Dan Morse

Dan Morse is the co-founder of Social Prescribing USA, a network of leaders working to advance the US Social Prescribing movement. His team of volunteers are coordinating a US grassroots physician movement, organizing a network of 400+ experts, and catalyzing prospective pilot studies in collaboration with professors at Harvard, Stanford, University of Michigan, reps from hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, and the NIH. Aimed to be the “public town square” of the moment, the organization is also building a free site to allow people to find social prescriptions by zip code.

Dan has spent the past decade focused on social determinants of health, from organizing place-based health interventions in Detroit to founding an award-winning health empowerment restaurant. Today, Dan is on the founding team of a new Bachelor’s degree-granting college in San Francisco, called Make School (now Dominican University). The college prepares students from disadvantaged backgrounds to get jobs at companies like Apple, Google, Tesla, and NASA. Dan has pioneered data-driven programs that address students’ social determinants of health and foster academic success. He graduated from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business with honors.

Dr. Ardeshir Z. Hashmi

MD, FACP, FNAP.

He is the Endowed Chair of Geriatric Innovation and Section Chief of the Center for Geriatric Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Hashmi completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at Yale University. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at the Yale-Saint Mary’s Hospital in Connecticut, where he served as Chief Medical resident. He then trained at Massachusetts General Hospital as a Clinical and Research Fellow in Geriatrics before becoming Faculty and then Medical Director of MGH Senior Health-Harvard Medicine. Dr. Hashmi subsequently transitioned to the Cleveland Clinic.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the National Academies of Practice, a graduate of the Clinical Process Improvement Leadership Program and the Value Based Healthcare Delivery program via the Harvard Business School Institute of Strategy & Competitiveness. Dr. Hashmi is also certified as an Advanced Peer Coach through the Cleveland Clinic Center for Excellence in Coaching and Mentoring. He is Co-Chair of the national American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Patient Priorities Care Special Interest Group (SIG) and serves on the AGS Health Systems Innovation Economics & Technology Committee and the Society for General Internal Medicine’s Geriatrics Commission. Dr. Hashmi is also a member of the Association of Chiefs and Leaders in General Internal Medicine (ACLGIM). He is an alumnus of the prestigious Tideswell Emerging Leaders in Aging (ELIA) national leadership development program (in conjunction with the American Geriatric Society and the University of California San Francisco) and the ACLGIM LEAD programs. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Dr. Hashmi’s niche area of interest is the intersection of technology and population health in the service of our most vulnerable populations.

Learning for Well-being Foundation

Washington,
United States.

CoCo Labs is a systems change organization, dedicated to advancing equitable wellbeing for collective thriving. We believe that everyone, no matter what their current reality, should have access to the tools and support needed to transcend their wellbeing limitations and reach their fullest potential.

Our main aim is to build a coalition of organizations and individuals engaged in shifting multiple systems toward wellbeing for all. In the same way that the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) economics demonstrates that by raising the income of the poorest, the greatest knock-on effect occurs towards a country’s economy, our theory of change includes the notion that by raising the quality of life experience of the most challenged, a country’s thriveability will increase exponentially.
We begin by working with systems leaders to support them in showing up as the best versions of themselves. Leaders that are able to hold multiple perspectives, see systems as living systems, and navigate complexity, are able to create the conditions for communities, at a global level, to thrive even in adverse conditions.

CoCo Labs is working towards the advancement of equitable wellbeing for collective thriving. Thriving goes beyond resilience and well-being to describe a state in which:

  • Everyone is powerful – systemic oppression is phased out
  • Radical “othering” is a thing of the past – cultural competence and integration of diverse ways of being and doing are the norms
  • Communities live in harmony with nature – supported by, and supporting, ecosystem services
  • Individual and collective healing and resilience – communities are able to navigate uncertainty and complexity better
  • Communities demonstrate greater psychosocial development – they are able to move beyond resilience towards thriving, including a greater sense of individual and collective agency

Connect COCO LABS on social media :

Website

Adam Molyneux-Berry

CoCo Labs

Washington, DC,
United States.

My work has always been to create safe spaces to shift consciousness, activating people as changemakers, contributing to planetary wellbeing. In my coaching practice, using a multi-disciplinary approach, I work with leaders to support them in showing up as the best versions of themselves – accompanying them in their self-discovery of what moves them to be forces for positive change in the world. In my systems-level work, I work with changemakers across entire ecosystems, using Collaborative Innovation, Human Centred Design, Social Innovation and Social Impact methodologies to solve shared challenges and scale impact collectively. The combination of deep interpersonal work with leaders, and broad systemic impact across ecosystems is part of my theory of change: By working on our inner worlds and collaborating radically in our outer worlds, collective wellbeing is not only possible, it is inevitable. In my own journey, I have launched 10+ organisations – including SMEs, nonprofits and social businesses – 3 of which were launched during the Arab Spring. Having experienced the full-spectrum of leadership challenges, from personal and team burnout to systems-level collaborations during extreme uncertainty and volatility, I learned first-hand just what it takes to thrive individually and collectively, in the midst of complexity. Working across languages, cultures and generations in complex socio-political contexts has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my career. In 2014 I was awarded an Ashoka Fellowship for work I did during the Arab Spring – leveraging the Green Economy in the MENA region as a safe space for youth, government, private sector, civil society and academia to work together in rebuilding the region. My current focus the systems-change initiative, CoCo Labs, tasked with advancing equitable wellbeing for collective thriving.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Inner wellbeing for me is a combination of many things coming together. It includes integrating our mental, emotional, somatic, relational, and spiritual aspects. It also includes an ability to be present, self-aware and to meet our experience with gentle and kind awareness.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Harmony.

Are there any rituals or practices you use to enhance your wellbeing?

Meditation/sitting, qigong, inner relationship focusing, exercise, ritual, music, dance, poetry, connection, and community.

Why is it important that we prioritize individual, organizational and societal wellbeing?

To activate the most beneficial potential in our emerging future.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Connect with Adam Molyneux-Berry on social media :

CoCo Labs's website

Bilal Ghalib

Bloom.pm

Beirut, Lille, Detroit –
Lebanon, France, Michigan/USA

Bilal Ghalib is the co-founder and Head of Research at Bloom. He has 18 years of experience working with social enterprises and organizations in the USA and MENA. He helped found Bloom in 2016 with the vision of creating positive change by facilitating personal and professional development for social entrepreneurs in the Middle East and Africa. Bilal holds a Master’s degree from the Universite de Paris in Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research and Education. He applies his expertise at Bloom by conducting research and development on applied positive psychological frameworks for creating a community-oriented, online learning environment for startups. Furthermore, he manages team development, builds organizational partnerships, and co-facilitates online accelerator programs.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Inner wellbeing is a state of equanimity that arises from patience and acceptance of what is. It means to have the knowledge and skills to be able to take care of the challenges and stressors that life brings.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Balance.

Are there any rituals or practices you use to enhance your wellbeing?

Alongside meditation and journaling, I find that building rich and vulnerable friendships support my wellbeing.

Why is it important that we prioritize individual, organizational and societal wellbeing?

The ripple-down effects impact every level of society. Firstly healthy minds and hearts are their own reward. Secondly, there are many impacts from the reduction of stress leading to less costs of healthcare, to a person’s okness changing(reducing) their consumption patterns, to more effective teams, to confidence in choosing vocations which support a healthy person and a healthy planet. It seems wellbeing, where ever it manifests, is both the reward and the way to a more positive future.

Do you have any favourite books, podcasts, or articles that you believe support, promote, or educate on wellbeing and related themes? 

I loved the onbeing podcast. Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, the Quran. A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer. Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown. An Everyone Culture by Robert Kegan and many others

Connect with Bilal Ghalib on social media :

Personal website
Bloom's website

Voices of Wellbeing | Nadine Kaslow Voices of Wellbeing | Nadine Kaslow

“I use the Arts as a way to cope, to heal, and to flourish”

In this captivating episode of “Voices of Wellbeing,” join American psychologist Nadine Kaslow as she explores the transformative power of integrating dance and psychology to heal trauma, intergenerational trauma, and vicarious traumatization. Discover how Nadine, an Emory University professor, provides essential support to healthcare workers during the pandemic, finding a delicate balance between self-care and attending to the inner world.

Explore the profound impact of “Healing Through Arts” as Nadine utilizes art as a therapeutic tool to address intergenerational trauma stemming from experiences such as slavery, racism, and child abuse. Witness the power of artistic expression in helping individuals navigate their healing journey while fostering connections with others to bridge the gap between reality and a more just and equitable world.

Why Ljubljana?
Program
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David Simas

Managing Director, Research and Impact, Emerson Collective

David Simas is the Managing Director of Research and Impact at Emerson Collective, where he works to develop in-depth research projects and distributes findings and analysis in service of Emerson’s priorities including democracy, immigration, education, and climate.

A native of Taunton, Massachusetts, David was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in 2007. He then joined President Obama’s administration in 2009 as a Deputy Assistant to the President, working with senior advisors David Axelrod and David Plouffe. In 2012, he served as Director of Opinion Research for President Obama’s reelection campaign. Following the reelection, Mr. Simas returned to the White House as Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach. In 2016, President Obama selected Mr. Simas to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation. Mr. Simas holds a B.A. in political science from Stonehill College and a J.D. from Boston College Law School. He is the son of two Portuguese immigrants and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Shauna, and their two daughters.

Connect with the Emerson Collective on social media:

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Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller

Sound Installation Artists

Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller live and work in British Columbia, Canada. The artists are internationally recognized for their immersive multimedia sound installations and their audio/video walks. They have created recent video walks at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (2019), and for the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh (2019). Over the last few years, Janet and George have shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2019) Museum of Contemporary Art in Monterrey, Mexico (2019); Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (2018); 21st Century Museum, Kanazawa, Japan (2017); Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2017); ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark (2015); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2015); Menil Collection, Houston (2015); 19th Biennale of Sydney (2014); the Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2013); and Documents 13, Kassel (2012). In 2020 they were awarded the Wilhelm Lehmbruck prize for sculpture and in 2011 they received Germany’s Käthe Kollwitz Prize. In 2001, Cardiff and Miller represented Canada at the 49th Venice Biennale , for which they received the Premio Speciale and the Benesse Prize.

Click here to learn more about Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller.

Read on for an exclusive Q&A with Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller ahead of the Summit:

What does wellbeing mean to you?

Well-being is a state of mind that is essential to the healthy functioning of our whole body. I find that my own sense of well being is connected not only with treating my body and mind well but also by the action of creativity. Through playing in the studio I’m able to feel fuller and happier.

Why are you looking forward to being part of The Wellbeing Summit?

When creating monumental sculpture, I consider how our architectural surroundings influence and affect our state of mind.

How does your work connect to wellbeing?

We are creating an artwork that uses the concept of “voice toning”, a therapeutic practice where the natural vibrations of voices help to contribute to healing and well being. Our piece will play back a collection of “voice tones” creating a calming listening environment. Additionally, we will invite audience members to participate in the making of the piece over the course of the conference by adding their own “voice toning” that will then be mixed into the piece. We believe that creating as well as experiencing artworks contributes to wellbeing. In this piece we are excited that each audience member will be able to both experience the therapeutic elements of the artwork but also contribute their own voice to the wellbeing of others in the community.

Connect with Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller on social media :

Shruti Jayaraman

Chief Investments Officer, Chicago Beyond

Shruti Jayaraman is Chief Investments Officer at Chicago Beyond, a funder that invests in organizations, people and ideas towards all youth being free to live their fullest human potential. Beyond funding, our team works hand-in-hand with investments to deploy an array of resources. We have noticed that through this approach, rooted in humanness and mutual learning, what is possible grows.

Chicago Beyond has invested in holistic healing since our founding, ranging from collaboration with the city’s school system serving 350,000 young Chicagoans and the adults around them, to creating meaningful spaces to bring together children and their incarcerated parents, to telling one’s story through art to heal, to holistic health clinic, to 100 investments in healing during this pandemic. Chicago Beyond’s guidebook Why Am I Always Being Researched? has been used in all 50 states and more than 90 countries to shift practices around evidence in the social sector.

Shruti’s professional experience includes infrastructure construction and finance as a lawyer; launching one of the largest public hospital systems in the country’s Medicaid health plan; and forming strategy and new initiatives in diverse settings—Fortune 100 company, rural maternal-child clinic, municipal government, youth nonprofit, venture-backed startup.

Shruti holds a J.D. from the Yale Law School and an A.B. in History and Science from Harvard College. She is grateful for ancient wisdom and wellbeing practices, which have changed the course of her life.

Click here to find out more about Chicago Beyond.

Connect with Shruti Jayaraman on social media :

Bishop Dr. Chantel R. Wright

Choir director and Founder of Pneuma Ministries International

Bishop Dr. Chantel R. Wright is an internationally celebrated choir director and the founder of Pneuma Ministries International. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Chantel started her career as an award winning choral conductor and received her formal education at VanderCook College of Music where she earned her BA degree in Music Education. As part of her undergraduate studies, Chantel had the privilege of studying in London, England with Ian Pleeth and traveled throughout Europe as a soloist. She started her professional career in Atlanta, Georgia where she served on the music staff of Ebenezer Baptist Church — home of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and as an educator in Dekalb County Public Schools. After seven years of service, Chantel relocated to New York City and hit the ground running as the new Director of the Girls Choir of Harlem, as well as Minister of Music at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, New York. An honor celebrated by few women, Chantel lent her talents to working with the youth of Queens, New York as the Artistic Director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra Youth Gospel Choir.

Chantel gained valuable experience as an orchestral conductor, which then inspired her to establish her own non-profit organization, Songs of Solomon: An Inspirational Ensemble, Inc. Almost immediately, Songs of Solomon flourished and was soon featured on major television networks and went on to win at competitions including the Pathmark Gospel Choir Competitions and McDonald’s Gospelfest where it took home the 1st place prize. The Songs of Solomon ensemble also had the privilege of sharing the stage with American Idol winners, Kelly Clarkson and Fantasia Barrino, and served for five years at the US Tennis Open. Under Chantel’s leadership, The Songs of Solomon ensemble also performed with award winning recording artist, Elton John at Radio City Music Hall, sang with opera great, Jessye Norman at the Greenbrier Country Club. Jessye Norman was also the curator of the Honor Choral Music Festival conducted by Dr. Craig Jessop at the world famous Carnegie Hall, where today, the Ensemble is a mainstay. The ensemble has worked tirelessly over the past twenty years under Chantel’s guidance and has garnered national and international acclaim. Songs of Solomon was the featured chorus for the musical “Violet” on the Tony Awards. Songs of Solomon was selected to be a part of the inaugural Lip Sync Battle with Jimmy Fallon on network television. Having recently completing their recording project, “Variations of the War Cry,” Songs of Solomon is actively engaged across the United States and abroad as ambassadors of love.

Being totally committed to the spiritual, intellectual and artistic growth of today’s youth, Chantel knows that the only way to shape a generation of spirited, world class musicians is to work in conjunction with the education system. She then went on to establish The Songs of Solomon Academy for the Arts – an organization that directly serves New York City students in instrumental and vocal music appreciation. Since its inception, the program has given an impressive number of students from the Tri-State area, performance opportunities that rival professional artists around the world. The Academy maintained an artistic partnership with Professional Performing Arts School and the Harlem School of the Arts. As part of Chantel’s love for young people, she has also been actively involved in secured detention centers in the New York area and has continued to work with Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections project for youth in detention centers. Bishop Wright is a part of the Weil Institutes Music Educators Workshop, Founder of the Sight-singing Workshop at SAG/Aftra and is a part of the Metopolitan Opera’s education department. Chantel’s Songs of Solomon Academy for the Arts plans to implement The Sounds of Hope Chorale — a trial choral program aimed at fostering an appreciation for music and creating a safe haven for detained youth at Rikers Island and the Horizion detention center in Brooklyn, New York. After a successful trial run, Chantel hopes to roll out the program nationally.

Bishop Wright has been sought out as a choral clinician nationally and internationally. For two consecutive years as the choir master for the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe, South Africa, as well as the Roma Gospel Festival in Rome, Italy. Chantel is a mainstay at the Ithaca Gospel Music Festival. As an initiative for aspiring artist, the government of the island of Bermuda engaged Chantel to do a series of workshops and a culminating festival. Most recently, Bishop Wright served at the Fede Gospel Festival in Barcelona, Spain and the Coro Gospel Festival in Vigo Spain.

Dr. Chantel R. Wright holds a PhD in Theology and serves as a New York State Chaplain. Chantel is a recipient of the New York Times Teachers Who Matters Most Award, The Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble Community Service Award, and the Ephesus Seventh Day Adventist Community Service Award and is a member of the Riverside Club for Education.

Chantel remains committed to building a literate music community, and also lends her time to the vocal music department of the Steinhardt School of Music at the New York University since 2008. Moreover, she serves young people nationally and internationally through the arts organization partnerships, her uncompromised passion to see humanity win.

The highest calling in her life is to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a licensed and ordained Bishop, within the Christ Centered Ministries Assembly. Bishop Wright has established Pneuma Ministries, International where peoples’ lives are being changed. She was anointed by the late Kenneth H. Moales Sr. and opened the church and preached her first sermon simultaneously. In addition to her work in Harlem, she is a minister for the nations with the Wednesday night Pentecost Service where worshipers from all over the world converge for a blessing from God. She is a Choral Union president of the Thomas Dorsey National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses where she is on the national board of directors, and can also be found on WLIB as the host of “The Hour of Power.”

Bishop Chantel R. Wright resides in New York City.