Our Beliefs

At the Empathy Factory, we believe that children are innately generous, and that they have some of the most altruistic and wonderful ideas to help their friends, family, community, and the world. If there is anything that consistently slows them down from being the change, it’s that they lack certain resources. Sometimes that’s money, sometimes it’s support, and sometimes it’s even the belief in themselves. In consideration of this, we’ve created a program where children can pursue their philanthropic ideas and never have to look back!

Elementary/Junior High Programming

We visit schools throughout Nova Scotia and deliver workshops on the value of volunteering, philanthropy, and related topics to children aged 8-15. We then challenge them to submit ideas that will better their communities in the categories of Health, Environment, Social Justice and/or Education. The top one or two ideas at each school receive the full support and mentorship of the Empathy Factory staff and volunteers throughout the execution of their ideas. Upon completion of the projects, we ensure that each student involved submits a reflection of their learning outcomes, successes, and failures.

The Outcomes

Our programs have been developed to foster learning in areas deemed to be desirable curricular outcomes by the Nova Scotia Department of Education. To that end, you can see below a sample (based on Grade 8 curriculum) of outcomes that our workshops address:

Citizenship – Worldly look at political, economic, and social systems; discuss human rights issues; identifying the principles and actions of just societies

Communication – Explore, reflect on, and express personal ideas/learnings/perceptions/feelings; create and present instructions/processes clearly, logically, concisely, and accurately; critically reflect on and interpret ideas presented through a variety of media

Personal Development – Students are empowered to make the transition to work and further learning; make decisions and assume responsibility for them; work and study purposefully; demonstrate understanding of the relationship between health and lifestyle; demonstrate intellectual curiosity, and entrepreneurial spirit, and initiative; reflect critically on ethical issues

Problem Solving – Formulate ideas and question their own assumptions and those of others; solve problems individually and collaboratively; ask questions, observe relationships, and draw conclusions; use a variety of strategies and perspectives with flexibility and creativity for solving problems

High School Programming

With the support and guidance of our volunteers and staff the Empathy Factory’s Social Enterprise Program allows high school students to start and run their own social enterprise. Charged with solving a social problem and earning a profit, these students learn about how social enterprises function, how to work within Nova Scotia’s free enterprise system, and how to use empathy to improve society.

The Social Enterprise Program empowers youth to create positive social change and helps them learn and appreciate the role of business, not-for-profit, and social enterprise in our society.