RW Institute Launches The Empathy Project: A Structured Volunteer Experience Designed to Build Global Empathy at Scale

January 30, 2026 /3BL/ - Six-week program connects corporate employees with international conversation partners through technology-enabled human dialogue, aiming for 1 million hours of "empathy work" by end of 2026

January 2026 – The RW Institute (RWI) today announced the launch of The Empathy Project, a structured corporate volunteering initiative designed to cultivate measurable empathy and intercultural understanding across global workforces. The program is now enrolling corporate partners, with initial cohorts scheduled to begin in Q2 2026.

One Million Hours of Empathy Work

Most corporate volunteering asks: How can we get employees to show up, do something tangible, and feel good about it?

The Empathy Project asks a different question: What would it take to help people become the best versions of themselves—and do it at a scale that actually matters?

The answer isn't another event where people show up for four hours, assemble something, and leave feeling warm but unchanged. It's a structured six-week experience where employees spend real time in conversation with real people from completely different worlds—often from the Global South—learning to see beyond their own assumptions and connect across genuine difference.

This is volunteering designed for transformation, not transaction. And it's built to scale.

Because it happens at employees' desks, it costs $35 per person instead of thousands. Because it runs in cohorts led by internal champions, it works anywhere—Berlin, Mumbai, São Paulo, Dallas. Because it generates anonymized data under strict research governance, companies get credible evidence instead of feel-good stories they wrote themselves.

The ambition is 1 million hours of empathy work by the end of 2026. One hundred thousand employees. Real conversations. Real reflection. Real change.

Not because it makes the quarterly results look better. Because the world needs people who can actually see each other.

How It Works

Each participating employee completes approximately six hours of volunteering over six weeks:

• Champion-led Brief (1 hour): Internal company champions set context, norms, and purpose
• Acquaint Conversations (4 hours): Four one-on-one dialogues with vetted international partners on the Acquaint platform
• Inqli Reflection (1-2 hours): Structured prompts help participants process experiences and surface insights
• Team Debrief (1 hour): Champions lead closing sessions to connect learning back to work

The program is designed in partnership with Acquaint, a global platform for intercultural dialogue, and Inqli, a reflection and sense-making environment. Together, the three partners provide the complete infrastructure for what RWI terms "empathy work"—time spent in structured, meaningful contact across difference.

Research Platform

The Empathy Project functions as a large-scale research platform under strict data governance protocols. No individual employee data is reported to companies; all insights are aggregated with minimum cell sizes to protect anonymity.

Research partnerships are confirmed with Dr. Kirsten Wright and the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (complexity science lens). Additional academic collaborations focused on employee volunteering outcomes are in development.

"We are testing hypotheses, not making promises," said Chris Jarvis, founder of RW Institute. "The participation model, completion rates, and outcome measures are working assumptions grounded in prior research and behavioral science. The project is explicitly designed to generate peer-reviewed evidence about what actually works when you try to build empathy at scale."

Investment and Access

Companies purchase seats at $35 per participating employee, which covers the full six-week experience, platform access, champion training and support, baseline research, and all administrative costs. 

The program targets engagement with approximately 100,000 employees across diverse companies by the end of 2026, generating 1 million hours of empathy work when including conversation partner time.

Enrollment Now Open

The Empathy Project began enrolling corporate partners in January 2026. Companies interested in participating can schedule initial cohorts beginning in Q2 of this year.

About RW Institute

The RW Institute designs and delivers transformative experiences that build organizational capability for empathy, connection, and prosocial behavior. Founded by Chris Jarvis, RWI partners with companies to create volunteering programs grounded in behavioral science and supported by rigorous research. https://empathy-project.lovable.app/

Acquaint is a global platform that facilitates meaningful intercultural conversations between people from different backgrounds and cultures. The organization recruits, vets, and onboards conversation partners from around the world—often from the Global South—and manages all matching, scheduling, and session protocols to ensure psychologically safe, high-quality dialogue. Acquaint's mission is to build global understanding through direct human connection. Learn more at https://www.acquaint.org 

Inqli provides a reflection and sense-making environment designed to help people process experiences, surface insights, and connect learning to identity and behavior. Through structured prompts and a psychologically safe social learning space, Inqli turns conversations and experiences into durable understanding. The platform is grounded in organizational psychology and designed to foster curiosity, connection, and high-quality relationships. Learn more at https://www.inqli.com Contact