Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This week’s mashup theme is our core value of empathy and serving with empathy. In EP17, we spoke with Chris Long, the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University. Dean Long reminded us of the value of taking the time to invest in true engagement with your audience—only then does education have the opportunity to be transformative. In EP23, Greg Wukasch, our mentor at the San Antonio Water System, recapped for us the Transformative Issues conference on Affordability hosted by AWWA and WEF and how the closing panel of both water professionals and non-water community advocates drove home how empathy means inviting everyone to the table that needs to be. In EP13, Blue Drop President, Alan Heymann shares a story that demonstrates how empathy begins within, internally, with your own employees. Brand buy-in begins with them. And finally, in EP16, we talk with fellow communication startup WaterPIO aka Mike McGill. Empathy requires putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, even…maybe even especially, your biggest opponents. We chat with Mike about both he and our experiences with Erin Brockovich and what it taught us about the power of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.