Taft recently welcomed Andy Isaacson ’94 back to Taft for a compelling Morning Meeting talk about his work across the globe, the value of connection, and the power of compassionate communities.

Isaacson is a journalist, educator, and producer. His writing and photography have appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, and numerous other publications—stories that span every continent, from the science of climate change, protests on the Mexican border, living on the world’s most remote inhabited island, and drifting with sea ice aboard a polar research vessel through the Arctic Ocean.

Through his work at the School of The New York Times Summer Academy, Isaacson connects with high school students while teaching immersive journalism. He is the co-founder of Camping to Connect, a BIPOC-led nonprofit organization that guides young men of color from urban environments into nature, fostering leadership, self-awareness, and social connection.

Isaacson also works with SharedStudios, which brings together diverse voices from around the world for transformative dialogues on a range of intractable global issues through immersive technology called Portals. Portals make connections that transcend distance and difference, connecting places across the world with each other as if they were in the same room together to explore and learn. Portals have fostered embodied, empathy-driven dialogue, and humanity-driven teaching and research, for leading institutions such as the United Nations, Harvard, and Stanford.

“Portals allow people to express themselves through performance and play. They have brought people together who would otherwise never meet,” Isaacson told the Taft community during his Morning Meeting talk. “Think about the society we could create if people made more of an effort to have face-to-face conversations with people from different experiences, beliefs, and backgrounds. Doing so isn’t just personally rewarding, it fosters connection, reduces division, and creates stronger, more compassionate communities. I believe it is how we can create a more just, equitable, and inclusive society.”

Watch Isaacson’s full Morning Meeting talk here: