Mary Gordon (child advocate)

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Mary Gordon (born 13 October 1947) is a Canadian social entrepreneur [1] [2] , educator, author [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] , child advocate [10] [11] and parenting expert [12] [13] [14] [15] , known for creating the Roots of Empathy program for elementary schools and the Seeds of Empathy [16] program for early childhood settings. These programs focus on fostering empathy, emotional literacy, and social connection in children based on the parent–infant relationship.

Contents

She founded the Canadian charity Roots of Empathy to break intergenerational cycles of violence, which has since expanded to multiple countries and languages. The Roots of Empathy program has been the subject of independent research demonstrating reductions in aggression and bullying, and increases empathy and in pro-social behaviours such as caring including and kindness. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]

Gordon serves as the president and CEO of Roots of Empathy [23] . She is also credited with coining the phrase "Love grows brains™" [24] , referencing the impact of the attachment relationship on early brain development.

Biography

Gordon grew up in Newfoundland, but later moved to Toronto, Ontario. [25] In her early career, she was a kindergarten teacher. In 1981, she founded Canada's first school-based Parenting and Family Literacy centres, which have become public policy in Ontario and are being used as a model for similar programs internationally.[ citation needed ]

In 1996, she founded Roots of Empathy, a classroom-based program for children in elementary school, and in 2005 she founded Seeds of Empathy, a related program for younger children in early childhood settings. [26]

Selected works

Gordon's 2005 Canadian non-fiction bestseller, Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by Child, [26] concerns child development and empathy and outlines the philosophy behind the Roots of Empathy program. It was ranked as one of the Top 100 Books of the Year in the category of "Ideas" by The Globe and Mail in 2006.

Speaking and consulting

Gordon is an international public speaker and often acts as an advisor for governments, educational organizations, and public institutions.[ citation needed ] She has presented on early childhood development to conferences organized by the World Health Organization, and the United States government, among others. She worked with the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health's Knowledge Network for Early Childhood Development for their report Total Environment Assessment Model for Early Childhood Development. She was also invited to share her parenting expertise with the Nelson Mandela Children's Foundation in South Africa.

Gordon has twice been invited to meet with the Dalai Lama. Their first meeting was in 2006, at the Vancouver Dialogues, and their second was in 2008, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Dalai Lama's Seeds of Compassion event. The Dalai Lama has said he believes programs such as Gordon's Roots of Empathy will build world peace. [26]

Awards and appointments

Gordon is the recipient of several prestigious[ citation needed ] awards recognizing her contribution to innovation in education and international social entrepreneurship, including The Fraser Mustard Award and a Distinguished Canadian Educator Award. In 2002, she was selected as the first female Canadian Fellow in the Ashoka Foundation. [27] an international organization that supports social entrepreneurs. She is currently[ when? ] a member of the Ashoka Foundation's board of directors. In 2006, she was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. [28] In July 2009, she was given the Public Education Advocacy Award by the Canadian Teachers' Federation. [29] In 2018, she was appointed to the Order of Ontario, the province's highest honour, for her work as a "social entrepreneur, educator, author, child advocate and parenting expert". [30]

References

  1. ↑ "Mary Gordon". Governor General’s Innovation Awards. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  2. ↑ "Mary Gordon | Roots of Empathy | Ashoka Canada Fellow". Ashoka Canada. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  3. ↑ Gordon, Mary (2012). Roots of Empathy: Changing the World, Child by Child (New ed.). ISBN   978-1771020275.
  4. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Article: “Program Stimulates ‘Roots of Empathy’ in the Classroom.” Canada’s Children Child Welfare League of Canada, Fall 1999.
  5. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Article: “The Roots of Empathy.” Community Stories. Ottawa, ON: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, June 1999
  6. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Chapter: “Parenting and Family Literacy Centres of the Toronto District School Board.” Family Literacy in Canada: Profile of Effective Practices, Edited by Adele Thomas, 1998
  7. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Article: “Roots of Empathy: Building a More Caring and Peaceful Society, Classroom by Classroom” Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace website (www.peace.ca) Workshop Resource for the Annual Conference for Peace Education, November 2003.
  8. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Foreword: From Lullabies to Literacy: Building Foundations for Learning, Macaulay Child Development Centre, 2002
  9. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Article: “Roots of Empathy.” Canadian Children, Vol. 26 No.2  Fall/2001
  10. ↑ Mary Gordon was a member of the reference group (i.e. the advisory committee) for: McCain, M. N., & Mustard, J. F. (1999, April). The Early Years Study: Reversing the real brain drain. Reference Group for the Early Years Study, Government of Ontario. ISBN 0‑7778‑8953‑6. Published in Toronto, Ontario by the Children’s Secretariat / Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
  11. ↑ "Hansard Transcript 1999-May-03 vol. B | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. 1999-05-03. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  12. ↑ Gordon, Mary. (2003). Article: “Roots of Empathy: Responsive Parenting, Caring Societies”. The Keio Journal of Medicine Vol. 52 No. 4 Pages 236-243. Japan 2003
  13. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Article: “Home is Where the Start is.” Education Canada Vol. 39, No. 4, pgs 44-47, Winter 2000
  14. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Article: “Family Literacy Centres Involve Parents Early.” Literacy Works Vol. 3, No. 3, pgs. 1-3, Spring 1992
  15. ↑ "Parenting Resources". YouTube. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  16. ↑ "Seeds of Empathy". Roots of Empathy. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  17. ↑ Latsch, D., Stauffer, M., & Bollinger, M. (2017). Evaluation of the Roots of Empathy program in Switzerland, years 2015 to 2017. Bern University of Applied Science.
  18. ↑ Santos, R. G., Chartier, M. J., Whalen, J. C., Chateau, D., & Boyd, L. (2011). Effectiveness of school-based violence prevention for children and youth: Cluster randomized controlled field trial of the Roots of Empathy program with replication and three-year follow-up. Healthcare Quarterly, 14, 80–90.
  19. ↑ Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Smith, V., Zaidman-Zait, A., & Hertzman, C. (2012). Promoting children’s prosocial behaviours in school: Impact of the Roots of Empathy program on the social and emotional competence of school-aged children. School Mental Health, 4(1), 1–12.
  20. ↑ Cain, G., & Carnellor, Y. (2008). Roots of Empathy: A research study on its impact on teachers in Western Australia. Journal of Student Wellbeing, 2(1), 52–73.
  21. ↑ Kendall, G., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Smith, V., Jacoby, P., Austin, R., Stanley, F., & Hertzman, C. (2006). The evaluation of Roots of Empathy in Western Australian Schools. Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, prepared for the Department of Education and Training, Western Australia.
  22. ↑ Connolly, P., Miller, S., Kee, F., Sloan, S., Gildea, A., McIntosh, E., Boyer, N., & Bland, M. (2018). A cluster randomized controlled trial and evaluation and cost-effectiveness analysis of the Roots of Empathy school-based program for improving social and emotional well-being outcomes among 8- to 9-year-olds in Northern Ireland. Public Health Research, 6(4).
  23. ↑ "Mary Gordon". Roots of Empathy. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  24. ↑ Gordon, Mary. Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by Child. Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2005., Chapter 1, page 18
  25. ↑ "Thomas Allen & Son Limited". www.thomas-allen.com.
  26. 1 2 3 "About Mary Gordon". Archived from the original on 2009-06-14. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  27. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2009-08-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]
  29. ↑ "News Release". Archived from the original on 2009-09-05. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  30. ↑ "The 2018 Appointees to the Order of Ontario". Province of Ontario Newsroom. Province of Ontario. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
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