Louisville mayor receives national leadership award for compassion

Citing his progress in making Louisville a globally-regarded city for caring and compassion, a coalition of international organizations has honored Mayor Greg Fischer with a City Leadership award for compassion.

Fischer received the honor last week during “Compassion Week 2014,” an international conference in San Francisco where he delivered one of the keynote addresses. The award was presented by Empathy and Compassion in Society, the Charter for Compassion International and GoodMojo.

In presenting the honor, the groups recognized Fischer for leading Louisville to be the first major city to sign on to the International Charter for Compassion, committing the city to a multi-year Compassionate Louisville campaign. They also cited his work with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to promote compassion in other cities and for creating the annual volunteer initiative, the Give A Day week of service. During the 2014 week in April, more than 144,000 volunteers and acts of compassion were recorded.