About

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring the mind, creativity, and the depths of human potential. Formerly Scientific Director of the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Kaufman is founder and director of the Center for Human Potential. He is also a certified positive psychology coach and founder of self-actualization coaching.

Dr. Kaufman is author and/or editor of 10 books, including Choose Growth (with Jordyn Feingold), Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Wired to Create: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire), Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, and Twice Exceptional: Supporting and Educating Bright and Creative Students with Learning Difficulties. He also hosts The Psychology Podcast— the #1 psychology podcast in the world, with over 20 million downloads.

In addition to his work with the Center for Human Potential, Dr. Kaufman is also an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Wellbeing Science. He has taught courses on intelligence, cognitive science, creativity, and well-being at Columbia University, Yale, NYU, and UPenn, and he earned a P.h.D. in cognitive psychology at Yale University and an M.Phil in experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge under a Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

In 2015, he was named one of “50 Groundbreaking Scientists who are changing the way we see the world” by Business Insider.

FACULTY AND COACH

Lisa Sansom is the owner of LVS Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps to build positive and effective organizations. In these roles, Lisa shares positive psychology tools and techniques with her clients through speaking, corporate training, consulting and coaching. Her clients come from a variety of industries including finance, education, technology, government, law, not-for-profit and health care.

Lisa has been working in Organizational Development, Leadership Development and Change Management since 2000 and she is a certified coach at the PCC level, working with leaders and aspiring leaders as well as high-performing teams. Lisa has also written several articles for magazines and online publications.

Lisa obtained her MBA from the Rotman School of Management, and earned her coaching accreditation from Adler International Learning / OISE-UT. In addition, she holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Waterloo and a Bachelor of Education from Brock University. She completed her MAPP (Master of Applied Positive Psychology) from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, one of the first five Canadians to do so. She is a founding Board member of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association, has presented at the International Positive Psychology Association’s World Congress four times and is the co-Chair of the practice review committee for the 2017, 2019 and 2021 World Congress on Positive Psychology.

Lisa’s LinkedIn profile is available at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisasansom/

You can learn more about Lisa from her website at https://www.lvsconsulting.com/about-lisa/

FACULTY AND COACH

Jordana Cole is an igniter of leadership and team potential. As a global learning & development leader, leadership development facilitator, certified coach, and applied improviser, Jordana has designed and led programs, workshops, courses, teambuilding sessions, and coaching engagements for thousands of individuals around the globe. Her organizational background includes non-profits, higher education, SAAS technology, financial services, and e-commerce.

Jordana is an alumna of the University of Pennslyvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program and has served as an assistant instructor for undergraduate and graduate courses related to positive organizations and human strengths & resilience. Jordana is also certified as a Gallup Strengths Coach and as a facilitator of Inside Out Coaching, the Kevin Eikenberry Group’s From Bud to Boss curriculum, and Fierce Conversations.

As a coach, Jordana helps individuals understand themselves and others on a deeper level to create stronger relationships and thriving environments at work and at home. Through a strengths based approach that incorporates compassionate curiosity, accountability, and a dash of humor, she helps those she coaches translate their goals into meaningful action and impact.

FACULTY AND COACH

Joshua Steinfeldt holds a Masters Degree in Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania where he pioneered research into the role of courage in coaching under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a leading authority in positive psychology coaching. Deeply interested in how contemplative practices and modern science can support people in thriving, he leverages his experiences as a meditation teacher, his training in positive psychology, and his work as a coach to create transformative learning experiences. Joshua has served as an Assistant Instructor in Positive Psychology at UPenn, a Fellow at Compassion Institute, a mindfulness teacher at UCLA, and for nearly 5 years managed the coach community at BetterUp (the largest digital coaching startup in the world) – helping to grow the community from 1,200 to 3,000+ professional coaches in over 70 countries. Prior to BetterUp Joshua attained over 5,000 hours of coaching experience, and trained hundreds of coaches as a faculty member of ICF accredited coach training programs. His podcast, The Courageous Life, which features world-renowned thought leaders is a deep and authentic conversation about what matters most in life, work and love. For more: www.joshuasteinfeldt.com

FACULTY AND CHIEF POSITIVE MEDICINE OFFICER

Jordyn Feingold, MD, MSCR, MAPP is a resident physician in psychiatry, researcher, and positive psychology practitioner & teacher, working to bring the work of self-actualization and transcendence to patients and clinicians everywhere! She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania for both her undergraduate studies Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) and received her Medical Doctorate and Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is co-founder of Thrive-Rx, an online well-being course for clinicians, PEERS: Practice Enhancement, Engagement, Resilience, and Support, a trainee well-being curriculum, and teaches around the world on Positive Medicine. Jordyn’s clinical interests involve treating the mind-body and the reciprocal mental and physical health of patients with gut-brain dysregulation.

FACULTY, COACH, AND CHIEF PERFORMANCE COACH

Krista Stryker is an author, entrepreneur, and self-actualization coach specializing in physical and mental fitness.

Krista believes that everyone has untapped potential – and has made it her life's mission to help uncover it. As a coach, she focuses on helping people grow as individuals in order to be their best selves, relying on the latest science-based tools and interventions emerging from the study of positive psychology and self-actualization to facilitate the process. She gets immense joy especially from helping people find personal transformation through movement and exercise.

As an entrepreneur, Krista has built apps and programs used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide – and is deeply passionate about helping to build world-class, universally accessible products and services that empower the masses to develop essential self-actualization skills and work toward their full potential. She graduated from Lewis & Clark College – and is wholeheartedly committed to lifelong learning.

Krista is excited to be on the founding faculty of the Center for Human Potential, where she focuses on helping to translate the center's scientific core into opportunities to empower people everywhere.

You can find her online at 12minuteathlete.com and @12minuteathlete.

FACULTY, COACH, AND CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER

A leadership and performance specialist Clare helps organizations to intentionally pursue both human wellness and performance for exponential flourishing.

Former Head of Client Experience and Head Coach at The Flow Research Collective, Clare has worked alongside hundreds of CEOs from global corporations to nurture high-flow teams and cultures. A skilled facilitator and coach, she has worked with executives, military veterans, surgeons, special forces, police departments, thought leaders, hedge fund managers and serial entrepreneurs world-wide.

Clare is an expert in training flow-state and passionate about transforming human wellness by developing whole humans. She designs systems of transformation that have the power to make meaningful organizational change at scale. Her approach is human led and purpose driven underpinned by cognitive neuroscience, humanistic psychology and adaptive leadership principles.

Clare is completing a Doctorate in Business Leadership focused on how to lead during this genuine water-shed moment where organizations have an opportunity to reset their purpose to drive a more equitable and inclusive good society.

Previously Clare held executive positions at design and consulting firms in the field of global brand strategy and culture change and holds a Bachelor of Communications and Masters of Arts Administration & Cultural Policy from the renowned Goldsmiths College in London.

COACH

As a speaker, teacher, and strengths-based performance coach, Daniel Lerner is an expert in positive and performance psychologies.

His key theme is that developing a healthy psychological state has a profound impact on the pursuit of excellence—a message that he brings to students, established and high-potential performing artists and athletes, and executives at Fortune 500 companies and startups worldwide.

Lerner is a faculty member at NYU, is on the teaching staff in the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania, and guest lectures regularly at universities across the country. “The Science of Happiness,” a course that he has co-taught to over 7000 students for the past nine years with Dr. Alan Schlechter, is currently the largest and most popular non-required offering at New York University, in great part due to the positive changes that students report throughout the semester.

Following a decade at International Creative Management (where he specialized in the representation and development of young performers) and at 21C Media Group (where he was a co-founder and the director of artist development), Lerner studied closely with renowned sports psychologist Dr. Nathaniel Zinsser—a Director of The Center for Enhanced Performance at the United States Military Academy at West Point—focusing on coaching and performance enhancement techniques employed by professional and Olympic athletes. He holds a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and his book U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life), was released in Spring 2017 by Little, Brown, and Company.

COACH

Cory is a former monk, mindfulness teacher, and international speaker on the topics of presence and wellbeing. He has taught Mindful Leadership at Columbia University, is an instructor of Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and for the last ten years has offered mindfulness workshops and retreats around the world. Named by Dr. Oz as one of the nation’s leading experts on mindfulness, his meditations have been heard more than 15 million times in over 100 countries. Cory is host of the Practicing Human podcast, head of mindfulness at Mindfulness.com, and author of the bestselling book, Stop Missing Your Life: How to Be Deeply Present in an Un-Present World. You can learn about his work at www.corymuscara.com and follow his teachings on Instagram at www.Instagram.com/corymuscara

COACH

Emily Esfahani Smith is the author of The Power of Meaning, an international bestseller.

Smith draws on the latest research in human development and positive psychology to help people find more meaning and purpose in their lives, develop richer relationships, and meet the challenges of life with courage, grace, and resilience.

Smith's coaching style embraces the power of storytelling. She wants to hear your story and believes in the power of narrative to change people's lives for the better.

Smith's articles about psychology and culture have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. Her TED talk, "There's More to Life Than Being Happy," has been viewed over 10 million times.

Smith received her master’s degree in positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Catholic University.

CHIEF POSITIVE PRODUCT DESIGN OFFICER

Courtney Bigony is the creator of Positive Product Design, a new method for developing positive technology, and the Human Potential Index, the most complete measure of human potential, which she co-created with Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman. Used together, they allow tech designers to measurably unlock human potential through technology. She studied with Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, and holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She was named a 2019 Workforce Game Changer by Workforce Magazine, and has contributed pieces featured in Forbes and Huffington Post. In addition to Positive Product Design, she’s passionate about developing a new theory of Positive Masculinity and Positive Sexuality.

CHIEF E-LEARNING CONSULTANT

For over 24 years Joanne has been creating and delivering award-winning eLearning. Always on the cutting edge of the latest tricks, tools, and methodologies, Joanne prides herself in creating engaging and result-driven content. An Adobe Captivate Expert and Trainer, she has hosted webinars for Adobe, but also uses all rapid eLearning tools and delivery methods.

Having to overcome a Motor Vehicle accident in which she sustained a brain injury, Joanne became interested in neuroscience and how the brain functions and learns. Her approach to learning changed to accommodate the new science which in turn has now led her down the path of completing a diploma in positive psychology and recently the completion of Dr Scott Barry Kaufman’s Transcend! course.

HONORARY FELLOW

School, and an adjunct professor of leadership at New York University. He holds a board-certified coach designation (BCC) with over 1000 hours of executive coaching experience with mid-level and C-suite executives across the globe.

An expert in the field of organizational and leadership development since 1995, Dr. Hull has worked with leading multi-national companies in the US, Asia, and Europe, both as a senior management team member and as a consultant. He has worked on strategic projects with Fortune 100 and global organizations in a wide range of industries, including health care, media, financial services, technology, pharmaceuticals, advertising and education.

Dr. Hull holds a BA degree, Magna Cum Laude, in philosophy from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He holds an MBA in organizational psychology from the University of Maryland and has done post-graduate work in psychology at Columbia University. He also holds a Ph.D. in depth/clinical psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California.

An accomplished researcher, writer and speaker, Dr. Hull has written two books, and published in a wide range of business, leadership and organizational psychology journals including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Coaching World, International Journal of Analytical Psychology, The San Francisco Jung Institute Journal, Parenting Press, Personal Excellence and the Huffington Post.

His second book, “FLEX: The Art and Science of Leadership in a Changing World,” published by Penguin Random House, was named by Forbes as “one of the top 20 business books of 2019”. He can be reached at www.jeffreyhull.com

HONORARY FELLOW

Dr Lindsay G. Oades PhD is an internationally acclaimed wellbeing public policy strategist, researcher and author. As Director and Professor at the Centre for Wellbeing Science (formerly known as the Centre for Positive Psychology) at The University of Melbourne (Australia's #1 University), he leads a growing and dynamic team of researchers and educators who promote and investigate how people learn to improve wellbeing, in education, health, organisations and communities. As a sought after speaker, known to provoke thought, he has given keynote or invited presentations in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. . In 2013 he was awarded an Australian Government citation for outstanding contribution to student learning.

HONORARY FELLOW

Dr Peggy Kern is an associate professor at the Centre for Wellbeing Science within the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education. Originally trained in social, personality, and developmental psychology, Dr Kern received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Arizona State University, a Masters and Ph.D. in social/personality psychology from the University of California, Riverside, and postdoctoral training in positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on understanding, measuring, and supporting wellbeing across the lifespan. She works with schools and workplaces to examine strategies for supporting wellbeing, bridging gaps between research and practice. She has published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles and chapters, 3 books, and 1 co-edited handbook. You can find out more about Dr Kern's work at www.peggykern.org

HONORARY FELLOW

Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Ivcevic studies the role of emotion and emotional intelligence in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote emotion and creativity skills at work in everyday life. She is Associate Editor of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, and the International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving. She collaborated with colleagues from Denmark, Spain, China, France, Germany, and Croatia and published her research in journals such as Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Personality, Applied Cognitive Psychology, Creativity Research Journal, Journal of Creative Behavior and others. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, ArtNet, US News, Education Week, Science Daily, El Pais, and others, and she is a regular blogger for Psychology Today and Creativity Post. Dr. Ivcevic received the Award for Excellence in Research from the Mensa Education and Research Foundation and the Berlyne Award for Outstanding Early Career Achievement in psychology of aesthetics, creativity, and the arts from the American Psychological Association. Follow at zoranaivcevicpringle.com and @ZoranaPsych.