Huffington Magazine Issue 40 | Page 36

perventilating for talking faster than I ever had, I was happy just to be standing. Immediately after, many TEDsters encouraged me to develop the hero project more fully, to scale it up, to develop a non-profit, to start a foundation, a business. I even got seed funds from Pam and Pierre Omidyar, eBay founders, to do so, and I did. I went on from this exhilarating experience to create a San Francisco based non-profit, The Heroic Imagination Project, HIP. We are training ordinary people on how to become everyday heroes by learning how to stand up, speak out and take wise and effective action in the challenging situations they face daily at home, school, business, community and nation. We have developed a full educational program, based entirely on proven social psychological research in six areas, as well as a corporate leader- MORE ON TED WEEKENDS THE PRISON GUARD IN EACH OF US HUFFINGTON 03.17.13 DR. PHILIP ZIMBARDO Voices EROSION OF EMPATHY ship program designed to encourage heroic leadership. We are also doing and supporting others’ research on the nature of heroism. Finally, we are planning a mobile phone app with daily exercises for all those who want to start on the bright path of becoming Heroes-In-Training. If we succeed, then, we will reverse the score: evil 0, humanity 1. I need your help to make this mission into a national and international movement that has the potential to change the world for the better, one hero at a time. I welcome sponsors and funders who believe that by working together we can all do it — heroically. Dr. Philip Zimbardo is a past president of the American Psychological Association and a professor emeritus at Stanford University. A selection of the week’s related blogs HEADLINES TO VIEW BLOGS ABOUT THIS WEEK’S THEME THE MANY FACES OF EVIL WORKPLACE BULLIES PREVENTING THE NEXT NEWTOWN