About Us
Jon Kolkin, M.D.
President
Laira M. Roth, MHA
Secretary
Children’s National Hospital
Melanie A. Kolkin, MSW, LICSW
Treasurer
Melanie Kolkin Therapy
Ngodup Tsering
Representative of the Dalai Lama, North American
Michael S. Karlin, PhD
Associate Director, Centre for Compassion, Integrity and Secular Ethics
The Shades of Compassion Foundation is a small, efficient and nimble 501c3 non-profit that strives to promote effective, sustained engagement in acts of compassion among
Our Foundation has two main arms.
The first provides funds to underappreciated, yet deeply impactful, cost-efficient organizations that may otherwise be overshadowed by larger, more publicly known non-profits with much higher overhead expenses. Our partners typically spearhead transformative, grass-roots efforts in under-resourced or niche communities.
The Shades of Compassion Foundation establishes direct and meaningful relationships with each of the organizations we support. As a result, we are able to identify and target funds toward specific initiatives where donations have a direct impact. We monitor the use of funds through regular reporting from our partner organizations, allowing us to document concrete results.
Our Foundation’s second arm creates in-house compassion-centered initiatives. These include world-class photography exhibitions that travel to museums and other premier venues worldwide. The exhibitions are enhanced by educational material and other complementary programing.
Additionally, our Foundation’s president gives customized presentations to a diverse range of groups worldwide on themes related to living a balanced, less stressful life guided by compassion for self and others.