24-Hour Happiness Live Stream – Extended Bios
Three years ago the United Nations established March 20 as the International Day of Happiness. In celebration of this auspicious day, Live Happy is hosting the world’s first24-Hour Happiness Live Stream.
Join us as we present an extraordinary line up of best-selling authors and experts in the field of positive psychology. We will be delving into exciting new happiness research as well as insights from some of the world’s top business and thought leaders.
Kym Yancey, CEO and Co-Founder of Live Happy LLC, is leading a global movement to make our planet a happier place. He oversees all aspects of the Live Happy platform & brand which includes the Live Happy clothing line, Live Happy magazine, Live Happy event experiences, Live Happy Week, Live Happy awards and campaigns such as Acts of Happiness and more. He is recognized as one of North America’s premier marketing and innovation thought leaders. With a legacy of successful ventures, he brings a wealth of passion, creativity, and business savvy to his many interests and ventures.
Prior to Live Happy LLC, Kym was Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer, and President of eWomenNetwork, one of the most successful membership business networking communities for women entrepreneurs in North America with over 500,000 women connected to 118 chapters spread across the U.S. and Canada. During his tenure with the company, CNN recognized the eWomenNetwork Foundation, which he founded with his wife, with an American Hero award as a result of the humanitarian outreach and support the foundation provided in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Kym is also a gold-record-winning composer and producer. In the ’70s and early ’80s, he was signed to Capitol Records as the drummer and a singer with the legendary funk band, SUN, which frequently appeared on Soul Train and in sold-out concerts throughout North and South America. He later parlayed his music skills into advertising, and launched one of the top multicultural advertising agencies in the United States. Along the way, Kym wrote award-winning commercial jingles, receiving more than 200 awards for creative excellence.
Sandra Dee Robinson is a well-known daytime actress, TV and Radio Host, Product Spokesperson, wildlife advocate, CEO and Founder of Charisma on Camera Media Training Studio and Horse Powered Leadership Training.
Sandra Dee is under great demand as a coach, consultant and speaker for companies, entrepreneurs, authors, celebrities and well-established experts to help them develop their most powerful personal presence and leadership communication skills. She has appeared in major roles on Another World, Sunset Beach, Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Bay and guest starred on many prime time shows and films, like CSI Miami, Criminal Minds and Two and a Half Men… among others. She attributes her consistent success in this challenging industry to the lessons she now has honed into effective workshops and seminars;
She is driven to empower her clients with the knowledge of the incredible gifts God has given them so they may get their message out, and make the impact in the world they’re designed to create.
For more information, please visit Sandra Dee Robinson’s website by clicking here.
Shawn Achor is a New York Times bestselling author of Before Happiness and The Happiness Advantage. He is the winner of over a dozen distinguished teaching awards at Harvard University where he delivered lectures on positive psychology in the most popular class at Harvard. Shawn has become one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between happiness and success.
His research on happiness made the cover ofHarvard Business Review, his TED talk is one of the most popular of all time with over 7 million views, and he has sat down with Oprah Winfrey not once, but twice to discuss his steps for achieving happiness on OWN’sSuper Soul Sunday.
For more information, please visit Shawn Achor’s website by clicking here.
Michelle Gielan, a regular contributor to Live Happy, is the Founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research. She is an expert on the science of positive communication and how to use it to fuel success.
Michelle works with Fortune 500 companies and schools to raise employee engagement, productivity and happiness at work. Michelle is a Partner at GoodThink, a positive psychology consulting firm, and she holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Michelle is an Executive Producer of “The Happiness Advantage” Special on PBS, and formerly served as the anchor of two national newscasts at CBS News. Her research and advice have received attention from Forbes, USA Today, CNN, FOX and NPR.
For more information, please visit Michelle Gielan’s website by clicking here.
Jeff Olson, Founder and CEO of Neora™ is a dynamic leader and visionary in relationship marketing. Since he first joined the industry in 1988, he has earned a reputation as a top distributor, earner, CEO, founder and best-selling author.
Often referred to as “The Millionaire Maker,” Jeff has helped thousands of people build successful relationship marketing businesses. He has spoken to more than a thousand audiences throughout the United States and around the world. Over the past twenty years, Jeff has helped grow companies into massive successes by creating proven recruiting and training systems that are designed to empower people to succeed, whether they are new to the industry or a twenty-year veteran.
Jeff founded Neora along with his daughter, Amber Olson Rourke (Chief Marketing Officer), and her mother, Renee Olson (Chief Leadership Officer).
Prior to founding Neora, Jeff was a top distributor for several companies, building multimillion-dollar sales teams. In the early ’90s, he put in place a national satellite-training program for an independent sales force by placing 30,000 individual satellite dishes in homes across the country. From that experience, Jeff went on to found The People’s Network (TPN), a company that became one of the largest personal-development training organizations in the nation. As the CEO of TPN, Jeff solidified his reputation as a thought-leader on the future of personal development, creating over 900 television programs on personal excellence in health, family, relationships, and finances.
Jeff also authored the best-selling book The Slight Edge, which outlines his key principles that can transform simple daily choices into the massive success and happiness people desire. He also worked with the SUCCESSFOUNDATION to develop SUCCESS for Teens: Real Teens Talk about Using the Slight Edge, which is based on principles from The Slight Edge. The book has been distributed to almost two million teenagers.
Margaret H. Greenberg is a consultant, executive coach, and coauthor of the business book Profit from the Positive. In 1997, she founded The Greenberg Group, a consulting firm dedicated to coaching business leaders and their teams to achieve more than they ever thought possible. A pioneer in the field of positive psychology, Greenberg also designs and leads workshops, webinars, and conferences for business audiences and is an expert on creating strengths-based organizations.
Margaret is also the “Positive Business” columnist for Live Happy Magazine, and a regular business contributor for www.PositivePsychologyNews.com. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Hartford, a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania, and is recognized by the International Coach Federation as a professional certified coach.
For more information, please visit Margaret Greenberg’s website by clicking here.
Senia Maymin, Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Stanford, is a consultant and executive coach whose clients include Google, Intel, and VMware. Maymin runs a coaching network that provides coaching for upwards of 30 managers at a time to large technology companies in the Bay area. When entrepreneurs and executives seek far-reaching productivity improvements, they call on Maymin as an executive coach and workshop leader.
Maymin is the coauthor of the business bookProfit from the Positive, and the co-business columnist forLive Happy Magazine. Maymin has been featured in the media—includingPBS’s This Emotional Life, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, andUSA Today—primarily for her work as a positive psychology executive coach. Maymin founded and is editor in chief of a research news website featuring more than 1,000 articles by over 100 authors. She has worked in finance on Wall Street and in technology as cofounder and president of two start-ups.
Maymin holds a BA in Math and Economics from Harvard, a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA and PhD in Organizational Behavior from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She speaks Russian, French, and Japanese. She lives with her family in California.
For more information, please visit Senia Maymin’s website by clicking here.
As a renowned thought leader and public speaker, Dr. Jay Kumar expertly counsels organizations and businesses on harnessing the art and science of happiness for both short- and long-term success.
Clients across the globe—from lean start-ups to large corporations—have benefited from his highly effective, easy-to-learn and scientifically proven insights and techniques. In addition to consulting businesses and individuals, Dr. Jay stays at the forefront of brain research as a respected university professor.
He holds a Ph.D. in cognitive science and religious studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies and an M.A. in international political economy and a concentration in international business from Columbia University. He has also pursued advanced graduate studies at GeorgetownUniversity and UCLA.
His e-book Five Secrets to Achieving Authentic Health & Happiness is available on Amazon.
For more information, please visit Dr. Jay Kumar’s website by clicking here.
Nicholas Kraft is a recent graduate of Emerson College and the subject of Adam’s film FINDING KRAFTLAND. While completing his Bachelor of Arts, Nicholas worked at WERS radio as an engineer, recording artists such as Andrew Bird, The Shins, and Blitzen Trapper. He also recorded and mixed audio for a number of award-winning student films (WARREN BUDD & HIS PROPELLER PLANE, AS THEY FADE, WHY OUR PARENTS FIGHT). After graduation, Nicholas spent three months traveling through Japan, attempting to communicate to locals that he did not eat seafood. He documented his travels and experiences at 89in89.blogspot.com. After the adventure, he returned to the states with a wealth of new insights, bags filled with Japanese Kit Kats, and a desire to start a new adventure. He returned to Adam’s production company, where he worked as an assistant editor for a multitude of clients, and began pre-production on this film.
Adam Shell is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has completed two feature length documentaries (PUT THE CAMERA ON ME, and FINDING KRAFTLAND). Adam has operated a small production company in Los Angeles for the past 7 years, producing a variety of commercial and corporate content. Adam's talents run beyond the screen, as he is also a talented musician. He is a singer and a songwriter and plays a mean honky-tonk piano. He released his first album in 2007 entitled VACANT ROOM, which he recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is constantly writing and recording, so another album is due at some point in the near future - After Pursuing Happiness is complete, he says. He has been honored by the daytime Emmy awards as well as the Billboard world song contest. If you get the chance ask him to play for you. He is a graduate of UCLA where he performed the National Anthem at his graduation, don't ask him about it though - he screwed it up.
Roko Belic's directorial debut, GENGHIS BLUES, won the Sundance Audience Award and was nominated for an Academy Award® for best documentary feature. Belic directed the documentary DREAMS: CINEMA OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS, which was released on the INCEPTION Blu-Ray. He associate produced BEYOND THE CALL, co-produced and shot INDESTRUCTIBLE, and directed THE BATMOBILE, which was released on THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Blu-ray.
For his current project HAPPY, Belic teamed up with Tom Shadyac (BRUCE ALMIGHTY, LIAR LIAR, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR), who executive produced, to direct the award-winning feature documentary. HAPPY takes us on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy. Combining real life stories of people from around the world and powerful interviews with the leading scientists in happiness research, HAPPY explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion.
The quest to find a solution to a common problem standing in the way of business success is how Sandra Yancey’s entrepreneurial path took root to grow. Networking for business was her nemesis. In 2000, from a room above the garage of her Dallas, Texas suburban home -- with limited entrepreneurial experience -- Sandra boot-strapped her way to create one of the largest and most decorated business networking organizations in North America. Today, eWomenNetwork is a multimillion dollar enterprise in six countries with 118 chapters that helps thousands of women grow their businesses. The organization produces over 1,000 women’s business events each year, including one of the largest 4-day International Women’s Business Conference in North America. Recognized by the International Alliance for Women as one of the world’s 100 Top Difference Makers and by CNN as an American Hero, the eWomenNetwork Foundation she created has awarded cash grants to 101 non-profit organizations and scholarships to 147 emerging female leaders of tomorrow.
Sandra is a bestselling author of five books, including Succeeding Through Doubt, Fear & Crisis. This book rose to #1 status in five categories at Amazon.com upon its debut in July, 2014. She has also been featured in Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur’s Soul, which features some of the top entrepreneurs in North America. In 2008, Sandra produced an inspiring movie about women overcoming great odds to achieve remarkable things called The Glow Project. The movie was named “One of the most inspiring movies ever created for women” by the Orlando Film Festival.
Sandra is committed to helping women grow their businesses and just as important, help them to live an inspired, healthy life rich in abundance and complete fulfillment. To assure that women succeed, she created and developed her breakthrough coaching program, called G.L.O.W-- Generating Lasting Opportunities and Wealth, for women who are ready to re-imagine and take the intentional steps necessary to reach their optimum, in full GLOW, best!
Sandra holds a Master’s of Science degree in Organizational Development from The American University, Washington D.C. and a two-year post-graduate certification in Organization and Systems Design from the prestigious Gestalt Institute. Sandra is married to her life and business partner, Kym, and together they are the proud parents of a daughter and son. Sandra is a mentor to thousands who have been shown by example that they have unlimited possibilities to make a difference and succeed in spite of everything. The key is finding winning ways to solve real problems, making the right connections, and having the resilience to hold fast and firm to their dreams.
John Havens is the Founder of The H(app)athon Project, a non-profit Foundation, ‘Connecting Happiness to Action’ via the use of values-based, interactive technology. He is the author of Hacking H(app)iness - Why Your Personal Data Counts and How Tracking it Can Change the World , Principal of Transitional Media Consulting, and a global keynote speaker.
John has been quoted about issues relating to technology and culture in USA Today, C-Span, NPR, US News & World Report, Forbes, Fast Company, The Guardian, Mashable, the BBC, The Huffington Post, and Advertising Age. He is a contributing writer for The Guardian, Mashable, and Slate, and his new book about Artificial Intelligence and wellbeing will be released in Fall of 2015. John was EVP of Social Media at a top ten global PR firm and has worked with clients including Gillette, P&G, HP, Merck, Wal-Mart, Gallo Wines, and Datacoup.
Arthur Woods is an entrepreneur, speaker and writer on the future of work. He is the co-founder and COO ofImperative, the first professional platform to help people manage a fulfilling career. Arthur's deep expertise engaging the millennial generation has enabled him to lead both the conversation and innovation around the next generation of work. His efforts have been featuredin Forbes,Fast Company, Huffington Post, Washington Post and ABC7’s Washington Business Tonight.
Arthur previously led operations forYouTube EDUatGooglewhere he oversaw operations ofYouTube for Schools,managed the development of YouTube’s first guide for education and co-organized YouTube’s inaugural Education Summit.He previously co-founded theCompass Fellowship, the world's largest collegiatesocial enterprise training program, inover 18 universities worldwide. He also co-foundedOut in Tech, the largesttechnology meet-up for New York's LGBT community.Arthur studied Operations and information Management at Georgetown University and Project Management at Stanford University. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and sits on the Boards of the Sierra Institute, Georgetown Technology Alliance and Compass Partners.
Jenn is the CEO and Chief Happiness Officer of Delivering Happiness, a company she and Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos.com) co-founded to inspire science-based happiness, passion and purpose at work, home and everyday life. In Jenn’s words: “A CHOis doing what any CEO does in an organization — putting the people/resources/financing in place to create a sustainable company. The difference between a CEO and a CHO is that a CHO is doing it through the lens of happiness as a business model.”
Along with her “fearless leader” CHO responsibilities, Jenn manages a demanding speaking schedule that sends her around the world to deliver a message of passion, purpose, culture, and happiness. If you ask her, Jenn will tell you she never imagined the opportunities that she has today, but she often recalls a particular turning point in her life, which foreshadowed her path. While studying at UC Berkeley, shefound herself in a poetry class and where she was expected to read my poems aloud. Another student came up to her after class and said “I loved that line.” It was in that moment that Jenn realized that words have power, and became the reason that she focuses so much energy on her speaking engagements today. She says: “If I affect someone in some way it’s worth it… somehow I ended up in this place where I have a bigger platform to do it now but it comes back to the same thing — inspire and be inspired.”
Starting long before Delivering Happiness was a gleam in anyone’s eye, Jenn was a consultant at Zappos. She created the Zappos Culture Book, a symbol of how companies can use happiness as a business model to increase productivity and profitability. She was a foundational part of the team at Zappos who proved thathappier employees = happier customers = profitable/sustainable business (and most importantly, meaningful lives).
In 2010, Jenn led the launch and management of Tony’s book (Delivering Happiness) which has sold over 600,000 copies worldwide and hit #1 on bestsellers lists like the New York Times and USA Today. It was voted one of the best business books by NPR, Inc. Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, remained on the New York Times list for 27 weeks and has been translated into 20 languages. DH has evolved from a book to a company and global movement represented by over 110 countries. Today, she’s dedicated to growing DH to inspire happiness in people, communities and companies so that together, we can create a happier world.
Dr. Michelle Robin is an international speaker, best-selling author, radio host, and practicing chiropractor. She is the founder of Your Wellness Connection, P.A., one of the nation’s most successful integrative healing centers. Dr. Robin also consults with businesses and non-profit organizations developing wellness programs. She has spoken on improving individual well-being as well as creating a culture of wellness to a wide variety of companies, organizations, and conferences across the US and Canada. Visit her website for more details.
Dr. Fab Mancini is FOX News’s Healthy Living Expert, a world renowned Chiropractor, Hay House’s bestselling author of The Power of Self-Healing and host of his popular radio show, Self-Healing with Dr. Fab. He is also the bestselling author of Chicken Soup for the Chiropractic Soul, an internationally acclaimed educator, business leader, speaker, and President Emeritus of Parker University.
He has been featured on Dr. Phil, The Doctors, Fox News, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Univision, Telemundo and others. He has been interviewed in various documentaries and has received honors like Heroes for Humanity, Humanitarian of the Year, CEO of the Year, and induction into the Wellness Revolutionaries Hall of Fame. Most recently, the President of Mexico even named the library at UNEVE, Mexico's new leading university, after him. Dr. Mancini is also a graduate of the prestigious Institute for Educational Management in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.
A graduate ofHarvard Business School,Ken Kragen's illustrious career far transcends the music and entertainment industries where he has spent many incredibly successful years. He has managed some of the world's most important entertainers, includingKenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Trisha Yearwood, Olivia Newton John, The Bee Gees, Burt Reynolds, The Smothers Brothersand many others. He was the creator and organizer of the historic humanitarian projects"We Are the World", "Hands Across America",and Cisco System's"NetAid".Amazingly over 95% of the acts he managed have become stars, and 90% of the projects he created and spearheaded have achieved success.
During the past few years, Kragen has devoted an increasing amount of his time to teaching, speaking and writing as well as consulting work for leading corporations and many non-profit organizations. He has done work forCisco Systems, New York Life Insurance, Eastman Kodak, The Hollywood Reporter and the Country Radio Broadcasters Associationto name a few.
Kragen is most proud of receiving theUnited Nations Peace Medalfor the creation of "Hands Across sherrAmerica", and "We Are the World", making him one of a mere handful of private citizens to receive this honor.
Founder and Chief Bliss Officer of Fork That Foods Inc. (https://www.blissbites.co/), Author, Speaker, Host and expert on using “SASS” (Simple Action StepS) to increase health & happiness
Facing chemotherapy and life in a wheelchair forced Sherry to get “SASSY.” Because of her personal battle with a debilitating autoimmune disease and clinical depression, she has spent years researching, applying, and teaching multidisciplinary “SASS.” These Simple Action StepS leverage science, psychology, and strategies to gain maximum benefit from small changes. As mother to six children and owner of two businesses, Sherry realizes we all need to make the most of our limited time and energy. Her passion for encouraging others through sharing research-based, scientifically proven, fun and easy tweaks to meals, mind, and movement led her to start Fork That Foods Inc. (https://www.blissbites.co/), and create Bliss Bites gourmet superfood desserts, which she calls a “gateway treat to healthy eats.” She is author of the upcoming book“Don’t Worry, Eat Happy – Facts and Foods to Improve Your Moods” and host of the companion video series “Eat Happy”, which is currently in production. Learn more about Sherry and her mission at https://www.sherryleewhite.com.
Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., is the science director of the Greater Good Science Center, where she oversees the GGSC’s Expanding Gratitude project.
She earned her doctorate in Cognition Brain and Behavior at UC Berkeley. Her dissertation used behavioral and neuroscience methods to examine how negative states like fear and aversion influence thinking and decision-making. During her postdoc, Emiliana transitioned to studying pro-social states like love of humanity, compassion, and awe. From there, she served as Associate Director/Senior Scientist at CCARE (the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University), focusing on how compassion benefits health, well-being, and psychosocial functioning.
Today, Emiliana’s work spotlights the science that connects health and happiness to social affiliation, caregiving, and collaborative relationships, as she continues to examine the potential for – as well as the benefits of – living a more meaningful life.
She’s not your typical motivational keynote speaker.Connie motivates audiencesDIFFERENTLYby fueling them with exciting new ideas, mindsets, attitudes and solutions that will empower them to tackle even the toughest challenges in today’s crazy 24/7 world!
She’s honest-to-goodness funny!Connie started doing comedy when she was 14 and never looked back. Her humor allows her to tackle even the toughest issues organizations face with wit, substance and style. Connie’s contagious sense of humor enables your audience to dig deeper and learn so she can keep those “ah ha” moments coming fast and furious.
Connie is all about RESULTS. Most keynote speakers simply teach audiencesWHATto do. A few speakers show audiencesHOWto do it. Connie does all that and MORE. She helps your team understandWHYit’s important to change behaviors, re-think attitudes, re-assess old ideas and get on board so they can make things happen!
Connie gives the word CUSTOMIZATION a whole new meaning.She literally goes inside the minds of the people within your organization, your industry, and audience so they know that she knows exactly what they are going through. Her uncanny insight into human nature will have each person in your audience feeling like she is talking just tothem. It is rare for a speaker to have that ability to connect in such a meaningful way—and it’s that connection that keeps her message alive long after the event is over.
Connie is down-to-earth and REAL!Audiences believe in her and trust that she has their success and welfare in mind at all times.Connie knows that people want, expect and deserve their speaker to be a REAL person sharing REAL solutions that can help them achieve REAL results.
Bottom line?You definitely won’t find another keynote speaker like Connie! And your audience? They’ll thank you for that over and over again as they power up their business skills. Life skills. Leadership skills. Communication skills. Mindsets
Shani Robins, Ph.D. pioneered the field of Wisdom Therapy in 1998. He is a licensed Psychologist (PSY18795) and the founder and director of the Wisdom Therapy Institute since 2000. He is an instructor at Stanford University Medical School’s Health Improvement Program, and an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (www.itp.edu). Dr. Robins received his B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from UCLA in 1989, his M.A. and Ph.D. in Cognitive Experimental Psychology from U.C. Santa Barbara in 1996, completed a 2-year National Institute of Mental Health Postdoc at U.C. Irvine in 1999 and a Ph.D. re-specialization in Clinical Psychology in 2002.
He has published and has given numerous clinical workshops, invited talks, scientific conference presentations, and corporate consultations nationally and internationally on Wisdom Therapy and its relationships to cognitions, emotions, stress reduction, relationships, work place effectiveness, coping, emotional intelligence, performance, and organizational consulting. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and has won many honors including inclusion in Strathmore’s Who’s Who. In his spare time Shani plays racquetball, chess, and GO, rollerblades, salsa dances, runs marathons, andwatches sun rises.
Mike Duffy is an evangelist for happiness. Mike has written 4 books on happiness including, The Happiness Book For Men. He has been researching happiness for 30 years. He loves to speak about how you can gain greater happiness and joy in your precious life. Mike started The Happiness Hall Of Fame to recognize, encourage and celebrate people that make other people happy through their hard work, talent and sacrifice. The website is: www.happinesshalloffame.com. Mike is the CEO of Happiness Publishing.
Mike Duffy has been speaking professionally since he was a standup comedian at the age of 19. He was an MC at Woodstock '94. He has performed at Caroline's On Broadway, The Comic Strip and many other comedy clubs. He uses humor to deliver the life-changing message that sustainable happiness is possible in everyone’s life. He has spoken at universities, corporations, churches and civic associations about happiness. His purpose in life is to help others get happier.
Louisa is the Founder and President of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association, a speaker and author who spreads the word about the science of happiness through her workshops, talks and webinars with audiences around the world. Louisa is an instructor of positive psychology at the University of Toronto and has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, Psychology Today, Chatelaine, European Handbook of Positive Psychology, Positive Psychology at Work (Wiley, March 2011), and more. Through her Positive Psychology Think Tank, Louisa works with practitioners to expand their knowledge on how to leverage positive psychology in the work they do with clients. Louisa is a graduate of the ground-breaking Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program at the University of Pennsylvania led by renowned psychologist, Dr. Martin Seligman. Louisa loves to help people overcome their self-doubt and build the confidence they need to go out and truly flourish.
Dr. Luskin holds a Ph.D. in Counseling and Health Psychology from Stanford University. His work combines lecture with a hands-on approach to the ancient tradition of forgiveness. His presentations explore the HEAL process of forgiveness that, when learned, can lead to enhanced well-being through self-care.
Dr. Luskin continues to serve as Director of the Stanford Forgiveness Projects, an ongoing series of workshops and research projects that investigate the effectiveness of his forgiveness methods on a variety of populations.
He currently serves as a Senior Consultant in Health Promotion at Stanford University and is a Professor at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He presents lectures, workshops, seminars and trainings on the importance, health benefits and training of forgiveness, stress management and emotional competence throughout the United States.
Kristin studied communications as an undergraduate at the University of California at Los Angeles (B.A., 1988). She did her graduate work at University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D., 1997), studying moral development with Dr. Elliot Turiel. Her dissertation research was conducted in Mysore, India, where she examined children’s moral reasoning. She then spent two years of post-doctoral study with Dr. Susan Harter at Denver University, studying issues of authenticity and self- concept development. Her current position at the University of Texas at Austin started in 1999, and she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006.
During Kristin’s last year of graduate school in 1997 she became interested in Buddhism, and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her post-doctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically.
In addition to her pioneering research into self-compassion, she has developed an 8-week program to teach self-compassion skills. The program, co-created with her colleague Chris Germer at Harvard University, is called Mindful Self-Compassion. Her book titled "Self-Compassion" was published by William Morrow in April, 2011.
Kristin was recently featured in the best-selling book and award-winning documentary called The Horse Boy – www.horseboymovie.com - which chronicles her family’s adventure with autism.
Michelle McQuaid is a best-selling author, workplace wellbeing teacher and playful change activator.
She fuses the latest science from positive psychology and neurobiology with over a decade of business leadership experience to bring you simple, tested actions to reduce stress and anxiety, cultivate a lasting sense of wellbeing and happiness, and become an exceptional leader.
An honorary fellow at Melbourne University’s Graduate School of Education, her work has been featured in Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Boss Magazine, The Age, Women’s Agenda, Wellbeing Magazine and more.
She holds a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied alongside the field's founder Professor Martin Seligman, and is currently completing her PhD in Appreciative Inquiry under the supervision of Professor David Cooperrider.
Michelle lives to help people discover their strengths, move beyond their fears, and finally discover what it truly takes to flourish with confidence.
Stacy Kaiser is a successful Southern California based licensed psychotherapist, author, relationship expert and media personality. With over 100 television appearances in the last year on major networks including CNN, NBC, CBS, and ABC, Stacy has built a reputation for bringing a unique mix of thoughtful and provocative insight to a wide range of topics. She is a much sought after public speaker on a wide variety of topics, ranging from office and personal relationship issues to anger management and family politics. In addition to her numerous television appearances, her expertise and unique perspective have been solicited by a diverse group of clients including major corporations, public institutions, government agencies and philanthropic organizations.
She has also been engaged by organizations including the FBI, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Unified School District, Kaiser Permanente and Hughes Aircraft to implement workshops and handle third party mediations.
Stacy Kaiser received her B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Northridge and her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and has received advanced training in the areas of human and child development, as well as eating disorders and anger management.
Mezzapelle is the founder of the Contagious Optimism movement and the author ofContagious Optimism, a bestselling book series that contains real stories from real people around the globe which demonstrates that every cloud has a silver lining. After a long career in technology, Mezzapelle launched several companies and philanthropic initiatives, and he has served on various boards. Throughout his life, Mezzapelle encountered great peaks and valleys, for which he is grateful. He has always kept his glass "completely full." Mezzapelle has been a guest on various radio and television programs along with being a contributorto numerous publications around the globe. He is also aTEDandContagious Optimism LIVEspeaker.
Learn more about David at www.contagiousoptimism.com.
Darrin M. McMahon is a professor of history at Dartmouth College. He is the author of Enemies of the Enlightenment: The French Counter-Enlightenment and the Making of Modernity (Oxford University Press, 2001) and Happiness: A History (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006), which has been translated into twelve languages, and was awarded Best Books of the Year honors for 2006 by the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Library Journal, and Slate Magazine.
McMahon has just completed a history of the idea of genius and the genius figure, Divine Fury: A History of Genius, published in late 2013 with Basic Books, and his writings have appeared in such publications as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.
Shannon M. Pollyis one of the first 150 people in the world who have received their Master in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree from the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Martin Seligman.
She is a leadership development facilitator, coach, speaker and founder of Shannon Polly and Associates, a leadership development company in downtown D.C. Shannon works with Fortune 500 companies in two domain areas: executive presence/presentation skills (based on over a decade of experience as a professional actor/assoc. Broadway producer in New York) and positive psychology. Shannon uses the empirical research from positive psychology with her organizational clients to foster positive and flourishing workplaces. She is passionate about giving people the confidence to present themselves powerfully in front of a room and overcome the anxiety that often besieges public speakers. She is equally as passionate about sharing the science of well-being and increasing the ‘tonnage of happiness’ in the world.
She has been an assistant instructor in the MAPP program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a contributor to the book,Positive Psychology at Work, has developed curriculum for the higher education version of the movie, Happy, and has been a facilitator for the Master Resiliency Training (MRT) program for the U.S. Army. The Army is the largest consumer of positive psychology in the world today and has plans to train all 1.1 million soldiers in resilience.
She holds a graduate degree from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in classical acting and a B.A. with honors from Yale College. She is also a graduate of the Georgetown Leadership Coaching Program.
She is a contributing author to Positive Psychology News Daily and is a contributor to the bookPositive Psychology at Work(Wiley, March 2011) and a contributing author (along with Dr. Martin Seligman) toEuropean Handbook of Positive Psychology(2013). She is a co-founder ofPositive Business DC.She lives in downtown D.C.
Her strengths are: Social intelligence, honesty, kindness, humor and perseverance.
Barbara Fredrickson is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory (a.k.a. PEP Lab) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research reveals how positive emotions, fleeting as they are, can tip the scales toward a life of flourishing.
Winner of several awards for her research and teaching – including the American Psychological Association’s inaugural Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology and the Society of Experimental Social Psychology’s Career Trajectory Award – Barb created her broaden-and-build theory to describe how positive emotions evolved for our human ancestors and how, today, they vitally shape people’s health and well-being.
Barb’s scientific contributions have influenced scholars and practitioners worldwide, in disciplines ranging from education to business and beyond. Her research has been featured in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, CNN, PBS, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. In May 2010, she was invited to brief His Holiness the Dalai Lama on her research.
Ricky Powell is a veteran of the Entertainment Industry. He realized his first dream of being an actor when he was just seven years old. After a successful career in front of the camera, Ricky began his next journey at the NBC Television Network in Burbank, California where he continues to work today.
Working through some difficult situations at work and at home in his twenties and thirties, Ricky became fascinated with the subject of happiness, and how you can choose to be happy regardless of your outer circumstances. He began writing and lecturing on the subject and now teaches the principles that go into creating lifelong happiness so you can make more money, have deeper, stronger relationships, and live longer.
On a personal note…
Ricky had the vision of creating a community of like minded, positive individuals supporting one another many years ago. With so many negative messages bombarding us each day, he felt it was his calling to counter the darkness with a burst of light and spiritual energy. Finally, Masterminds of Lifelong Happiness is a reality and can help people all over the world create lives filled with joy, love and prosperity in abundance.
Sandy Pedeflous , Founder of Smile TV, is a visionary and 30 year veteran of the entertainment industry working behind the scenes in all aspects of production including producing, production coordinating and post-production supervising. Sandy graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Radio, Television and Film, from California State University Northridge and used her creative expertise to build her own editing business developing industrial video productions. Sandy is also the co-owner of two well-established and successful companies, Omegasonics, a manufacturing company and UltraCare, a service business. At a young age Sandy had a dream to create a positive news show. She made this dream a reality with Smile TV, an all-positive media network producing video for the soul purpose of smiling. Put a smile on your face and check outsmiletvgroup.com
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