Human beings are capable of the worst and the best. This shift is what makes us human. Empathy is key in this shift. What triggers empathy are intense human experiences with “the other”, and even more so with “the enemy”. This talk is about a journey of transformation and how human relations, intimacy and compassion with the least expected counterpart can change your life and others’ lives in the least expected way!
Mehra Rimer was born in Iran and raised and educated in a Catholic boarding school in Switzerland. She is a graduate of Ecole de Traduction et d’Interprétation of the University of Geneva and Institut des Langues et Civilisations orientales in Paris. She worked as a language teacher, a training and development program coordinator in a multinational company before starting her career as a free-lance translator for different non-governmental organizations including Search for Common Ground, headquartered in Washington DC. In 2016, she founded B8 of Hope with 7 co-founders from different origins (including Jewish, Arab and Indian). She has been running the organization on a full time basis since then and periodically travels to Israel and the Palestinian Territories in the West Bank to visit the 23 initiatives funded by B8 of Hope. Mehra is married to David Rimer and they have 2 children who are brought up in a multicultural and multi-lingual family, with a touch of Jewish humor and Iranian cuisine.
