Strengthening
the heart of communities
Putting Compassion at the Heart of Policing, Education, Healthcare & Service Sectors
First responders, military, education, and healthcare service workers are hurting today.
So are their organizations, departments, and America’s most vulnerable communities.
How can we increase recruitment and retention and reduce burnout, suicides, mental health problems, and substance abuse?
How can we improve critical community-facing worker morale, crime resolution, and patient and customer outcome rates?
How can we decrease violence and conflict overall and strengthen trust and cooperation among police, military, frontline staff, their units, organizations, and the communities they serve?
Traditional solutions–such as impersonal, mandatory, check-the-box training don’t’ move the needle. It’s time for a new approach. An ancient wisdom-inspired, research-backed, workplace-proven, and deeply human quality that drives culture and results::
Compassion.
Introducing Project Compassion
Project Compassion is an initiative by PAX Group, LLC, bringing new perspectives and practices to public safety and public-facing services organizations. By putting compassion at the center of first responders, healthcare, education and military - individuals, teams, and organizations increase well-being, performance, and resilience and foster safer, healthier workplaces and communities — for all.
We are a diverse group of experts in law enforcement, psychology, trauma-informed practices, and workplace culture.
Our Approach
Over the past 4 years, we have listened, analyzed, and designed evidence-based approaches with compassion as the key to greater well-being, performance, and resilience for individuals, their teams, and service and community-facing organizations.
In consultation with healthcare, military, and law enforcement leaders, mental health professionals, workplace culture, neuroanatomists, and community representatives, we are deploying an inside-out approach to compassion for those who serve. This means, first, demonstrating compassion for first responders and critical public service sector workers and helping them cultivate it in themselves.
Next, we help strengthen compassion and build high-trust cultures among units and across departments. The heightened compassion within law enforcement agencies, healthcare systems, and units leads to improved mental health, higher retention rates, and more effective collaboration.
These compassion-driven results, in turn, fortify community relationships, increase public safety, and improve associated patient, customer, and outcomes.
Our Services
We offer forward-looking public safety and healthcare and education leaders a range of services:
Consulting — department-wide engagements
Coaching — for law enforcement, military, education, healthcare, and other community-facing leaders and officers community-facing staff on the street
Retreats — for chiefs & sheriffs, commanders, hospital, education organizations, and unit leads
Training and Conversations — that build bridges within individuals, units, departments, and between frontline staff and the communities they serve.
The Project Compassion Team
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Phil Andrew is the Principal of PAX Group, a global crisis and conflict management consultancy that believes Safe People Thrive™. With over 30 years of experience as a lawyer, investigator, mediator, FBI agent, and crisis negotiator, Phil supports complex projects in public safety, investigations, crisis management, violence prevention, national security, negotiation, and conflict resolution. Phil is an adjunct instructor at De Paul University, Northwestern University, and serves on the Advisory Board for the National Security & Human Rights Law Center at Kent School of Law.
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Steve Knipstein is the Strategic Communication Partner, PAX Group LLC, with three decades of experience in strategic communications enhanced by a broad experience in business, crisis communication, and sports. He is also devoted to the battle to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis, serving as President of the Greater Illinois Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and its National Leadership Council. Steve served in leadership positions with KemperSports Management and Brunswick Corporation subsidiary Life Fitness. Prior, he led the Chicago office of Cushman/Amberg Communications, a leading full-service agency, after beginning his career in political campaigns and issues management.
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Sean Harvey is a TEDx Speaker and founder of Warrior Compassion Men’s Studio. Sean is an Interfaith Minister whose book, Warrior Compassion: Unleashing the Healing Power of Men was released in September 2023. Sean brings 25 years of experience in leadership and organizational development consulting and taught organizational behavior and change at Cornell, NYU, and Baruch College CUNY.
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Valerie Rivera is the founder and CEO of Take Back Work, a consultancy that designs and facilitates meaningful experiences that move organizations forward. Before earning her MBA at Stanford, Valerie served in the United States Air Force where she instigated a grassroots culture change movement that unleashed the creativity and innovation of thousands across the world.
Engage with us to manage the challenges leaders in law enforcement, education, military, and healthcare are wrestling with today and examine the role compassion can play in the solution to stubborn, deeply complex problems
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Glenn Thomas is the Founder and Chairman of the Center for Heart Work Leadership, a research and leadership development organization. Glenn is the author of books including Heart Work: 19 Expressions of Heart-Centered Leaders. Glenn headed budget and policy for the City of Atlanta, where he oversaw public safety finances.
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Michael Harrigan is a Partner at PAX Group, Llc and independent consultant focused on law enforcement policy and procedures as well as firearm laws. During his 22 years in the FBI, Michael served as Chief of several FBI programs including the Firearms Training Program, the Violent Criminal Apprehension (ViCAP) program and the FBI National Academy.
Compassion is an elixir that can improve public safety and other community-facing organizations’ outcomes and help individuals, organizations, and communities thrive.
— Project Compassion
