In the wake of Alton Sterling's and Philando Castile's murders at the hand of police officers,  I felt compelled to share why these moments affected me, and by extension to connect others to the emotion and pain providing life to the Black Lives Matter movement.

In these conversations—with colleagues, friends, and acquaintances—I found power in my vulnerability. I found people motivated to learn more and do more because their ability to empathize with that emotion and pain in different ways compelled them to act.

It inspired me to move beyond providing an initial spark to focusing on how I could build that bridge between empathizing and taking action.  I wanted that spark in others to become a fire.   

What if we could move people's connection to the experiences of others from an abstract space to a personal one?  How could we move conversations about inclusion and diversity from an impersonal "number's game" to a personal connection to others' need for fairness, equality, and justice?

Em|PACT Strategies was born from this challenge.  The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  That idea serves as Em|PACT Strategies spark and our work educating others to act in the name of more inclusive spaces is our fire.