On May 24, 2022, a tragic school shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, shocked the world.
One week later, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) held their annual meeting. Both hallway conversations at the meeting and community discussions across the United States ignited the push for a national campaign for compassion.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, chair of the USCM’s Mayors and Business Leaders Center for Compassionate and Equitable Cities, returned to his city inspired and determined, wondering how his compassionate city could help lead the change so many communities needed. Over the next few weeks, serious conversations with civic leaders and community members transpired. The conversations eventually turned into the launch of CompassionateUSA, which debuted at the June 2023 USCM’s annual meeting.
Today, there are close to 300 CompassionateUSA-partnered communities and cities that recognize the age-old wisdom of compassion—the foundation to all human interactions and healing that informs every major religion and our species’ evolution.
Truly, compassion is fundamental to our nature.
To return to our roots and advance the cause for a compassionate-centered world, we must work together. We invite you to join in this movement to promote greater compassion and strengthen the bonds of our shared humanity. Together, we are stronger. Together, we are better. And together—only together—we can change the world, community by community.
Just as compassion is a proposition of sharing, the Alamo Colleges District, the San Antonio Peace Center, and the City of San Antonio collaborated on the freely gifted CompassionateUSA to every community that seeks to heal and grow.
Welcome to CompassionateUSA, a people-centered campaign committed to promoting compassion, community healing, and well-being.
CompassionateUSA is a collaboration between the San Antonio Peace Center, Alamo Colleges District, and the City of San Antonio.
Alamo Colleges District
The Alamo Colleges District is a collective of five community colleges in the Greater San Antonio area preparing students for the workforce and building futures. The district’s mission–to empower diverse communities for success–supports our moonshot of eliminating poverty through education. More information can be found at www.alamo.edu
The San Antonio Peace Center
The Peace Center's birth happened with imagination, steadfastness, and a desire to live in a more just, compassionate world. Founding mothers and visionaries Rosalyn Falcón Collier, Ann Leesman Helmke, and Susan K. Ives transitioned the leadership and location to the Alamo Colleges for new opportunities to share and innovate collective wisdom with the next generation of peacemakers.
The San Antonio Peace Center
The Peace Center's birth happened with imagination, steadfastness, and a desire to live in a more just, compassionate world. Founding mothers and visionaries Rosalyn Falcón Collier, Ann Leesman Helmke, and Susan K. Ives transitioned the leadership and location to the Alamo Colleges for new opportunities to share and innovate collective wisdom with the next generation of peacemakers.
City of San Antonio
The City of San Antonio (CoSA) is a vibrant city with a thriving economy, deep cultural heritage and communities that are compassionate, inclusive and proudly diverse. It is the seventh largest city in the United States and one of the strongest fiscally managed cities in the country, nurturing entrepreneurship, encouraging investment and funding infrastructure.