David Feinstein

Innersource

Ashland, Oregon,
United States.

DAVID FEINSTEIN, Ph.D., is a pioneer in developing innovative therapeutic approaches, leading to nine national awards for his books on consciousness and healing. A licensed clinical psychologist, he has served as an Instructor in Psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and as an Associate Professor of Psychology at Antioch College. He is a recipient of the Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award, the U.S.A. Book News Best Psychology/Mental Health Book Award of 2007, the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) Outstanding Contribution Award (2002, 2012), and the Canadian Association for Integrative and Energy Therapies’ 2015 Outstanding Leadership Award. David and Donna were honored by the Infinity Foundation as the first couple to receive its annual “Spirit Award” for their contribution to “the evolution of consciousness” and its “impact on society.”

To learn more about David’s work with energy psychology, visit www.EnergyPsychEd.com.

What does inner wellbeing mean to you?

Peace, clarity, and purpose.

How would you define wellbeing in one word?

Relationship.

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

Tuning inward, taking care of business, and prioritizing relationships.

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

So the culture can thrive.

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

Too many to mention, yet none are complete. The Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals a lot.

Eden Method's 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.

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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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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.

Dr. Barry Kerzin

American physician and Buddhist monk

Dr. Barry Kerzin is an American physician and Buddhist monk. He serves as a personal physician to the 14th Dalai Lama, along with treating people in the local community.

He has written Tibetan Buddhist Prescription for Happiness, and with the Dalai Lama and Professor Tonagawa, Mind and Matter: Dialogue between Two Nobel Laureates. He has also written Nagarjuna’s Wisdom: A Guide to Practice, Compassion-Bridging Practice and Science and No Fear No Death: The Transformative Power of Compassion.

Barry Kerzin is an ADJUNCT PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, a Visiting Professor at Central University of Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, India, an Honorary Professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and a former Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington.

Barry is a fellow at the Mind and Life Institute and consults for the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig on compassion training. He is the founder and president of the Altruism in Medicine Institute (AIMI) and the founder and chairman of the Human Values Institute (HVI) in Japan.

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Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr

Educator, author and political commentator

Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., is an educator, author, political commentator, and public intellectual who examines the complex dynamics of the human experience. His writings, including “Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul”, “In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America”, and his most recent, the New York Times bestseller, “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for our Own”, takes an exhaustive look at Black communities and the democratic challenges we face. He is also a former president of the American Academy of Religion, with a number of best-selling books published on religion and philosophy. He is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies, on the Morehouse College Board of Trustees, an MSNBC contributor and a columnist for TIME Magazine. Combining a scholar’s knowledge of history, a political commentator’s take on the latest events, and an activist’s passion for social justice, Glaude challenges all of us to examine our collective conscience.

Connect with Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr on social media :

Jennifer Woodlard

Georgetown University

Connect with Jennifer Woodlard on social media :

A Professor of psychology and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University, Jennifer Woolard began her career at the National Victims Resource Center. While obtaining her doctoral degree in developmental and community psychology at the University of Virginia she also served as a victim-witness volunteer in the county police department, a staff member to the Virginia Commission on Family Violence Prevention, and a consultant with Virginians Against Domestic Violence (now Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance) . She then joined the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice and became an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s Center for Studies in Criminology and Law. In 2002 she joined the psychology faculty at Georgetown University. Her research and action laboratory, the Georgetown Community Research Group, studies individual and family experiences with systems of care and control in order to create fair, effective, and just legal processes. Projects examine how youth and parents understand the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and the right to a trial. Her lab is the evaluation partner for the Youth In Custody Practice Model initiative, which helps juvenile correctional institutions implement evidence-informed and developmentally-appropriate practices. Dr. Woolard has testified as an expert before federal and state legislatures as well as in juvenile and criminal cases. She has presented her research findings to a wide variety of academic, legal, and policy audiences, and won several awards for teaching excellence, including the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She currently serves as chair of the Psychology Department.