Our Mission
To foster compassion and understanding through educational programs and community initiatives that bring people together.
Compassion Course Foundation
Peace is something
we can learn.
Peace education for everyone, everywhere, all at once — the skills, mindsets and relationships that help people meet each other with understanding.
- 3,898places
- 487regions
- 6continents
where people have joined the Compassion Course
Drag to explore a world already practising compassion
What we stand for
Our Vision
A world where compassion guides our interactions and creates positive change in communities everywhere.
Why peace education
Peace is built before conflict begins.
Communities are facing rising levels of polarization, stress, and conflict. While many efforts focus on resolving conflict after it has escalated, research across psychology, education, and peace studies consistently shows that peace is most effectively built by cultivating the skills, mindsets, and relationships that prevent conflict in the first place. This is the heart of peace education.
More about usPeace education equips people with the ability to understand their own needs, communicate effectively, regulate emotions, and empathize across differences. Studies from UNESCO, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, and numerous academic programs have affirmed that peace education contributes to:
- 01Reduced interpersonal and community violence
- 02Improved emotional resilience and self-regulation
- 03Greater social cohesion and empathy across cultures
- 04Increased capacity for collaboration and conflict transformation
“Peace education is not simply a curriculum — it is a strategy for transforming the cultural roots of our collective challenges.”
When people learn concrete tools for connection and compassion, they are better able to navigate differences, de-escalate tensions, and create environments where everyone’s needs matter.
Our programs
Ways we bring compassion to life
The Compassion Course
A global pathway to peace: the practical “how to” of compassion, changing lives for 15 years in over 120 countries and 20 languages.
Explore the course
Removing Barriers
The Compassion Course Fund: scholarships and support for people who would otherwise face financial or geographic barriers.
See the FundThe Archive Program
Almost 25 years of teaching, becoming an online library of audio courses in 249 languages.
Inside the archive
Our founder
Thom Bond
Creator of The Compassion Course, a comprehensive online training that has served over 32,000 participants in more than 120 countries and 20 languages.
Thom is the author of The Compassion Book, the creator of “The Exercise – Shifting Toward Compassion” and “64 Days for Peace”, and the Director of Education for NYCNVC, the New York Center for Nonviolent Communication.
From the blog
Latest writing
Get involved
Join us in making a difference.
Whether through volunteering, donating, or participating in our programs — every act of compassion travels further than we can see.
Letters from the dawn
Occasional, hopeful news from our community — stories, events and new ways to take part.