Founder
Anna Cox

In 1993, Anna began to visit and teach in prisons. In 1997, she began to publish "Dharma Friends" newsletter to help people accept responsibility for their lives. Compassion for one’s self and others is at the heart of these teachings.

In 2005, Compassion Works for All incorporated as a  501(c)(3) nonprofit that now reaches several thousand people in prisons and in the free world, offering practical help, psychological grounding and the comfort of human connection.

More than two decades ago, His Holiness the Dalai Lama charged a group of 50 western students to do prison outreach in the US. He saw the tremendous suffering and inequality in our prison system. Anna Cox was in the room that day, and Compassion Works for All is the manifestation of the Dalai Lama's vision. 

Anna Cox, LCSW, is a buddhist and retired psychotherapist in Little Rock, Arkansas. As the rate of incarceration grew, Anna recognized how few resources were available to people in prison to help them cope with loss and the difficulties of life in prison.