2026 Mattering Summit Speakers

Louis Alloro

As a globally sought-after “Champion of Change,” Louis works alongside change agents and activators, to help you empower your team to realize the wellbeing and energy required to transform your culture or community.

• Improve collaboration, innovation and impact
• Build lasting psychological skillsets
• Confidently lead through order and chaos
• Win over stakeholders and cynics
• Leverage & empower internal change champions

All with the objective of creating the culture you want!

As one of the first in the world to attain a UPenn Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree, I have been working as a social entrepreneur in this human development space since 2007 educating people in all sectors on human behavior and positive change.

Join the thousands of team, organization and community members working with me and experience the evolution for yourself by bringing me on for team building sessions, customized workshops, and certifications.

Brad Aronson

Brad Aronson is a husband and a dad, and when he’s holding the parenting reins, he likes to go all out. For him that means leading an egg drop competition from the third-floor window of his family’s home or heading up indoor games of baseball and hockey, and then having to explain why something else is now in pieces. Luckily, his wife, Mia, is understanding.

Brad loves teaching entrepreneurship to youth in Camden, NJ and Philadelphia. Everyone in his class starts their own business, which has led to many adventures in entrepreneurship.

Brad is the author of the National Bestseller HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time. This heartwarming read shares real-life, feel-good stories about how one small deed can make a world of difference. “Elegant and wise” (Deepak Chopra), “The most uplifting and life-affirming book in years.” (Forbes) 

All royalties from HumanKind go to nonprofits in the book.

Dr. Sarah Bennison

Dr. Sarah Bennison is an educator, scholar, activist, and social entrepreneur dedicated to transforming educational institutions through service. A faculty member at New York University, Dr. Bennison teaches and researches at the intersection of curriculum, educational institutions, and social impact. She teaches a course at NYU called Achievement Culture & the American Dream: Who Matters?

She is the founder and creator of the Trinity School (NYC) Office of Public Service, an innovative K–12 service learning initiative that integrates community engagement into the heart of school culture. She is also co-founder and CEO of The Mattering Movement, a nonprofit dedicated to building educational environments where every student and community member experiences genuine belonging and purpose.

Dr. Bennison partners with schools and institutions to design service learning frameworks and transform organizational cultures. As a speaker, she inspires audiences across education, nonprofit, and social impact sectors with a message that is both intellectually rigorous and deeply human.

Dr. Bennison holds a Ph.D. from NYU, M.A. from Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Science; M.A., Teachers College, Columbia University; B.A., Smith College.

www.drbennison.com
www.thematteringmovement.com

Roderick L. Carey, PhD

Roderick L. Carey, PhD, is a scholar, teacher, and artist who has devoted his entire career in education to uplifting youth voices in his scholarship, teaching, and service. Dr. Carey founded and directs The Black Boy Mattering Project, a partnership with schools that studies how youth perceive their significance to others and creates contexts for them to imagine mattering more robustly. Dr. Carey is also an associate professor and faculty scholar in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Delaware. He teaches undergraduate courses on mentoring and helping relationships and on families and children at risk, as well as a graduate course on qualitative methods. He also publishes widely in top tier journals. His recent research on mattering appears in The Urban Review and AERA Open, with other articles published in the American Educational Research Journal, Harvard Educational Review, Race Ethnicity and Education, and Educational Administration Quarterly to name a few. He serves on the editorial boards of Equity & Excellence in Education and Urban Education and is also Associate Editor for the Journal of Adolescent Research. Dr. Carey co-created www.findingfutureselves.org, a website with resources to help educators support youth imagine and plan their lives after high school. He has presented at dozens of conferences locally, nationally, and internationally and has offered commentary on new stories that have appeared in outlets like PBS NewsHour. Prior to earning a PhD at the University of Maryland College Park, Dr. Carey taught high school English in Washington, DC. He also holds a Master of Education in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education and English from Boston College. He serves as Academic Affairs Chair on the Board of Trustees at Salesianum School in Wilmington, Delaware.

Kristoffer Carter ‘Kris’

Kristoffer Carter (Kris, or KC) is the host of Hell Yeah You Will podcast, and author of Permission to Glow: A Spiritual Guide to Epic Leadership, which guides his team’s coaching of Fortune 500 executive leaders at Flywheel Digital, Amazon, AT&T, Edward Jones, and many more. In 2016 Kristoffer founded Epic Leadership, an executive coaching and training organization which has created a daily meditation practice for thousands. Kris sits on the Board of Directors of Yoga Alliance, and serves the global work of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi.

Mary Ceccanese

Mary Ceccanese is the owner and principal consultant of Dynamic Connections LLC, a company dedicated to helping organizations build engaged, energized workplaces where employees feel valued and can thrive through positive business practices.

With more than eighteen years of professional experience working with staff at all levels in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, Mary delivers interactive, empowering presentations that inspire positive change. Her work is grounded in research from the Center for Positive Organizations at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, along with insights from other leading researchers. Through practical strategies and real-world examples, she helps participants apply positive practices to everyday workplace situations.

Mary holds a BA in Human Resource Administration and recently retired from the University of Michigan after thirty-three years of service. In 2010, she received the University’s highest honor for staff, the Candace J. Johnson Award for Excellence, and in 2019 she was recognized with a University of Michigan Staff Impact Award.

Also in 2019, Mary was named one of the “Top Ten Business Women” by the American Business Women’s Association. She later served as the 2022–2023 District V Vice President for the organization.

Mary expanded her impact through several publications and tools. She released High-Quality Connection Cards in 2019, her first book YOU Can Create Positive Change at Work! in 2021, and Reflection Cards in 2023.

Nedra Fetterman, PhD

Dr. Fetterman is a licensed psychologist in private practice and a Senior Faculty member of the Imago International Training Institute. For many years she also served as a Clinical Associate in the Department of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

She teaches therapists and other professionals around the world the principles and practices of Imago Relationship Therapy. Known for her warm, engaging teaching style, she helps clinicians translate complex psychological ideas into practical tools that foster safety, dialogue, emotional regulation, and deeper connection in relationships.

Her work explores the developmental journey from unconscious patterns toward conscious partnership. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, relational theory, and archetypal storytelling, she describes how individuals and couples move from reactivity and adaptation toward greater differentiation, trust, and relational maturity.

She is the author of Undivided: The Field Where Love and Power Meet and the forthcoming Coming Full Circle: The Shapes of Love… From Tending to Trusting to Flow, where she introduces a visual architecture of relationship that maps the human journey from original wholeness toward conscious love and relational maturity.

At the heart of Nedra’s work is the recognition that human beings are fundamentally dialogical. We are always in conversation—with ourselves, with one another, and with the living world around us. When that dialogue becomes conscious, relationships can become places of healing, growth, and the rediscovery of our authentic selves.

Outside her professional life, Nedra treasures her long and loving marriage with her husband, Joe. She delights in time with their son and his partner, their two beloved grandchildren, and Bella and Shiloh—two Cavalier mixes who embody the spirit of secure attachment and unconditional love.

Jonathan Fields

Jonathan Fields is a dad, husband, award-winning author, executive producer, and host of the top-ranked podcast, Good Life Project®, boasting more than 100-million listens, streams, and views. In his popular Awake @ the Wheel newsletter, Jonathan helps you feel more alive and less alone. He is also the founder of a series of companies focused on human potential, currently serving as CEO of Spark Endeavors, where he developed the groundbreaking Sparketype® Assessment, which has been tapped by over 1-million individuals and organizations to identify, embrace, and cultivate work that makes people come alive. His latest book, SPARKED: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work That Makes You Come Alive, is both a rally cry and a field guide to reclaiming work as a source of meaning, joy, and possibility. Jonathan’s work has been featured widely in the media, from The New York Times, FastCompany, Wall Street Journal, and the Harvard Business Review to Oprah Magazine, SUCCESS, Allure, Parade, Reader’s Digest and many more.

Photo by Kathryn Colby

Leslee Frye

Leslee Frye is the Executive Director of the Young 9 Foundation, whose mission is to empower youth and their support systems to access resources that enhance mental health and resilience. She brings over 20 years of experience working in schools as a school psychologist in both public and private sectors. In addition to her leadership with the Foundation, Leslee is a certified yoga and meditation teacher who integrates positive psychology and mindfulness into both educational and wellness spaces. She works with students at Lumos Yoga and Barre and teaches Abnormal Psychology at Temple University. With a background in psychology and yoga, Leslee is passionate about promoting emotional well-being, self-love, and mind–body connection.

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein grew up in White Plains, New York, where her father, an immigrant from Ukraine, was a cantor. Her family was Orthodox Jewish. She graduated from an all-girls high school whose primary concern was to prepare girls for a life of Orthodox marriage and motherhood. By her senior year she was regularly playing hooky, mostly going to libraries to try to get herself some semblance of an education.

Her latest book is The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us. She had been gestating its ideas ever since The Mind-Body Problem, when she first introduced the idea of the mattering map in her effort to understand the sadness of her main character. The Mattering Instinct is influenced by Spinoza’s own attempt in the Ethics to firmly ground an objective ethics on secular grounds that we can all accept, no matter our theological beliefs, or lack thereof. 

Rabiya Karamali

Emily Kasriel

Emily has evolved the Deep Listening approach to enable people to engage more meaningfully and truly understand others. She’s the author of Deep Listening: Transform your Relationships with Family, Friends and Foes, published by HarperCollins in the US and UK. More on her website EmilyKasriel.com

Emily works with leaders to enhance their effectiveness and foster an open empowering environment in their organisations and beyond. And collaborates with communities where Deep Listening is needed most, facing pressures from polarisation and social division – from the USA to Lebanon to Ethiopia. Emily’s eight step Deep Listening approach has been demonstrated, in a peer reviewed study with 1000 people in 100 countries, to establish deeper connections where people feel safe to express themselves and genuinely understood, even if they profoundly disagree.

Emily will be giving a talk about Deep Listening at the TED conference in Vancouver in April. Korean and Portuguese translations will be published later this year.

Previously, Emily has had a distinguished career at the BBC for over two decades, including roles as an award-winning journalist, editor, and media executive. She reported and produced across five continents, as well as running the arts, religion and ideas departments. She developed the Deep Listening approach in her role as a Senior Visiting Fellow at King’s College in London, drawing on her experience as an accredited executive coach and workplace mediator. She’s also a visiting scholar at Columbia University.

You can also follow Emily on Linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilykasriel/

Scott Barry Kaufman

Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman is a psychologist, coach, best-selling author, professor and keynote speaker who is passionate about helping all kinds of minds live a creative, fulfilling, and self-actualized life. His early educational experiences made him realize the deep reservoir of untapped potential of students, including bright and creative children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability.

Scott is the world’s leading authority on the science of human potential and is among the top 1% most cited scientists in the world for his research on intelligence and creativity. Scott is author or editor of 11 books, the most recent of which is Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your Full Potential, in which he explores the limiting beliefs and widespread anxiety that puts us in boxes, lowers our expectations, and holds us back in our lives.

Scott is also Professor of Psychology at Columbia University and Director of the Center for Human Potential. He founded Self-Actualization Coaching. Self-actualization is a key theme of much of his work, including his book Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization.

For 11 years Scott hosted The Psychology Podcast which received over 30 million downloads and was widely considered among the top psychology podcasts in the world.

Scott is also a mentalist – a performing artist who simulates highly developed mental or intuitive abilities – and performs psychological magic, particularly in New York City.

Braxton Kilgo

Braxton Kilgo is an entrepreneur, speaker, and the founder of I Believe In You (IBIY)—a movement built to turn small acts of kindness into measurable, global impact. With over a decade of experience in business consulting, Braxton has worked with more than 1,000 clients ranging from startups and personal brands to established companies, generating millions in high-ticket sales and partnerships with world-class artists, athletes, and organizations.

Today, he is fully focused on scaling IBIY, a platform that combines NFC/QR-enabled bracelets and a mobile app to help people share stories, pass belief forward, and build cultures of encouragement in communities, companies, and events around the world. IBIY is active in 20+ countries and continues to grow through strategic partnerships, corporate initiatives, and impact-driven collaborations.

At the heart of Braxton’s work is a simple message: belief changes people, and people change the world. Learn more at https://www.ibelieveinyou.io.

Sonja Lyubomirsky

Sonja Lyubomirsky is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in social psychology from Stanford University. Lyubomirsky is the author of the best-selling The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness (published in 39 countries). Her latest book, How to Feel Loved, with Harry Reis, was released by Harper Wave in February 2026, accompanied by her mainstage TED talk on the same topic. Lyubomirsky’s research—on the possibility of lastingly increasing happiness via gratitude, kindness, and connection interventions—have been the recipients of many grants and honors, including Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Basel, the Diener Award for Outstanding Midcareer Contributions in Personality Psychology, the Christopher Peterson Gold Medal, a Positive Psychology Prize, and the Faculty of the Year Award (twice). She writes a popular bimonthly newsletter on the science of happiness and leads (with Lauren Weinstein) a weekly online happiness program and community, open to anyone. Her work has frequently been featured in print media, TV, podcasts, and feature documentaries across the world, including a recent profile, as well as a book review, in the New York Times. Lyubomirsky has four kids, ages 12 to 26, and lives in Santa Monica, California.

Zach Mercurio

Zach Mercurio is an author, researcher, and leadership development facilitator specializing in purposeful leadership, mattering, and meaningful work. He advises leaders in organizations worldwide on practices for  building cultures that promote well-being, motivation, and performance.

Zach holds a Ph.D. in organizational learning, performance, and change and serves as one of Simon Sinek’s Optimist Instructors, teaching a top-rated course on creating mattering at work.

His new book is The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance. His previous book is The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with The Power of Authentic Purpose.”
He’s been featured in The Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Psychology Today, The Denver Post, and on ABCNews.

Vicki O’Grady

Vicki O’Grady is a retired Florida Licensed Mental Health Counselor, author, and accomplished workshop presenter. Vicki has worked in the fields of mental health, addictions, eating disorders and personal growth beginning in the late 70’s. She was in private practice from 1989 until her retirement in 2023. Vicki has traveled throughout the United States and Israel presenting personal growth workshops and seminars. She is the former President and founder of Personal Power and Prosperity, a personal growth organization.

Vicki is the founder of the You Matter Compassion Project founded in 2014. YMCP involves handing/mailing out You Matter business cards to others. Since the project began, thousands of others have joined the movement to encourage others to know that they matter. She presently gives out about 15,000 a month.

Vicki’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with Social Welfare Certification from Meredith College in Raleigh North Carolina. Her Masters of Arts degree is from Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida.

Vicki trained in Imago Relationship Therapy (developed by Harville Hendrix and endorsed by Oprah), hypnotherapy, EMDR, Emotional Freedom Techniques, parenting techniques developed by International Network for Children and Families (INCAF).

Stephen Post

Professor Stephen G. Post is one of the world’s leading public speakers, scholars and workshop leaders on altruism, love, compassion, and the science of giving. He is a best-selling author, professor of preventive medicine, and founder of the Institute for Research on Pure Unlimited Love (www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org), which is based in Cleveland’s university circle but is active across the US and worldwide. His work bridges science, spirituality, and ethics with a mission to understand how unselfish love heals, uplifts, and transforms both individuals and cultures, and how the five primary social obstacles to it can be overcome. His book Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Live by the Simple Act of Giving (2008) was a national best-seller, and was awarded first place by World Literacy Canada. Pure Unlimited Love: Science and the Seven Paths to Inner Peace (2025), with a Foreword by the Dalai Lama, is his mature statement on giving, well-being, inner peace and spirituality to date. Post has held leadership positions at various medical schools of distinction, including Case Western (1988-2008) and Stony Brook, where his program is consistently ranked in the top ten nationally.

Joe Primo

Joe Primo is the CEO of Grateful Living, a global community at the forefront of gratitude and joy since 1969. He is a leading voice on building resilience in the face of adversity.

An international speaker, author, and commentator, Joe has served on numerous boards. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he is the author of What Do We Tell the Children? Talking to Kids About Death and Dying; a former hospice chaplain; and the former CEO of Good Grief, a children’s bereavement organization serving New Jersey and metro NYC. His TED Talk Grief is Good provides a new model for living with loss. Joe has appeared in or on CNN, The New York Times, NPR, The Chicago Tribune, The Hill, FOX, and elsewhere.

Christine J. Quinn, PhD

Christine is a visionary leader, certified leadership and recovery coach, and the founder of Living Kindness, a nonprofit created from lived experience and a deep commitment to supporting families navigating life’s most difficult journeys. Her work focuses on strengthening the well-being of individuals and families impacted by complex challenges, including substance use disorder, by fostering connection, compassion, and community.

Christine brings more than three decades of leadership experience in higher education, where she served in senior academic leadership roles. Throughout her career she has been known for her human-centered approach to leadership, emphasizing collaboration, belonging, and the power of authentic relationships.

Through Living Kindness, Christine creates intentional spaces where people can move from isolation toward connection and healing. Her work is grounded in the belief that the opposite of addiction is not simply sobriety but connection—and that healing begins when people know they matter. Living Kindness offers community conversations, coaching circles, retreats, and nature-based experiences that support families and individuals on complex life journeys.

A dynamic speaker and facilitator, Christine brings warmth, insight, and lived experience to her work, helping communities explore how cultures of connection, compassion, and shared humanity can transform the way we support one another. Her mission is simple but profound: to ensure that no one has to walk life’s hardest journeys alone.

Selena Rezvani

Selena Rezvani is a recognized author, speaker, and consultant on leadership. Her newest book series was born out of a viral newsletter she started in 2020 – to help people build their confidence and influence through small actions. This success launched Quick Confidence (Wiley) in 2023 – an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller and her newest guide, Quick Leadership, which was released on November 11th.

​Selena is also the author of the bestseller, Pushback: How Smart Women Ask — and Stand Up — for What They Want (Jossey-Bass, 2012) , which focuses on the unmatched power of negotiation skills in women’s career advancement, and was recognized with an Axiom Business Book Award. Selena’s first book, The Next Generation of Women Leaders (Praeger), was published in 2009. 

​Having amassed over 500,000 followers on social media, Selena creates daily video content on leadership and has been recognized by The Washington Post, Bloomberg, as a LinkedIn Top Voice and as a ‘Fast Company top career creator’. Her experience and success in the leadership arena make Rezvani a frequent resource for news media and an in-demand business speaker. She has been quoted, interviewed, and profiled by CareerBuilder, The Wall Street Journal, Oprah.com, The LA Times, Marie Claire, NBC television, and ABC television.

Cheryl Rice

Cheryl Rice, Founder of You Matter Marathon and President of Cheryl Rice Leadership, works with women eager to be leaders in their own lives. She has been working with clients to improve individual, team and executive performance since 1990. Cheryl delivers powerful seminars inspiring women to use their voice and vision for maximum impact. Cheryl’s speaking, seminar, and coaching clients include: Professional Women’s Roundtable, Pfizer, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Penn Medicine, Campbells Soup, and the Wharton School.

Cheryl has held significant positions in the healthcare, financial services and technology industries. Past corporate positions include Director of Organization Development for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, AVP of Leadership Development at ACE International, and leadership consulting roles at CIGNA, NovaCare, and SMS (now Siemens).

Cheryl is also the author of the inspiring memoir, Where Have I Been All My Life? A Journey Toward Love and Wholeness. Additionally, her essays on life, love and loss have appeared in local and national publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Chicago Tribune, Cure Today, and Maria Shriver’s Blog, Architects of Change.

With a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Monmouth University, a Master of Science degree in Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Science degree in Organization Development from Pepperdine University, Cheryl brings significant academic training to compliment her practical work experience. While at Pepperdine, she completed groundbreaking research on the relationship between emotional intelligence and team performance. She has since published her results and spoken to national and local audiences about this work. Additionally, Cheryl has earned her Professional Coach Credential and is an Applied Positive Psychology Practitioner. She has also taught classes in organization change at local universities.

Sharon Shelton

Sharon Shelton is a mindfulness teacher, mentor, and coach who helps people reconnect with what truly matters in their lives. For almost 20 years, she teaches workshops and retreats and offers talks across the country, helping people bring mindfulness, compassion, and clarity into everyday life and relationships.  She’s worked with hundreds of individuals and groups from around the world, guiding people to meet life’s challenges with greater awareness, steadiness, and care.

Sharon mentors students in the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program led by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield and serves as a Founding Advisor and Lead Teacher with Banyan. Known for her warm, conversational teaching style, she helps people translate contemplative wisdom into practical ways of living with greater presence, resilience, and purpose.

Before focusing primarily on teaching and mentoring, Sharon spent more than two decades in corporate and nonprofit leadership, including 12 years as a Vice President at a global software company. This background allows her to bridge contemplative practice with the real demands of modern life.

She is the creator of Women Thriving in Midlife, a mindfulness-based program supporting women to navigate midlife (https://l2ylcourses.thinkific.com/courses/WTM), and she facilitated the Your Second Act community on Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/mysecondact/), where people gather monthly to explore life transitions, reconnect with purpose, and remember that their lives matter simply because they are part of this shared human experience.

Jodi Silverman

Jodi Silverman is a mindset and happiness coach whose mission is to support women in daring more, doubting less, and living fully. She is the founder of the Dare On™ Experience, a personal growth platform designed to help women in midlife navigate transitions, overcome obstacles, and pursue what’s next with confidence and purpose.

Known for her infectious energy and relatable storytelling, Jodi inspires audiences through her empowering keynotes, her supportive community for women, and her top-ranked Dare On with Jodi podcast. Her work focuses on helping women move past fear, reconnect with their potential, and step outside their comfort zones to explore new opportunities in life and work.

Through practical mindset tools and powerful perspective shifts, Jodi challenges women to rediscover who they are beyond their roles and responsibilities—and reminds them that the next chapter of life can be filled with meaning, connection, and fun.

Sarah Tachon

Sarah Tachon is married to the love of her life Aaron, and they are raising three daughters in Evansville, WI. She likes to describe her life as “living on a funny farm”. With goats, horses, dogs, cats, and even an axolotl named Mochi, you never know what is going to happen, there are many mouths to feed and always something to clean. Her passion is spreading kindness and goodness and this began 6 years ago when she heard a speaker share about the transformative power of kindness. The speaker had authored a book called Kindness is Contagious and after her presentation, Sarah went to get her book signed and asked if she was looking for any volunteer marketing help. Yes! was the immediate answer and who knew you could actually have a business that included speaking about kindness, selling books, and marketing a kindness podcast? Sarah watched this 5 year journey of working on a kindness team light her faith on fire in a “never going back” kind of way, sailing her into her purpose filled life path telling others about the power of kindness and goodness.

Kindness is Contagious is a weekly radio segment that can be heard on Life 102.5 radio station in Madison, WI. Sarah shares a kindness story and tip and hopes that more than just her mom and father-in-law listen. She also helped launch Becoming Better Neighbors in 2025, a nonprofit created to build unity in the community. Finally, in early 2026, the Spread Goodness Day Ambassador Team was nominated for the Impact Award at the Do Good Wisconsin Gala and Sarah accepted this award on behalf of the team. Her favorite hobby is raking the horse pasture with the music blasting or cooking some Asian noodles and dumplings in the kitchen with friends and taste testing everything. Two words that are more important than any other for her to leave with you: You Matter. Because when we can hand out these little cards that say “you matter” and feel the difference they are making in the lives of others, we are reminded how much we matter. https://www.becomingbetterneighbors.com/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.tachonstanforth

Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, MAPP, MCC

Emiliya is the CEO and founder of The Flourishing Center, a New York City based, Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) that is dedicated to increasing the flourishing of individuals, organizations and communities worldwide.

She is the creator of the acclaimed Certification in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) program, offered and online worldwide, which has trained thousands of practitioners. She is the creator the Bounce Back Better® (B³®) Program, Applied Positive Psychology Coaching Certification (APPC), Flourishing Skills Group® (FSG®) Program, iMMi Program, co-founder of the Positive Educator Certification™ (PEC) Program, creator of the PERMA-V Model and the 5i Change Agent Model.  (If you haven’t noticed, she likes creating and is an “inventor” in our 5i Change Agent Model.)

Emiliya holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Positive Psychology and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University, where she is also an adjunct faculty member.  Emiliya holds a Master Certified Coach (MCC™) credential with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), as well as over a dozen certifications in modalities ranging from coaching to yoga, Reiki, intenSati, Thai massage, biofeedback, motivational interviewing and more.

Prior to her work in the science of wellbeing, Emiliya was a professional party entertainer for over 12 years. She brings her entertaining background to her work today as a “pra-cademic-prenuer”; first and foremost she is a practitioner working in the field with individuals and organizations, then a researcher and academic, and an entrepreneur, focusing not just on the growth of The Flourishing Center, but is passionate about the craft of entrepreneurism and helping others grow their work. She integrates these tools into a unique approach to vitality and mind-body health, inspiring and empowering others to craft a life of thriving mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially.