Time to reshape workplace culture and group discourse

See how the Center for Empathy Education & Allelo are building their business to address this.

Entrepreneurs are everywhere in our communities. They come from different walks of life, generations, communities, ethnicities, and industries. They are the dreamers, the makers, and the most resilient. In 2020, we witnessed the entrepreneurs in our community continue to build, disrupt, and persevere every day. Last year was a test for many, but for our Ascender entrepreneurs, it was a new challenge to tackle. What does innovation look like in times of crisis? For our 2020–2021 Ascender Incubatees, it looks like this.

Center for Empathy Education (CEE)

The Problem: A toxic workplace environment is a serious problem because it is harmful to people and businesses. Dysfunctional workplaces inhibit workers from achieving intended outcomes and can lead to high employee turnover. According to SHRM report, “The High Cost of a Toxic Workplace Culture: How Culture Impacts the Workforce — and the Bottom Line,” 58 percent of employees who quit a job due to workplace culture say that their managers are the main reason they left. The same study reports that over the past five years, the cost of turnover due to workplace culture in the U.S amounted to $223 billion.

The Solution: The Center for Empathy Education (CEE) provides emotional intelligence professional development rooted in cognitive psychology, rather than business etiquette. CEE utilizes tools, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), that have undergone hundreds of studies over decades of research. The company offers consulting services — in-person workshops, webinars, independent coaching, and access to an online learning platform to address workplace challenges.

Updates from CEE:

• Pilot testing with the City of Pittsburgh. The company was recently selected to pilot test its training curriculum with the City of Pittsburgh via its PGH Lab program. The company will be matched with three different City departments and its employees to carry out the pilot project for the next six months.
• Learning from the field. Last fall, the company carried out its customer discovery journey by interviewing HR managers and various companies to understand the needs and demands for professional empathy training. These interviews also helped CEE draw insights into how they can better support organizations with achieving their desired goals.
• Providing value to other organizations. CEE organized three workshops for Shine Registry, the University of Pittsburgh, and Farm to Flame Energy, which provided opportunities to test its training curriculum with different organizations and audiences.

Improve your employee retention and customer interactions by connecting with CEE for more information.

CEE’s methodology (photo taken from the company’s website)

Allelo (previously Convertsation)

The problem: Fostering the development of open-minded, healthy, and productive discourse skills is critical for our society to flourish… across the classroom, social media, and professional environments. What we see on social media, the news and video calls show we have a long way to go. Currently, there isn’t an effective solution that can offer real-time feedback on our communication effectiveness in an idea-sharing setting.

The Solution: Allelo, An AI-based platform, teaches individuals how to participate in productive discourse while offering organizations and classrooms engagement metrics that promote equitable participation.

Updates from Allelo:

• Received major investment. In the fall of 2020, Allelo received a major investment from a venture capitalist enabling the company to hire more staff and expedite the building and refinement of the platform.
• Started the Allelo Fellowship program: The company launched a fellowship program where students and recent grads can work directly with the team and engage educators so that together they can improve online discourse in educational institutions of all levels. The company currently has 15 fellows and is recruiting more.
• Launched a company rebrand. The company launched a new name and expanded its mission. Read more about the rebrand here.

How the Allelo platform works.

Start sharing ideas and improve group discussion by requesting an Allelo demo here.

Connect with us

Learn more about Ascender: https://ascenderpgh.com/
Sign up for our newsletter or send us a note: info@ascenderpgh.com
Follow us: Twitter — Facebook — LinkedIn — Instagram