Dr. Felipe Mercado: Trusted Expert in Compassionate Leadership, Mental Wellness, and Transformative Systems Design
Dr. Felipe Mercado is a dynamic leader redefining how we educate, heal, and lead in a complex world. As an Assistant Professor at California State University, Fresno, and founder of Wise Souls LLC, he combines lived experience with research-driven insights to help schools, workplaces, and communities create lasting, compassionate change.
His work bridges theory and practice—supporting people and institutions as they move from reactivity to resilience, from disconnection to belonging
A Life Forged in Resilience. A Mission Rooted in Compassion.
Dr. Mercado’s journey—from homelessness, incarceration, and addiction to national recognition as an Emmy award-winning advocate, best-selling author, and trusted advisor—is not only powerful, it’s transformational. It fuels his unwavering belief that people and systems can evolve—with courage, clarity, and care.
Authentic Connector: His story allows him to relate across backgrounds—from youth and educators to executives and policymakers—with unmatched trust and empathy.
Builder of Strength: He turns adversity into strategy, helping others lead with greater resilience and self-awareness.
Trusted Consultant and Coach: Through keynotes, coaching, and strategic advising, he supports clients in building cultures that prioritize well-being, accountability, and meaningful progress.
Solutions That Meet the Moment
At Wise Souls, Dr. Mercado leads high-impact programs that respond to real-world needs in education, mental wellness, and community-rooted leadership.
Wise Compassionate Framework: Created while serving as a principal and MTSS coordinator during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, this evolving model addresses the intersection of behavior, mental health, and academics. It has helped districts build tiered, healing-centered systems that are trauma-responsive and culturally attuned—shaping new pathways for connection, regulation, and learning in schools and beyond.
Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT™) Instructor: Drawing from his certification in Stanford’s CCT methodology, Dr. Mercado has expanded and modernized this work to meet the needs of today’s most essential professionals—training doctors, public health leaders, educators, administrators, nurses, and social workers in real-time compassion practices. His culturally rooted adaptation of CCT goes beyond mindfulness—it equips leaders with tools to lead with presence, navigate emotional labor, and respond to crisis with grounded care.
Certified Workplace Mental Health Trainer: As a credentialed expert in the U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being, Dr. Mercado delivers solutions for burnout prevention, trauma-informed leadership, and institutional well-being that are as practical as they are personal.
Thought Leader. Global Advocate. System Builder.
6x Amazon Best-Selling Author, including A Journey to Compassion: Learning to Stand Firm in the Face of Pain.
Emmy Award-Winning Contributor to A Critical State of Mind, a mental health series that sparked national conversation.
Trusted Educator, Coach and Advisor, shaping curriculum, leadership, and community strategies across institutions.
International Collaborator, affiliated with the Compassion Institute and World Happiness Academy—advancing the global movement for emotional wellness and systems repair.
Whether guiding frontline professionals, training education leaders, or advising systems in transition, Dr. Mercado brings more than expertise—he brings embodied leadership and a proven ability to turn pain into purpose.
At Wise Souls, we don’t just build programs—we build the future we were never handed. We build culture, capacity, and clarity. We create what didn’t exist for us, so that others won’t have to spend their lives surviving what we had to heal from.