our story.
founder mike young speaks to thousands of queen’s university students in the fall of 2016, prior to the establishment of the empathy institute (originally called growth myndset).
It all started when…
Back in December of 2016, Founder & Executive Director Mike Young was surprised by his colleagues at the Queen’s Pub with $300 that they had fundraised, behind his back and without his knowledge, to put towards a public speaking & training venture. Mike had been speaking to and training Queen’s students for years, and had mentioned to a few friends in passing that he wanted to see what kind of a career might exist in the area, as he’d discovered his passion and dream job. Little did he know, his coworkers took those comments to the next level and invested in the potential of this idea.
Shocked and deeply touched, Mike got to work over the ensuing holidays, and in January of 2017, founded Growth Myndset - a people-focused, power-conscious, empathy-based organization designed to make the world a kinder place.
For the next 3 years, Mike built out his portfolio of clients in Ontario, quickly establishing a reputation for being flexible, personable, dynamic, relatable, and capable of deconstructing the most complicated issues into the most accessible terms. From delivering a Grand Rounds presentation at the Ottawa Hospital in March of 2018 about providing inclusive care to gender-diverse patients, to building a brand-new sexual violence training program for St. Lawrence College in the fall of 2019, to working with the non-profit Kanata Food Cupboard (from his home town) starting January 2020 to create a new 5-year strategic plan, Mike’s work grew and his vision for the future became clear.
At the turn of the decade, that future vision arrived.
The Empathy Institute name and brand was launched on January 7th, 2020, which also happened to be Growth Myndset’s 3rd birthday. A minimalist, inviting, and clean brand identity, The Empathy Institute represents the core of the work that Growth Myndset started all those years ago, alongside the future of the educational trail-blazing, public policy-oriented, research-intensive organization Mike had always envisioned building.
Today, we are educational consultants and motivators who are building a kinder tomorrow through the facilitation of human(e) growth. We bring people together and connect them with themselves, each other, and the world around them by using empathy as our compass and binding agent. We are fearless in delving deeply into tough conversations, rolling up our sleeves, and producing work that meets or exceeds the expectations of every client.
We help organizations and their people evolve through tailored programming and unmatched facilitation, thanks in no small part to the radical kindness and belief shown by a group of friends in an old university bar.