Learn From Eleven Compassionate Leaders Combating Global Challenges With Kindness

By Laurel Donnellan (Originally published at Forbes.com)

Today, I have the privilege of honoring an esteemed group of remarkable leaders from across sectors, generations, and continents who embody what it means to lead with compassion. These individuals model a kind of leadership that’s both powerful and deeply human—one that blends emotional intelligence with strategic thinking. Compassionate leadership isn’t soft; it’s smart. It means using your head and heart to inspire, influence, and drive meaningful change.

Compassionate Leader Circle celebrates individuals who exemplify heart-centered leadership each year through its annual Compassionate Leader Circle Awards. Over the past five years, we’ve recognized 42 extraordinary leaders across six continents who lead with love, integrity, and courage. We chose eleven this year to represent the 200 nominations that we received, who are tackling problems ranging from climate change to mental health.  This year’s honorees continue that legacy in bold and inspiring ways—and I am so proud to introduce them to you now: (in no particular order) 

Sabitri Sanyalis is the Founder of the Kyokan Foundation, based in India, where she works to create a world of emotionally resilient and compassionate youth. As an educator and mental health professional, she works with children, adolescents, and families in vulnerable situations. Her approach to healing integrates self-compassion, trauma-informed education, the arts, movement, and counseling. Sabitri has had the privilege of working and volunteering with organizations in the development sector for over a decade, contributing her skills and passion to meaningful causes.

Julia Sekula is a climate-tech executive and author with over a decade of experience spanning Europe, Silicon Valley, and Latin America. She is on the founding team and currently serves as the CFO and Head of Brazil at Terradot, dedicated to reversing climate change through innovation. She leads efforts to scale scientific and technological solutions for gigaton-scale carbon removal through Enhanced Rock Weathering in the Global South. Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) has the potential to permanently remove billions of tons of CO₂ while creating a positive future for humanity. She is a champion for Brazil and the Amazon Ecosystem as a critical factor in reducing the negative impacts of global warming. She holds an MBA and MSc from Stanford University and currently serves on the Board of Directors for World Resources Institute Brazil.

Florine Clomegah-Freitas is the Director of the Worldwide Women’s Forum, an international organization that promotes gender initiatives and advocates for women’s empowerment. Through this platform, she fosters dialogue, solidarity, and practical action for gender equity and empowerment. Her approach has always been rooted in kindness, guiding her through complex humanitarian operations across Africa, Asia, and Europe. In the private sector, Florine co-leads CIKA Golden Hotel & Suites and SCICCO in Togo, promoting quality service and professional excellence in hospitality and office space management.

Ryan Polly is the Vice President of Inclusion & Leadership Development at MaineHealth, a not-for-profit, integrated health system with a vision of “working together so our communities are the healthiest in America.”  He has been driven by one simple truth: transformation begins when we choose to live authentically, with love as our guiding force. Having faced numerous challenges, including homelessness, the early loss of both parents, and having his first child at age 16, he has become a leader who genuinely understands suffering and resilience. Ryan is also an ordained interfaith minister. He provides pro bono spiritual counseling and volunteers as a guest minister for different faith traditions.  

Dr. De’Anjelo “Chief” Bradley is a humanitarian and the founder and CEO of the Planned Purpose Program. This innovative youth mentoring organization aims to create social balance in underprivileged communities, one mind at a time. His approach involves cultivating relationships between youth and volunteer adult mentors, developing literacy and technology skills, and connecting them to opportunities such as internships, externships, and scholarship programs. 3P provides education in life skills and supports traditional educational success. He is also a distinguished fire chief, business leader, inventor, and decorated veteran, known for his unwavering commitment to service and compassion. 

Francesca Reicherter is the founder of Inspiring My Generation, an organization dedicated to reducing the suicide rate through mental health awareness, conversation, education, and compassionate support. As a suicide attempt survivor, Francesca uses her story to help others feel less alone and encourage open discussions. She embodies compassion and kindness by showing up for those who often feel invisible.  She is a brave pioneer striving to normalize the courageous conversations we all need to have about mental well-being. Francesca hosts the podcast "Normalize the Conversation" and has authored six interactive workbooks.

Nancy Hinds, founder of Hinds Hospice, has dedicated her life to serving others with compassion, faith, and unwavering purpose. A former nurse and missionary, Nancy was called to care for the dying long before hospice was widely understood in the United States. In 1981, four years after losing her husband to cancer as a young mother of three small children,  she opened her home to patients in need. This laid the foundation for what would become the gold standard of loving hospice care, demonstrated every day at Hinds by the team that continues to be inspired by “the Nancy factor.” In recognition of her extraordinary contributions to healthcare and the community, Nancy was awarded an honorary doctorate from California State University, Fresno in 2024. 

Amy Cappellanti-Wolf is the EVP and Chief People Officer at Dayforce, a global platform that combines payroll, HR, benefits, talent, and workforce management. She has introduced transformative initiatives that prioritize employee well-being at Dayforce, including refresh days to address burnout, uninterrupted work hours, and a new and more inclusive structure for Employee Resource Groups. Amy’s leadership in 2024 set a new standard for people-first practices, resulting in measurable improvements in employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention, while highlighting the power of compassionate and collaborative leadership. She sits on several boards and was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women Tech Leaders by the National Diversity Council.

Dr. David Corsun is a professor and the Director of the Knoebel School of Hospitality Management in the Daniels School of Business at the University of Denver. Throughout his academic career, he has broken convention and helped students understand compassionate leadership from the inside out. Under his leadership, the school offers a one-of-a-kind social impact hospitality education, where students are challenged while receiving deeply caring one-to-one support from David and his team. For the last seven years, David has partnered with CLC to bring the Fritz Leadership Symposium to his students, where they explore personal purpose and experiment with ways to improve the future of hospitality through creating meaningful career visions. He left the restaurant industry and entered academia after realizing he could have a more significant impact by teaching young people the importance of creating humane workplaces. 

Dr. Cheri Young is an associate professor at the Knoebel School of Hospitality Management at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Cheri fiercely advocates for her students’ personal and educational needs, blending business lessons with social justice. One of her inventions is a program called RAH (Ready for American Hospitality), which opens the minds and hearts of students by pairing them with refugees from the ECDC/African Community Center. This allows students to practice human resources management while supporting their refugee protégés in gaining practical employment skills. This life-changing partnership has existed for over five years and is working with its 18th cohort. While her primary teaching areas include organizational behavior, labor relations, and human resources, her life’s purpose is to help others realize their highest potential.

Melissa Murphy is a serial social entreprenuer and global strategist committed to building purpose-driven businesses that create real impact. Melissa leads a portfolio of companies spanning professional services, sustainable agriculture, industrial innovation, and mission-driven consumer brands. She focuses on her employees’ growth while she grows enterprises. Melissa remains grounded in her belief that anyone can thrive with the right tools and mindset. Beyond her corporate leadership, Melissa is deeply committed to philanthropic work, supporting education, health, and sustainable livelihoods.

The awards were sponsored by Angles, Inc., our inaugural partner, who helps us promote compassion through their one-of-a-kind digital marketing platform; Canyon Ranch, which offers compassionate leaders a place to reset in style when they visit one of their properties (Woodside, Tucson, and Lenox); and Changing Work, a community that supports compassionate leadership every day.