About

Mission

Empathy World addresses root causes of empathy imbalances and empowers groups and individuals to establish authentic paths to empathy to repair the world.

Vision

  1. Contribute to sustainable peace through Holistic Empathy Development (HED) education.

  2. Unite communities through human empathy, diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice (DEIBJ), intergenerational trauma healing, and connection.

  3. Support and guide individuals navigating unique paths to empathy.

  4. Build strong alliances and partnerships with empathy leaders.

  5. Fuel an empathy movement to promote and practice sustainable peace.

Origin Story

In 2021, Leah Kumayama created Empathy World and Holistic Empathy Development (HED) through her passion for intercultural empathy, public health, the arts, education, self-healing, global development & social, economic and environmental empowerment, equity and justice.

As a consultant, Leah learned that there are many people yearning to develop empathy but lack tools, education and opportunities to do so in a meaningful way. At the same time, Leah was discovering the need for self empathy as a caregiver for her family. Through personal experiences, she developed her own unique path to empathy while gaining an understanding of the root causes of empathy imbalances and a variety of ways to heal them. Leah is passionate about spreading HED education throughout the world so that others can get the support, protection, guidance and resources they need.

Leah Kumayama, Founder (She/Her)

Leah Kumayama is a mother, Founder of Empathy World, Trauma-Informed Yoga Psychology Teacher and Global Human Resources Professional. She worked as a public health and youth development volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Ukraine, a Refugee Women’s Empowerment Program Director in Arizona and a People Operations Manager at a social enterprise serving small-holder farmers in East Africa.

Leah has a BA in International Studies, Applied Political Economy, and Japanese from the University of Arizona, and studied for a year at Tokyo International University in Japan. She has an MA in Global Affairs & Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and briefly studied environmental protection and justice at INCAE in Costa Rica. Leah studied Jewish Dreamworking at Kohenet and invented a Dreamworking Analysis tool to discover dream meanings, develop self-awareness and heal trauma and intergenerational trauma. Leah has a background in the performing arts and enjoys singing, dancing, playing music and musical theater.


The needs of the underserved and her experiences inspire her work to teach Holistic Empathy Development (HED) and create a more peaceful world.


Together we are empathy.