World Happiness Summit 2025

Dr. Arthur C. Brooks

Arthur C. Brooks is the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Public and Nonprofit Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership, happiness, and social entrepreneurship. He is also a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular weekly “How to Build a Life” column. Brooks is the author of 13 books, including the 2022 #1 New York Times bestseller From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life and the 2023 #1 New York Times bestseller Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier with co-author Oprah Winfrey. He speaks to audiences all around the world about human happiness, and works to raise well-being within private companies, universities, public agencies, and community organizations.

Dr. Laurie Santos

Psychologist Dr. Laurie Santos is an expert on human cognition, its origins, and the evolutionary biases that influence our all-too imperfect life choices. She is also knowledgeable in how behavioral change through positive psychology can lead to a happy and fulfilling life.

Currently the big project of Dr. Santos is to positively influence the culture of Yale University by teaching happiness and well-being. She created a course so meaningful that it became the most popular class taken at Yale in over 316 years.

In her course, Psychology and the Good Life, Santos teaches her 1200 students about behavioral change through positive psychology. Dr. Santos wants her students to be more grateful, procrastinate less and increase social connections. She believes that those positive habits will decrease mental health issues on campus and create happier and more motivated students.

From her research, Santos speaks to how we are biologically programmed to be motivated by sex, to be deeply influenced by other people — and to repeat our mistakes. And while Santos often uses subjects from the animal kingdom to help explain our sometimes-illogical behaviors, she also provides advice on how to engage our uniquely human faculties to counteract evolution, choose more wisely, and live happier lives.

Dr. Santos was appointed Head of Silliman College on July 1, 2016 to a five year term. She is a professor of Psychology at Yale University, where she serves as Director of the Comparative Cognition Laboratory as well as the Canine Cognition Center, a research facility that studies how dogs think about the world. She teaches one of Yale’s most popular undergraduate courses, Sex, Evolution, and Human Nature. She obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University.

Her numerous awards for science, teaching, and mentorship include the Stanton Prize from the Society for Philosophy and Psychology for outstanding contributions to interdisciplinary research.

Dr. EMMA SEPPÄLÄ

EMMA SEPPÄLÄ, Ph.D., is an international keynote speaker, research scientist, and author whose book The Happiness Track (HarperOne, 2016) has been translated into dozens of languages. She is currently a Lecturer at the Yale School of Management and Faculty Director of the Yale School of Management’s Women’s Leadership Program. She is also the Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. 

Seppälä’s expertise is positive leadership, emotional intelligence, positive psychology, and social connection. Her research has been published in top academic journals and featured in major news outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and CBSNews. 

Seppälä speaks and consults internationally for Fortune 500 companies like Google and Facebook and contributes to Harvard Business Review, The Washington Post, Psychology Today, and TIME among others. She has also spoken at several TEDx events. 

A repeat guest on Good Morning America, her research on breathing for military veterans with trauma was highlighted in the documentary Free the Mind. She is also featured in documentaries like The Altruism Revolution, What You Do Matters, and Bullied. 

Seppälä is the recipient of a number of research grants and service awards including the James W. Lyons Award from Stanford University for founding Stanford’s first academic class on the psychology of happiness and initiating other well-being programs for Stanford students. 

She graduated from Yale (BA), Columbia (MA), and Stanford (Ph.D.). Originally from Paris, France, she is a native speaker of French, English, and German and conversant in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

Karen Guggenheim

Karen Guggenheim is a pioneer in the global happiness movement, a leader in promoting the science behind wellbeing to an international audience, and a motivational speaker inspiring people about how to grow post trauma and rebuild a life focused on meaning, purpose, and happiness. She the creative force behind the World Happiness Summit®, the leading wellbeing conference promoting the benefits of an evidence-based approach to increase happiness in all areas of life. She is also CEO of WOHASU®, the comprehensive wellbeing ecosystem named after the Summit that is inspiring a fast-growing movement sending a positive rippling effect around the world.

In 2016 after personal tragedy, Karen drastically altered her career path and invested her time, talent, and treasure to create WOHASU®, a global wellbeing brand fostering a movement for optimism, positivity, resilience, happiness, and community. Her first book will be published by Rizzoli in March 2023 in Italy.

Karen produces the annual World Happiness Summit; a 3-day event that unites the world’s leading experts in the science of happiness and wellbeing with a global audience to learn practical tools for a happier life. Along with fellow experts, she has also develop unique trainings like the WOHASU/Florida International University Chief Happiness Officer Certification, the only CHO program in the world certified by a university.

At heart, Karen is a creator and storyteller who focuses on cultivating the global happiness movement to foster connection, highlight our shared humanity, and acknowledge that the route to happiness often requires us to travel through considerable pain and trauma. She shares her own compelling story to weave these concepts through a real-world lens that moves and inspires audiences and helps them figure out how to activate these ideas into practices for a happier life.

A popular speaker, happiness educator and community builder, Karen’s mission is to make a case for happiness by highlighting the opportunities for win-win scenarios created by learning and implementing evidence-based tools and policies that make people, organizations, and communities thrive. Under her leadership, WOHASU® LLC was awarded with the “Key of the City of Miami” by the Miami Mayor and the members of the Miami City Commission.

Jim Clifton

 Jim Clifton is the Chairman of Gallup, a global analytics and advice firm. Jim served as the organization’s CEO from 1988 until 2022. Under his leadership as CEO, Gallup expanded from a predominantly U.S.-based company to a worldwide organization with 30 offices in 20 countries and regions.

Jim is the creator of The Gallup Path, a metric-based economic model that establishes the linkages among human nature in the workplace, customer engagement and business outcomes. This model is used in performance management systems in more than 500 companies worldwide. Another of his innovations, the Gallup World Poll, gives the world’s 7 billion citizens a voice on virtually all key global issues.

In June 2015, the Clifton Foundation and Gallup announced a $30 million gift to the University of Nebraska to establish the Don Clifton Strengths Institute. The gift supports the early identification and accelerated development of thousands of gifted entrepreneurs and future business builders.

Jim is the author of The Wall Street Journal bestseller, Culture Shock. Released in 2023, the book offers Gallup’s solution to the biggest leadership issue of our time. He is also author of The Wall Street Journal bestseller, Wellbeing at Work, as well as the The Wall Street Journal No. 1 bestseller, It’s the Manager, the bestseller, Born to Build, and The Coming Jobs War. He has also authored many articles on global leadership. His blog appears regularly in the influencer section of LinkedIn and on the Gallup.com Chairman’s Blog.

Jim serves on several boards, including the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Chairman of the Dr. N. Joyce Payne Center for Social Justice. He has received honorary degrees from Medgar Evers, Jackson State and Bellevue Universities. He is also a distinguished visiting professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. Mr. Clifton lives and works in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Sue Varma

DR. SUE VARMA is a distinguished psychiatrist and cognitive behavioral therapist based in New York City. With over two decades of private practice experience, Dr. Varma has made significant contributions to the field of mental health, including serving as the pioneering Medical Director and Psychiatrist for the esteemed 9/11 mental health program at NYU for which she was awarded the Mayoral Proclamation. Alongside her clinical work, Dr. Varma holds the position of Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health where she teaches and is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Distinguished Fellow- the highest honor bestowed upon its members. Dr. Varma is a recipient of two Sharecare Emmy Awards and the Ivan Goldberg Award for Outstanding Service for her work as a keynote speaker and nationally acclaimed medical contributor discussing breaking news on shows including the Today Show, CBS Mornings, GMA, Nightly News. Her advice has been featured in the Washington Post, Time Magazine, NY Times, the Associated Press, and she has given over 2000 interviews across platforms on mental health. She was recognized as one of the world’s top five leading health experts by Global Citizen for her contributions during the pandemic. She is the author of the book, twice featured in the NY Times, Practical Optimism: The Art, Science and Practice of Exceptional Well-Being-now being translated in 10 languages and counting with rave reviews. According to   Publishers Weekly , Practical Optimism  is “Studded with catchy pearls of wisdom (‘Our self-worth exists simply because we do’), this can-do guide uplifts.” Dr. Varma recently kicked off Mental Health Awareness Month at Asia Society in New York City in conversation with US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy and continues spreading practical optimism in talks nationwide- to corporations, hospitals, schools and beyond.

TJ Abrams

TJ Abrams is the Vice President, Global Wellbeing at Hyatt Hotels. He currently leads a cross-functional team with P&L accountability for developing and driving the commercialization of wellbeing products and experiences. In this role he also serves as the co-chair of Hyatt’s Global Wellbeing Steering Committee.

Prior to joining Hyatt, he served as the Chief Marketing Officer for Exos, a high-growth human performance company long known for its work with elite athletes and 30% of Fortune 100 companies. At Exos he transformed the marketing organization from B2B to a B2B2C company with a 360 brand refresh and campaign (Greatness is a Team Sport) and record-setting performance of digital experiences amongst other accomplishments.

Before Exos, he was the Head of Global Brand Strategy and Performance for Holiday Inn at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) where he was accountable for multi-billion dollar brand growth in 80 countries around the world. While at IHG, TJ worked across the Mainstream hotel portfolio leading IHG’s biggest brand campaigns including the Holiday Inn “We’re There” Masterbrand campaign and launching growth brands, avid hotels and Atwell Suites.

He also has experience working in marketing at The Coca-Cola Company as a brand leader across the Sparkling portfolio in both Global and US roles of increasing responsibility, and at Lowe’s Home Improvement where he built the initial multicultural marketing consumer strategy in early 2000’s.

TJ is a standout people leader and company executive in every organization he serves. At IHG he led one of the company’s largest ERG’s and served on the executive Diversity & Inclusion Board. At Coca-Cola he led MBA recruiting amongst many other activities.

TJ has been named a Top 50 CMO Innovating the Business World by Forbes and a 40 Under 40 leader by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and MBA with a concentration in marketing from Duke University.

Prof. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve is a Belgian economist and professor at the University of Oxford where he directs the Wellbeing Research Centre. He is best known for his research on the economics of wellbeing which has led to new insights into the relationship between wellbeing and income, productivity, economic growth, and inequality. De Neve is also an editor of the World Happiness Report. His research was selected among “The Management Ideas that Mattered Most” by Harvard Business Review and he was awarded the inaugural Ruut Veenhoven Award for his contributions to the scientific study of happiness. He is a frequent advisor to governments and businesses, including Gallup, Unilever, and jobs site Indeed, as well as start-ups such as Psychological Technologies and Butterfly AI. Jan obtained his PhD from the London School of Economics and was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University. His research and commentary regularly feature in the media, including in The Economist, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, and on the BBC. He is a frequent speaker at academic and non-academic conferences, including at PopTech and TED.

Dr. Garth Graham, M.D., M.P.H. FACC

A cardiologist, researcher and public health expert, Garth Graham previously served in two US administrations as US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, and was Assistant Dean for Health Policy and Chief of Health Services Research in the department of medicine at the University of Florida School of Medicine. Most recently, he served as President of the Aetna Foundation as well as Vice President & Chief Community Health Officer at CVS Health. He currently sits on several boards, including the Advisory Council to the Director of the NIH,  the Institute of Medicine Board on Population Health, and the board of the National Quality Forum. 

An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Garth obtained his MD at Yale University School of Medicine, MPH at Yale School of Public Health, Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. He holds three board certifications including internal medicine, cardiology and interventional cardiology. He also holds an honorary doctorate of laws from Regis College &  an honorary doctorate from Eastern Virginia Medical School. In 2021, the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine inaugurated the Garth N. Graham Distinguished Lectureship Award, which spotlights trail blazers who are leading the creation and advancement of health equity.

Mariangel Maldonado

Mariangel is a strong and passionate advocate for wellbeing in the workplace. A curious mind and soul  that follows an integrative and holistic approach to health. Bringing in years of experience in both clinical and organizational psychology she leads Booking.com’s wellbeing strategy that includes physical, mental, emotional, social and financial health, with a lense of identity and intersectionality at its core. Aiming is to create a healthier work environment, reduce the stigma around mental health, and foster a more inclusive culture for everyone.

Dr. Dan Tomasulo

Dr. Tomasulo is the academic director/core faculty member at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI), Teachers College, Columbia University, and honored with their 2021 Teaching Award. He holds a Ph.D. in psychology, an MFA in writing, and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Review Editor for Frontiers in Psychology, on Positive Psychology, and The Journal of Positive Psychology.  He is the author of the best-selling book Learned Hopefulness and recently co-authored with Dr. Ryan Niemiec, Character Strengths and Abilities Within Disabilities: Advances in Science and Practice. He received the prestigious 2024 Gardner Award for his work applying positive psychology and psychodrama with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. His screenplay adaptation of his award-winning memoir, American Snake Pit, has won over 40 screenplay contests.

Photo credit: Nono Judit Sipos | Nonoartphotography

Jodi Wellman

I am a leading authority on living lives worth living. As a speaker, researcher, and author, I help people live squander-free lives while they’re lucky enough to still be above ground — while cleverly beginning with the “big end” in mind. I named my business Four Thousand Mondays because it shines the light on the finite number of weeks we have to live like we mean it. 

I have a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where I am an Assistant Instructor in the Master’s program and a trainer in the world-renowned Penn Resilience Program. Through my research I created a model that helps people learn the interplay of living wider (with vitality) and deeper (with meaning) to truly live life to its fullest. 

As a certified coach with 25 years of corporate leadership experience, I have coached hundreds of companies, teams, leaders, and individuals over thousands of hours to “carpe diem” at an advanced level of certification through the International Coach Federation.

My book, You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets, made Adam Grant’s Summer Reading List and is a Next Big Idea Club must-read. My TEDx talk is called How Death Can Bring You Back to Life; with over 1.3 million views, it is the 14th most-watched TEDx talk released in 2022, out of 15,900.