Karuna-Shechen

Although Karuna-Shechen was officially established by Matthieu Ricard in 2000, the organization's roots trace back to the 1980s, when Ricard and Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche initiated a number of small programs to improve living conditions in Himalayan communities. As more communities reached out for assistance, the duo created a branch of Karuna-Shechen in France in 2004 to help fund these projects. Friends and benefactors in the United States, Hong Kong, and Switzerland — and later in Belgium, England, and Monaco — opened regional branches and affiliates. In the field, Karuna-Shechen established an effective collaborative team of trained workers from the local population and qualified foreign volunteers who work with local NGOs and clinics in India and Nepal which serve as hubs for the projects.

Today, Karuna-Shechen annually serves more than 600,000 people in India, Nepal, and Tibet. Driven by the notion of "compassion in action," the organization seeks to uplift communities out of poverty through programs in health care, education, vocational training, and access to resources such as clean water and solar electricity. Karuna-Shechen's work is anchored in the core values of gender parity, community empowerment, and preservation of local resources and cultures. Over the years, the  organization's vision remains based in community engagement and empowerment, grassroots cooperation, and respect for unique cultural identities.