Monica Hanson Email & Phone Number

Lake Oswego, Or, Us

I focus on two areas to foster workplace success: introducing innovative workplace solutions to leaders that will significantly impact their companies and partnering with leaders with impactful solutions, helping them further develop and implement these strategies. Through my consulting and advisory expertise, I assist organizations in executive development, improving team dynamics, and implementing change.The Respect for People Roadmap™: Advisor and Executive Coach, advancing the mission of Scott Gauvin, Founder of The Respect for People Roadmap™ and CEO MacrescoYCompassion: Member of the Advisory Group supporting the strategic vision of Signe Sorensen, FounderCompassion Heals. You. Me. The World: Board Member, helping to realize the vision of Lee Tomlinson, Founder Compassion Heals the Movement and Feature-Length DocumentaryCynergy™: Advisor supporting the strategic vision of Cyndi Weeks-Bradley, CEO

Co-developer of the Courageous Heart: The Human Behind the Badge training program in collaboration with Robert Jonsen, Sheriff of Santa Clara County, and Julie Learmond-Criqui, Director of Law Enforcement & Public Safety, Compassion Institute. Launched in 2018 by the Compassion Institute, this groundbreaking program is designed to enhance resilience, compassion, and leadership among law enforcement, public safety personnel, and first responders. The curriculum includes practical tools, mind-body techniques, guided meditation, experiential exercises, and facilitated discussions.A key achievement of the program is its certification by California’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). This rigorous certification process highlights the program's quality and effectiveness, allowing participants to earn official POST credits—8 hours for the 1-day course and 24 hours for the 3-day immersion. This makes it an essential resource for professionals seeking to meet continuing education requirements.To date, Courageous Heart has served over 75 agencies and cities across the state, making a significant impact on law enforcement and public safety communities.

In this role, I co-directed the Applied Compassion Training Program through the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University. Developed by the Applied Compassion Academy, the program equipped participants with the tools to apply compassion in both professional and personal contexts. From 2020 to 2023, the program was licensed from the Applied Compassion Academy to Stanford University and offered through the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. Over 400 participants from around the world successfully completed and were certified through this program.

As Co-Founder of the Applied Compassion Academy, I led the development of its Applied Compassion Training Program with my co-founders. Designed to equip participants with practical skills for applying compassion in both professional and personal contexts, the program was licensed to Stanford University and offered through the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education from 2020 to 2023.

Skylyte is at the forefront of resilience training and burnout prevention, transforming organizations through its cutting-edge, data-driven strategies. By blending neuroscience with behavior-change science, Skylyte empowers leaders and teams to elevate their resilience and mental well-being. With a focus on creating lasting impact, Skylyte's solutions are designed to boost engagement and well-being and significantly reduce burnout.As an executive coach, I focused on effectively coaching clients' executives and their teams to use Skylyte's tools, dashboards, and research-backed programs. This work helped clients achieve peak performance, sustainable well-being, and reduced burnout, particularly within large-scale enterprises.

The Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT™) was developed in 2009 at Stanford University by Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., as the principal author, with significant contributions to the curriculum and teacher training program from Margaret Cullen, MSW, Monica Hanson, Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., Erika Rosenberg, Ph.D., and Leah Weiss, Ph.D. In 2017, Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT™) became a licensed copyright of both Leland Stanford Junior University and Compassion Institute, Inc. The program continues to be taught by the Compassion Institute, with CCT™ now also recognized as a service mark of Compassion Institute, Inc.

As Principal Instructor for the Compassion Cultivation Training course, I led participants through the eight-week program focused on developing compassion through evidence-based skills, experiential exercises and facilitated group discussions. The published research supporting this program underscores its effectiveness and distinguishes it from others that lack empirical validation, highlighting its impact on compassion, mindfulness, and emotional regulation. In my course design and delivery, I specifically prioritized overcoming the forgetting curve—a challenge where up to 70% of new information is lost within 24 hours. By reinforcing learning and optimizing training transfer, I ensured participants retained and effectively applied key concepts, leading to lasting behavioral change and improved outcomes.

I served as the Lead Trainer for a pilot study at Stanford’s Systems Neuroscience and Pain Lab. The study, titled "Pilot Study of a Compassion Meditation Intervention in Chronic Pain," found that compassion cultivation significantly reduced pain severity and anger in chronic pain patients. A key strength of the study was the inclusion of patients' significant others, who, without knowing their loved ones were participating, observed positive emotional changes, such as reduced anger, and behavioral improvements, including increased calmness and patience. Their recognition of these benefits suggests an indirect positive impact on their well-being as well.