholders to promote empathy and reading for pleasure through the power of children’s books. 

• Jennifer Nadel is the Co-director of the cross-party think tank, Compassion in Politics and the Director of Compassionate Politics at Stanford University’s Centre for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.  She has worked in and around Westminster for three decades and advised politicians and campaigns locally, nationally and internationally.  A barrister, author, strategist, keynote speaker and award-winning television  journalist (ex BBC, Channel Four News and ITN), her books include:  Sunday Times bestseller, WE: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere (written with Gillian Anderson);  How Compassion can Transform our Politics, Economy and Society.  Her BBC Radio documentary, Broken  Politics.Broken Politicians explores the mental health crisis in UK politics and the implications for democracy. Similar research is now being done with Australian politicians on their mental wellbeing and Compassion in Politics will shortly be launching in Australia. She provides training in Resilience and Compassionate Leadership globally. Her father was interned in Australia during WWII as a Dunera boy and she has written about the injustice of his experience in Fault Lines, Australia's Unequal Past which is published in October 2025. https://publishing.monash.edu/product/fault-lines/