What does it look like to be accountable to ourselves and others as we work toward healing and repair in our schools and communities?

Join us for an interactive presentation with Lauren Trout, Senior Program Associate with WestEd’s Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities team, whose work centers on reimagining education as a space for justice, belonging, and collective care. Facilitated by Amy L. Eva, Ph.D., Associate Director of Education at the Greater Good Science Center, this gathering invites us to explore how accountability and forgiveness are skill sets that can help us move beyond blame to foster healing, repair, and stronger relationships in schools and communities.

Together, we will:

• Explore the intersections of forgiveness and accountability through a restorative lens

• Identify the conditions that make meaningful accountability possible

• Introduce practical skills that support accountability while cultivating forgiveness and repair

In moments when conflict and hurt feel all too present, this session offers tools for navigating accountability in ways that are constructive, courageous, and restorative. Made for educators and open to all, attendees will walk away with concrete strategies to help individuals and communities transform conflict into connection and growth.

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

Join New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Breheny Wallace and Ethan Kross for a timely conversation on mattering at work in the age of AI. As artificial intelligence reshapes our workplaces, Jennifer explores a vital question: how do we ensure people still feel valued, needed, and significant when machines can outperform us? Drawing on years of research and reporting for her forthcoming book Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose, Jennifer shows why mattering—feeling valued and having the opportunity to add value—is not a “soft” concept, but a fundamental human need and a strategic imperative for organizations navigating technological change. This session offers practical insights for building workplaces where technology amplifies—not replaces—human contribution, and where every employee feels empowered to create cultures of mattering for one another.

About Jennifer:

Jennifer Breheny Wallace is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. Her first book, Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic — And What We Can Do About It, was a New York Times bestseller and an Amazon Best Book of the Year. Her forthcoming book, Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose, will be published by Penguin Random House in 2026.
Wallace is the founder of The Mattering Institute and co-founder of The Mattering Movement, a national nonprofit advancing mattering practices in K–12 schools. She serves on the Advisory Board for Making Caring Common at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was a guest lecturer for NYU’s Fall 2025 course, Education, Mattering, and the American Dream.
A maternal mental health advocate at Calm, Wallace also consults for Netflix, is a BCG BrightHouse Luminary, and has partnered with The LEGO Group on its global “Play Unstoppable” campaign, addressing perfectionism and fostering confidence through play. Wallace began her journalism career at CBS’s 60 Minutes, where she was part of a team awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism. She contributes to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and frequently appears on national television to discuss her work.
She serves on the board of the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City, where she lives with her family.

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

A troubling trend is emerging in today’s workplace: employee morale and overall satisfaction are in sharp decline, despite companies investing more in wellness initiatives than ever before. What’s missing? Contrary to popular beliefs and large investments from companies, “add-on” offerings like wellness classes, mindfulness training, and healthy lifestyle initiatives are not perceived as helpful for improving employee wellness. Many organizations misunderstand wellness―it’s not a program or a box to check. Instead, employees’ actual day-to-day experiences at work and interactions with their leaders are far more important than wellness programs or initiatives. 

Learn about a science-backed blueprint for fostering healthier, more productive work environments rooted in actionable steps for leaders to become “Generators”―the leaders organizations and employees value most who cultivate genuine connections, create a positive team culture, and help employees achieve their work and life goals. Gain a clear, data-driven path forward and a concrete plan to turn the session’s insights into action―to become the Generators you and others have the potential to be.

About Sawyer:

Dr. Katina Sawyer is an internationally recognized expert on the science of workplace wellness. She is the co-author of Leading for Wellness: How to Create a Team Culture Where Everyone Thrives and co-host of the Leading for Wellness podcast, which brings research-backed insights to people passionate about building thriving workplaces. As co-founder of Workr Beeing, Dr. Sawyer is on a mission to make evidence-based wellness strategies accessible to employees everywhere. 

A TEDx speaker and a thought leader featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, and other major outlets, Dr. Sawyer has delivered hundreds of presentations to audiences around the world. Her expertise has also been showcased on both local and national news, where she brings clarity and inspiration to conversations about what it takes to foster wellbeing at work. 

Dr. Sawyer is also an award-winning researcher and an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters — which focus on leadership, employee flourishing, and organizational culture — many of which have been published in top journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology and Administrative Science Quarterly. Katina has received over 15 national research and teaching awards, including the SIOP Early Career Award for Humanistic I-O Psychology, the University of Michigan’s Positive Organizational Scholarship Publication of the Year, and Philadelphia’s 40 Under 40 distinction. 

Through her Psychology Today blog, her “Leading for Wellness” podcast, and her company Workr Beeing, Dr. Sawyer is widely recognized as a bridge-builder between science and practice — empowering individuals and organizations to create cultures where everyone can thrive.

The Positive Links Speaker Series, presented by Michigan Ross’ Center for Positive Organizations, offers inspiring and practical science-based strategies to build and bolster thriving organizations. Attendees learn from leading positive organizational scholars and connect with our community of academics, students, staff, and leaders. 

Hosted by Monica Worline, Faculty Director, Center for Positive Organizations. 

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone

UC San Diego’s Center for Compassionate Communication proudly presents the Spring 2026 Compassionate Communication Virtual Workshop Series

This free, skills-based program is specially designed for health care professionals, medical educators, and researchers. Through interactive sessions, participants will learn how to communicate with greater compassion—and, in turn, greater effectiveness—with patients, healthcare teams, medical trainees, and beyond.

How can you show you care– even when you deeply disagree? What if conflict wasn’t something to avoid, but an opportunity to connect more deeply, to get closer to the truth? What would have to be true for you to genuinely consider another perspective? Join ICF-certified coach Kelsey Brennan in this interactive workshop as we reflect on our own patterns of listening, explore ways to thoughtfully prepare for conflict-heavy conversations, and apply a coaching mindset to balance acceptance with advocacy.

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

A Place for Connection, Discussion and Restoration with Kathryn Lovewell. Compassion Cafe is a fortnightly, informal meet-up for the whole, global GCC family to come together. In a warm and welcoming atmosphere, you’ll find connection with others, support in your compassion practice and ideas for developing it, wherever you are in your personal journey.

This is a free space to learn, share and simply connect. So if you’ve ever wondered ‘am I knowledgeable enough to take part?’ or ‘do I have enough experience?’, please know that the only requirement to attend these get-togethers is for you to show up!

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

Bridging Differences in Higher Education: Research-Based Practices that Build Belonging: Skill-Sharing Session #2 

“In our culture, higher education is one of the only places where there can actually be real conversations about difficult topics,” says Beth Douthirt-Cohen, a public health professor at University of Maryland, College Park. In 2017, the university brought in Douthirt-Cohen to build the capacity of students, faculty, and staff to engage with differences in power and racial identity in healthy, ethical ways. 

They found that when we’re equipped with mindfulness tools, it is possible to make higher ed a space where we can have a really difficult conversation and stay in it. In fact, mindfulness can help us feel connected to our agency. Instead of reacting, we get grounded and find the patience we need to make choices and even interrupt unconscious bias.

Join us for an interactive conversation with Douthirt-Cohen and psychologist Sarah A. Schnitker (Baylor University), who will draw from her research to explain how grounding practices like these cultivate our patience and exercise our curiosity, courage, and empathy. Hosted by Juliana Tafur, GGSC’s Bridging Differences Program Director.

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

How can the shared heart of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism help bridge the deep divisions in our world today? In this one-hour panel facilitated by Rev. Neddy Yong, experts Lailatul Fitriyah, Ashley Plotnick, and Aizaiah Yong explore compassion as a vital counterbalance to extremism. Through personal stories and theological insights, this discussion will highlight compassion as a transformative force that sustains us and invites us to evolve our traditions. Join us for a collaborative reflection on how these faith perspectives can reshape our communities and foster a more compassionate, unified world.

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

This session explores a mindset shift that supports effective action in the face of uncertainty. This shift is well captured by the short phrase, “think like a scientist,” offered as a deliberate contrast to thinking like a (command-and-control) manager. Classically, managers supplied answers and plans and evaluated how well others executed on them.  In contrast, successful leaders of scientific labs offer direction and questions that empower action and help others make sense of data. This is not about being more lenient or laissez-faire, but rather about a new type of discipline. Their model provides an analog that leaders in any industry today can learn from. In short, today’s leaders must abandon the discipline of control to embrace the discipline of learning. Key concepts covered include psychological safety, intelligent failure, and interpersonal skills for high-quality conversations.

About Edmondson:

Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society. 

Edmondson has been recognized by the biannual Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers since 2011, and most recently was ranked #1 in 2021 and 2023; she also received that organization’s Breakthrough Idea Award in 2019 and Talent Award in 2017.  She studies teaming, psychological safety, and organizational learning, and her articles have been published in numerous academic and management outlets, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, and California Management Review.

Her 2019 book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth, has been translated into 15 languages. Edmondson’s latest book, Right Kind of Wrong, builds on her prior work on psychological safety and teaming to provide a framework for thinking about, discussing, and practicing the science of failing well. First published in the US and in the UK (Penguin) in September 2023, the book is due to be translated into 24 additional languages and was selected for the Financial Times and Schroders Best Business Book of the Year award. 

Through her Psychology Today blog, her “Leading for Wellness” podcast, and her company Workr Beeing, Dr. Sawyer is widely recognized as a bridge-builder between science and practice — empowering individuals and organizations to create cultures where everyone can thrive.

The Positive Links Speaker Series, presented by Michigan Ross’ Center for Positive Organizations, offers inspiring and practical science-based strategies to build and bolster thriving organizations. Attendees learn from leading positive organizational scholars and connect with our community of academics, students, staff, and leaders. 

Hosted by Monica Worline, Faculty Director, Center for Positive Organizations. 

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

UC San Diego’s Center for Compassionate Communication proudly presents the Spring 2026 Compassionate Communication Virtual Workshop Series

This free, skills-based program is specially designed for health care professionals, medical educators, and researchers. Through interactive sessions, participants will learn how to communicate with greater compassion—and, in turn, greater effectiveness—with patients, healthcare teams, medical trainees, and beyond.

The burden of moral distress is too often placed solely on individual healthcare providers, accompanied by calls for resilience, self-care, and the proverbial "stiff upper lip." However, a paradigm shift is underway that urges healthcare leaders to move beyond individual coping strategies and instead foster institutional culture change. This session introduces a concrete, five-step moral distress debriefing tool that integrates elements from several existing frameworks. By shifting the burden from individuals to systems, the tool fosters shared responsibility, reduces provider isolation, and promotes sustainable, values-driven practice in today’s complex and evolving healthcare environment.

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

Social psychologist and leadership expert Adam Galinsky has spent three decades building a method for determining when we are inspiring versus infuriating, and where each of us—presidents, CEOs, coaches, teachers, parents—currently land on that spectrum. In this talk, Galinsky will unpack the science of inspiration and show how inspiring and infuriating leaders represent a universal continuum that is rooted in the very architecture of the human brain. In his research, Galinsky has identified the three universal features in inspiring others. Because these three universal factors can be learned and developed, Galinsky has proven that inspiring leaders aren’t just born—instead, we can inspire or infuriate in any given moment through our behavior, words, or presence. Galinsky will reveal how all of us, regardless of status or circumstance, can be more inspiring more often.

About Galinsky:

Adam Galinsky is the Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. A world-renowned expert in leadership and negotiation, he authored the recently released INSPIRE: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others and co-authored the bestselling book, Friend & Foe. His books are based in over 300 scientific articles and chapters he has co-authored. His TED Talk, How to Speak Up for Yourself, has over 7.7 million views, highlighting his impact on influence and inspiration. Professor Galinsky has served as a damages expert in a dozen trials involving reputational damage, including Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News and Bacon v. Nygard. His expert reports and testimony have generated more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements. He is an Executive and Associate Producer on six award-winning documentaries, including two (Horns and Halos (2003) and Battle for Brooklyn (2011)) that were short-listed (final 15) for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards. He received his PhD from Princeton University and his BA from Harvard University.

The Positive Links Speaker Series, presented by Michigan Ross’ Center for Positive Organizations, offers inspiring and practical science-based strategies to build and bolster thriving organizations. Attendees learn from leading positive organizational scholars and connect with our community of academics, students, staff, and leaders. 

Hosted by Monica Worline, Faculty Director, Center for Positive Organizations. 

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.

Self-leadership is essential to personal wellbeing and leadership effectiveness - whether you are called to be a responsive leader in your workplace, community, or family. At the Bakken Center, we describe self-leadership as an intentional alignment between your values and your daily actions and behaviors that can lead to enhanced personal wellbeing and effectiveness in all areas of life. At its core, it involves increasing our capacity for self-awareness, self-care, emotional resilience, and self-efficacy. It also acknowledges the powerful ripple effect that self-leadership and good self-care can have on our relationships with others, whether at work, at home, or in our larger communities.

This session will include a deep dive into the concept of self-leadership and building your personal wellbeing, resilience and self-leadership competencies, from the inside out. The Bakken Center’s Wellbeing Model will be explored, especially as it pertains to the everyday stressors and gifts unique to leadership.

Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.