In this lecture, Anne Birgitta Pessi and the CoPassion research team presents: “Individually together – in compassion and co-passions: Revolutionizing Work Through Compassion.”

Anne Birgitta Pessi is a Professor of Church and Social Studies at the University of Helsinki – and a true believer and explorer of the incredible power of altruism and compassion. Pessi has worked for several universities abroad (e.g. Boston University in 2010 and LSE in 2005 and 2006). In Autumn 2013, she worked as a Tobis fellow at UC Irvine, California.

Pessi has been working in various international research projects, such as the EU-funded project “Welfare and Values in Europe” (2006-2009). Currently, she directs a vast multidisciplinary project CoPassion (The Revolutionary Power of Compassion) from 2015 to 2017. She has also directed Academy of Finland funded research projects RiTS (Religion in Transforming Solidarity) in 2008-2011 and CoCare (Cooperation in Care – meaning systems, chances, and conflicts) in 2014-2018.

Pessi’s research interests cover particularly volunteering, altruism, civil society, togetherness, church social work and experiences of good life, as well as individualized religiosity. Her publications include over 40 referee journal articles and over 200 titles. Currently Pessi works, together with her two research teams, on analysis of power of compassion in business and the public sector as well as on content and reader experiences of self help literature and the construction of self in this genre. She also focuses on her ongoing studies on individual experiences of the sacred.

Pessi is a member of several international and national academic societies, such as International Society for the Sociology of Religion, European Research Network on Philanthropy, International Society for Third-Sector Research, and Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. She is currently a chief editor/editor of three academic journals.

Pessi has been awarded several international and national academic prizes, such as the prestigious Nils Klim prize (2008) and the Jutikkala prize (2013). Her dissertation gained awards, including an award from the International Society for Third-Sector Research in 2006.

To learn more about CCARE, please visit ccare.stanford.edu.