See the Laureates 2021
Laureates 2021
When we create opportunities for underserved communities we are contributing to sustainable and healthy societies. We are looking for social good entrepreneurs and institutions that know what it takes to bring kindness, compassion, hope, and abundance to societies worldwide.
Social Impact
Project Drawdown
Community
Project Drawdown
Burning fossil fuels, clearing forests, plowing soils, and forming landfills are just some of the harmful human activities that emit gasses into the Earth’s atmosphere. Most of these greenhouse gasses stay airborne, but not all. Nature’s processes, especially photosynthesis, bring the excess back to plants, soil, and the sea. These ‘sinks’ are nature’s reservoirs for absorbing and storing carbon. While most emissions stay in the atmosphere, significant portions are quickly removed by plants or taken up by oceans. What this planet needs, more than anything else, is to reach drawdown.
Drawdown is the point in the future when levels of greenhouse gasses in the Earth’s atmosphere will stop going up and steadily decline. This is the critical turning point for life on Earth when humankind can truly stop further climate change and avert dangerous global warming. This is also the core mission of the Project Drawdown.
Project Drawdown is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help the world reach this goal. It was founded by Paul Hawken and climate activist Amanda Joy Ravenhill. Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, and passionate activist, who has been active since 1965 when he worked on the preparation for the Selma to Montgomery marches. Paul has been awarded six honorary doctorates and has received the Green Cross Millennium Award for Individual Environmental Leadership. He has given hundreds of talks, written nine books published in over 50 countries in 30 languages, and founded several companies, including the Project Drawdown. Paul has served on the board of several environmental organizations, including Trust for Public Land, Point Foundation, and Center for Plant Conservation. As he says: ‘We practiced degeneration as a species and it brought us to the threshold of an unimaginable crisis. To reverse global warming, we need to reverse global degeneration.’
Since the 2017 publication of the New York Times bestseller ‘Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming,’ which he wrote, this inspiring organization has emerged as a leading source of information and insight about climate solutions. Project Rundown provides a rich database of solutions to reverse global warming and its severe consequences. These solutions offer real-world applications as well as communication and educational opportunities to successfully continue toward drawdown. The solutions, first mentioned in the book, are divided into eight sectors: built environment, electricity generation, food, land use, materials and waste, oceans, transportation, and women & girls.
Every solution is measured and modeled to determine its carbon impact through 2050, society’s total net cost, and lifetime savings. They conduct continuous review and analysis of climate solutions that can reduce the excess of greenhouse gasses in Earth’s atmosphere. Their work has shown that the world can reach drawdown by mid-century if we all make the best use of these solutions. As they say: ‘Although more solutions are needed and emerging, there is still no reason or time to wait on innovation. Now is better than ever.’
We can’t think of a more inspiring environmental nonprofit organization worth celebrating than Project Drawdown. That is why we are happy to see them as one of the 2021 World Happiness Awards Laureates. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
Greta Thunberg
Individual
Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg is only 18 years old, but already she has become a role model for endurance and perseverance in the fight against climate change. It all started in 2018, when Greta was 15, with a sign painted in black letters that read ‘School strike for Climate.’ Every Friday, she would skip school and protest in front of the Swedish Parliament in order to pressure the government to meet carbon emissions targets. Sometimes people would join her, and sometimes it was only her in front of the wall, figurative and literal.
However, her solo campaign had a global effect, inspiring thousands of people worldwide to raise their voices and organize their own strikes. By the end of that year, over 20,000 students joined her skipping school to protest against climate change. A year later, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for climate activism.
This was just the beginning of her global activism. In 2019, Greta attended a UN climate conference in New York where she delivered her famous speech, angrily telling world leaders that they were not doing enough. “You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes,” Thunberg said at the UN Climate Action Summit, urging world leaders to take climate threats seriously.
Thunberg was also declared Time magazine’s person of the year and was nominated two more times for the Nobel Peace Prize (2019-2021). She has met with world leaders, speaking in front of massive crowds, and became the icon of a generation. Greta has Asperger syndrome, one of the autism spectrum disorders, which she sees as a gift. To her, being different can be a superpower. “If I were like everyone else, I would have continued on and not seen this crisis,” she told the Times.
Most importantly, her actions are consistent with her words. She speaks truthfully and unapologetically about the threat of climate change regardless if she speaks with her peers or world leaders. Greta is vegan, she upcycles, doesn’t buy clothes, and she also gave up flying. She called those who were willing to act and chastised those who were not. According to a survey done by Amnesty International, her presence has become a sign of youth’s anger worldwide.Greta Thunberg’s impact is undeniable and inspirational to millions of people all around the world. She has inspired young people to pay attention to climate and environmental issues and started a climate strike movement that shows the power that lies in all of us when we fiercely dedicate ourselves to positive change. This is why Greta Thunberg is one of our laureates for the 2021 World Happiness Awards!
The objective of the 2021 WHA is to recognize individuals and communities realizing a world with freedom, consciousness, and happiness for all. In a time of social media and competing headlines, drawing attention to such an important issue is a vital part of creating powerful momentum in confronting the climate crisis is more than commendable. This is our way of showing our support and admiration. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
We refer to Arts as any artistic expression that brings happiness, joy, and energy to communities and societies. From performances to architecture, music, dance, theater, photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, the list is endless. We welcome any creation that sparks dreams, imagination and community building.
Arts
The Dudamel Foundation
Community
The Dudamel Foundation
As an internationally renowned conductor, Gustavo Dudamel has been driven by a profound belief in music’s power to transform lives, inspire, unite, and change the world. Through his work on stage and his tireless advocacy for education in arts, Dudamel has introduced classical music to new audiences worldwide and has helped provide access to the Arts for numerous people in underserved communities. One of his projects is the Dudamel Foundation.
The Dudamel Foundation is dedicated to believing that the Arts play a vital part in creating a more just and peaceful society. Music, in particular, provides a universal language that transcends differences between people and has a unique capacity to build bridges of understanding among all people. But, music does more than nourishing the human spirit. It’s very practice instills focus and discipline, respect for others, a spirit of collaboration, and many other positive values that promote social justice and make us better world citizens. The goal of the Dudamel Foundation is to expand the opportunity to experience music for as many children and communities as possible.
Led by Gustavo Dudamel and an actress and humanitarian Maria Valverde, the Dudamel Foundation collaborates with institutions across the globe to enrich lives through four program areas: bridging communities, educating young musicians, training global leaders, and social justice through creativity. Their most notable projects are The Neighborhood project, Encuentros, Dudamel Foundation Artists at the Peralada Festival in Spain, and Fidelio. The Neighborhood project was initiated through a five-year Dudamel Foundation grant and launched in 2020. It is a collaboration between the foundation and Trenton Arts at Princeton, bringing Princeton University Concerts artists to Trenton’s public schools and bringing Trenton’s public school students to recitals at Princeton University Concerts. The grants also support the Trenton Youth Orchestra (TYO), whose members receive free coaching and private instruction from Princeton University student musicians and faculty.
Encuentros (English: ‘encounters’) is a project created in 2018 through the Dudamel Foundation to explore cultural unity and celebrate harmony, equality, dignity, beauty, and respect through music. This project has traveled to Europe, where the Dudamel Foundation presented its first Encuentros in Spain in June 2021. Through this project, the foundation inspires and teaches a new generation of young leaders to build a better world. The foundation brings together students from the Americas (Mexico, the US, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Peru, and Spain) to work together in the Orquesta del Encuentro con Dudamel.
In 2019, the foundation collaborated with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra to educate 41 Dudamel Foundation Artists through guided mentorship and performance to encourage intercontinental dialogue through music. Students from all over the world, alongside their teachers from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, represented citizens of 22 countries across five continents. The foundation organized a two-day seminar, underscoring the educational and philanthropic role of the foundation as a catalyst for uniting people through music.
Music has the advantage of being loud, attracting attention, and influencing opinions. It can help in healing, in breaking down barriers and borders, and it can also educate. It is a form of artistic expression that can be an actual igniter of change. As Gustavo Dudamel says: ‘I cannot say that music is the only thing that will save the world, but we have to put art somewhere far more central to the main sense of our society.’
That is why we couldn’t be happier to have them as our laureates for the 2021 World Happiness Awards! Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
My Octopus Teacher
Individual
Craig Foster for My Octopus Teacher
In 2010, a natural-history filmmaker Craig Foster began free-diving in a cold underwater bamboo kelp forest at a remote location near Cape Town, South Africa. He was fascinated with the beauty and diversity of the natural world down there and soon started documenting his experiences. At that time, he met a curious young female octopus from the Common Octopus family that captured his attention. This was the beginning of what turned out to be one of the best nature documentaries, which won over fifteen awards, including BAFTA and Oscar for the Best Documentary Feature.
Burned out by his work and suffering from depression, Craig Foster wanted to find a way to heal and reconnect with his family when he started free-diving near his home. It was during one of the first dives that he spotted the octopus. That’s when he asked himself what would happen if he just went every day?
My Octopus Teacher tells the profoundly moving story of forging an intimate relationship with a wild animal, but it also talks about healing, connection, love, and compassion. Foster managed to form a strong bond with the octopus. He would play with the animal and be allowed to follow her into her world and see where she slept, lived, and ate. He also struggled with his emotions, especially when the octopus was threatened, giving the documentary another level of complexity.
The documentary was shot over a decade and opened the viewer’s eyes to life under the sea and the daily life of this little, mysterious, rarely-studied creature. The Sea Change Project, a nonprofit organization founded by Craig Foster, helped make this film in collaboration with Netflix and Off the Fence, a production company from Amsterdam. The movie splendidly captures the various transformations of the octopus and the beauty of the surprising and yet intimate relationship between two extremely different creatures, one human, one cephalopod. Foster took the time to form the bond, eventually swimming together and the creature hopping into his arms and chest, waiting for pets. Foster suffered when she was hurt; however, her recovery coincided with a period of his own healing. As he says: ‘In a strange way, our lives were mirroring each other.’
Although happy that the movie is so loved worldwide, Foster explains: ‘I just wanted to share the daily joy and wonder and curiosity this ecosystem kindles in me, with all of its wonderful creatures, and the absolute privilege of that one particular octopus who chose to let me into her secret world. I just wanted to honour that and show that deep connection and empathy with nature was an absolute possibility and that it’s also the need of the hour.’
The mentorship-like relationship the octopus provided him has taught Foster a lesson on the fragility of life and humanity’s connection with nature. This helped Foster to create a deeper bond with his son. The inspiring story and the important message behind this movie are something we can’t ignore. That is why we are proud to see this heartwarming documentary and its creator as a World Happiness Award laureate for 2021. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
We want to encourage the design and development of cities and environments nature and human-centric. Spaces that integrate nature and sustainable development as part of their strategy. If we want to flourish those spaces have to help to build communities and to encourage economies of well-being.
Cities
Smart Dubai
Community
Smart Dubai
For years, Dubai has made a name for itself as an incredibly technically advanced city. In just a couple of decades, Dubai turned from a small village along the Persian Gulf into a city with the world’s tallest building, the world’s longest autonomous metro system, and the world’s largest artificial island, all fully interconnected to the city’s existing infrastructure. Its progressive initiatives and strategies made Dubai what it is today and what it will be in the future.
These achievements couldn’t happen without the vision of the true innovators, from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to Dubai’s Government departments, who have proven more than once that they were up to the challenge of modern technology. One such initiative is Smart Dubai, which is set out to prepare the city to adopt the latest technologies – Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Big Data, that was already altering the way cities of the world were being managed and operated, for both public and private sector. The goal of the Smart Dubai initiative is to lead a citywide transformative effort by upgrading its digital infrastructure to maximize the benefits to the city from emerging smart technologies.
However, this initiative is rooted in the vision of its leader, to make Dubai the happiest city on Earth. As H.H. says: ‘Our ambition is to touch the life of every individual – to achieve a happier life for all.’ Smart Dubai ensures the rapid creation of seamless digital experiences so that citizens of Dubai can live an enriched life in their city. To make this happen, Smart Dubai has launched several initiatives: going paperless, Dubai blockchain strategy, startup support, smart cities global network, A.I. principles & ethics, A.I. lab, and happiness agenda.
The organizations’ vision centers on their primary strategy, Going Paperless, that seeks to digitize all government operations by the end of 2021. The goal of the paperless initiative is to cut millions of dollars of government costs, save hundreds of thousands of trees every year, and make urban life seamless for citizens, businesses, and visitors.
The person behind this magnificent project is Her Excellency Doctor Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr. She is the director-general of Smart Dubai and the first woman to lead the transformation of a smart city globally. H.E. Dr. Aisha also oversees the creation of The Smart City Index, the first-ever benchmark for smart city implementation worldwide, in cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations. She is recognized globally for her incredible work.
As H.E. Dr. Aisha explains, those cities that use innovative technology to clean air, shorten lines, take care of the environment, and respond more sensitively to people’s needs offer a better quality of life. Such cities also function better and are more attractive to businesses. Both H.H. Sheikh Mohammed and H.E. Dr. Aisha hope to make Dubai the world’s happiest and smartest city. It is an ambitious project, but it is also a serious policy goal. For this reason, we are delighted to see Smart Dubai as one of the World Happiness Awards 2021. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Individual
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Her Excellency Ohood Al Roumi
Few places are moving as fast as Dubai. What was once a small fishing village along the Persian Gulf has become one of the fastest-growing cities globally. Aiming to lead its way to innovation and advances in science, Dubai is set to leap into the future like no other. Of course, all of this is possible with the progressive leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. H. H. Mohammed is a Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the ruler of Dubai.
Recently, H.H. Mohammed has announced the UAE Strategy for the Future, a comprehensive roadmap that will take the nation to the next great era of development. The long-term strategy will steer Dubai’s growth by identifying the needs and challenges of the future, addressing them through impactful plans, and successfully leveraging new opportunities for overall development. The UAE Strategy for the Future will be implemented in short, medium, and long-term phases.
The strategy includes future prototypes for healthcare, education, and social development, and the environment sectors. These prototypes will be a basis for government policymaking.
The UAE strategy also includes:
- Building national human competencies in all vital sectors.
- Strengthening international relationships.
- Developing specialized R&D labs to evaluate future challenges and opportunities.
Under the UAE strategy, planning for the future of Dubai will become a mandatory part of the government departments, including reports which will serve as a benchmark for developing governmental policies and plans.
The UAE strategy also involves several innovative initiatives. The plan is for every government department to have a Director of the UAE Strategy for the Future, making UAE the first government in the world to have this kind of position within its departments. As H.H. Sheikh Mohammad says: ‘As a nation, we have always been forward-looking and planning for the future, which has been a key driver of our success. The UAE Strategy for the Future is our new approach to planning for the future by predicting, analysing and implementing highly effective action plans that accelerate development.’
H.H. is a man with a vision of a better future for his people, and he surrounds himself with equally inspiring people. One such person is his Minister of State for Government Development and Future, Her Excellency Ohood Khalfan Al Roumi. Throughout her career, H. E. Ohood has held various other positions, such as the Chairwoman of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, Vice-Chair of World Government Summit Organization, and Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing, the first ministerial position of its kind in the world introduced by the UAE government.
Her Excellency is also a member of the Global Entrepreneurship Council (GEC) of the UN Foundation, making her the first Arab member in this prestigious council. She oversees numerous strategic projects and initiatives, including UAE Vision 2021, UAE Centennial 2071, the National Agenda, the UAE Government Strategy, and the National Strategy for Innovation. Despite the challenging times we live in, it is always inspiring to see people willing to go above and beyond to make their communities, cities, and countries thrive. With such leadership as H.H. Mohammad and help from his like-minded partners, it’s no wonder that Dubai is dreaming a dream that will come true.
Recently, His Highness has launched the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, with a comprehensive future map for sustainable urban development in the city. What is the goal of this strategy? The goal is to enhance people’s happiness and quality of life. For this, and so much more, we are happy to see H.H. Mohammad and H.E. Ohood as laureates for the World Happiness Awards 2021. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
Systemic change happens through Public Policy as it can determine social happiness and well-being for long periods of time. There are incredible public policy developments happening at all levels of governance and we want to say thank you.
Policy Making
WeAll
Community
WeAll
The new economy, common good economy, green economy, human economy, and solidarity economy are just some of the movements for economic system change. Building on the work and achievements of this ever-growing moment, The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WeAll) is a new initiative whose goal is to unite, support, and expand this work already being done, in all its variations, to ensure and hasten the systemic shift to a wellbeing economy.
Nowadays, there is a growing recognition that the current world economy serves a few at a cost to communities and damages the environment. While the current economy is a pollutive, extractive, alienating economic model, a wellbeing economy is one in which everyone matters. It is an economy that leaves no one behind and meets the needs of all. The time for such a positive economic model is now, and its leader is WeAll.
The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WeAll) is the leading global collaboration of organizations, alliances, movements, and individuals working together to transform the economic system into one that delivers social justice on a healthy planet. It is a ten-year project that involves linking and coordinating activity at all levels of the wellbeing economy movement to form a critical mass of people and organizations working toward a common vision.
To transition to a wellbeing economy, WeAll believes the following fundamental principles are crucial:
- All institutions, organizations, businesses, and society should be focused on delivering shared wellbeing on a healthy planet;
- A significant transformation is needed, away from the growth-oriented development paradigm, towards a wellbeing economy;
- Being rooted in nature and supporting people to preserve their cultural heritage;
- Fair-operating markets;
- Celebration of entrepreneurism and creativity;
- Institutions and decision-making characterized by transparency and openness;
- Progress measurements and conceptions of success aligned with the wellbeing, contrary to GDP or short-term profit.
To support visionary policymakers and build more just and sustainable economies for people and the planet, WeAll has launched the Wellbeing Economy Policy Design Guide. The guide has tools, resources, case studies, and suggestions on how to develop a wellbeing vision, framework, and measurements, how to design a strategy to foster the areas of economic life most important to human wellbeing, and how to assess and co-create Wellbeing Economy policies to build a coherent and innovative policy mix. But this is not all. The policy also shows how to successfully implement Wellbeing Economy policies by empowering local stakeholders and communities and how to evaluate policy impacts on wellbeing for learning, adaptation, and success.
WeAll believes that through mutual experimentation, innovations, and learnings, we can show the world that a wellbeing economy is not only a possible model for human flourishing but is already underway. Although this is just the first version of the guide, WeAll hopes that we all can continue to build this guide together in the months and years to come.
Their passion, hard work, and innovations are what make the WeAll organization so unique. It is also why they are one of the World Happiness Awards 2021 laureates. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
We want to recognize leaders within institutions and organizations that are creating conditions for employees and staff to feel good at work. Happiness is not a KPI, it is an essential state of mind and we want to acknowledge the people that are helping others flourish at work.
Work
Medix
Community
Medix
The
is upon us! Like every year, the objective is to recognize individuals and communities which are realizing a world with freedom, consciousness, and happiness for all. Anyone from anywhere can nominate an individual or community in one of twelve existing categories. This year, we focus on the new World Happiness Award Laureate in the category of Happiness at Work (community) –
Medix is a provider of innovative global comprehensive medical case management services tailored to customers’ needs. Since its establishment in 2006, Medix has been a global and leading provider of innovative, high-quality medical management solutions. With offices in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Melbourne, Mumbai, and Tel Aviv, Medix’s client base exceeds 6 million members, spread over 90 countries.
Medix’ medical management solutions consistently bring socially responsible and financially beneficial outcomes to their customers, including:
Accessibility of quality medical care;
Proven improved clinical outcomes;
Flattening of the Inequality of Care Curve;
Globalization of medical knowledge and expertise;
Strengthening local healthcare landscapes;
Medical cost inflation control;
Keeping personal medical insurance affordable, accessible, sustainable, and profitable.
Believing that the accessibility, quality, and sustainability of medical care are some of the most critical components of social rights, Medix is very passionate about these issues and is globally fully dedicated to these activities. They provide to their patients proven better medical outcomes while controlling medical cost inflation. They have changed the initial diagnosis in 20% of the cases and improved treatment in 43% of cases yearly!
Just in the last year, they have gathered corporates and individuals and together donated funds to globally strengthen healthcare workers through their ‘Mask of Solidarity’ initiative. They launched COVID-19 Rehabilitation Services for patients in over 15 different countries. It strengthens their commitment to gender equality and diversity, with 70% of their workforce being women and 55% of senior management roles being held by women. They were awarded the 24th Asia Insurance Industry Award for Best Service Provider of the Year. They’ve also developed two new digital health solutions – ‘The Medix Life,’ their medical risk assessment platform, and ‘The Medix App,’ an end-to-end medical management solution.
They’ve also held virtual health talks and seminars reaching over 100,000 people, driving global health literacy, remotely managed, and supported thousands of cancer patients across the world. They brought their international teams together to enjoy digital monthly inspirational talks by world-leading speakers offering new perspectives on various topics, including Positive Psychology. They’ve launched a new Medix leadership and training program, ‘Medix PRO,’ which stands for Passion, Resilience, and Optimism.
That is why we couldn’t be happier to have them as our laureates for the 2021 World Happiness Awards! All of our laureates will receive recognition by the World Happiness Fest, highlighting and showcasing them in the individual or community category on the World Happiness Awards website and the World Happiness Fest communications channels. Special recognition will be granted to individuals and communities that showcase “broad and/or deep outreach” and “positive impact” within the boundaries of their communities of influence. These relate to cities, companies, countries, hospitals, schools, etc., which, at the same time, showcases the core values of Compassion, Gratitude, Discovery, and Connection embedded in their projects and activities.
Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
We love Happiness Research! Thanks to modern science we are able to bring validated tools, techniques, and resources to help people thrive, rather than just survive. We know how much effort and time goes into research studies and we want to award that hard and Incredibly important work.
Research
Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley University
Community
Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley University
It’s time for the 2021 World Happiness Awards! In the search to recognize and empower all the organizations and individuals that have cared for the well-being and happiness of others, realizing a world with freedom, consciousness, and happiness for all, one organization stood out. The World Happiness Award Laureate in the Category of Happiness at Research (Community) is – Greater Good Science Center.
Based at the University of California, Berkeley, the Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society. As one of the world’s leading institutions of research and higher education, the GGSC is unique in its commitment to science and practice. Not only do they sponsor groundbreaking scientific research into social and emotional well-being, but they also help people apply this research to their personal and professional lives.
Since 2001, they have been at the fore of a new scientific movement to explore the roots of happy and compassionate individuals, strong social bonds, and altruistic behavior, called the science of a meaningful life. Their goal is to support cultural shifts in the ways people view human nature, understand the sources of true happiness, and value their connections to one another – all to promote a kinder and more compassionate society.
To achieve this overarching aim, the GGSC focuses on these long-term, large-scale outcomes:
A shift in conventional wisdom about human nature, so that the public views kindness and compassion as no less “natural” to humans than selfishness and aggression;
Greater awareness about the keys to social and emotional well-being, including the factors most likely to cause people to act on their instincts for kindness and compassion;
Greater demand for programs that foster the social-emotional well-being of their participants, driven by greater awareness about the research-based benefits of these programs;
Deeper understanding within educational institutions of how and why to support social-emotional development, nurturing a new generation that is better equipped to deal with conflict, handle stress, and widen their circles of kindness and compassion;
Higher levels of emotional well-being within institutions, specifically in families, schools, workplaces, and the health care system, and better-preparing people to respond to others with care, equanimity, and generosity.
That is why we couldn’t be happier to have The Greater Good Science Center as our laureates for the 2021 World Happiness Awards! All of our laureates will receive recognition by the World Happiness Fest, highlighting and showcasing them in the individual or community category on the World Happiness Awards website and the World Happiness Fest communications channels. Special recognition will be granted to individuals and communities that showcase “broad and/or deep outreach” and “positive impact” within the boundaries of their communities of influence. These relate to cities, companies, countries, hospitals, schools, etc., which, at the same time, showcases the core values of Compassion, Gratitude, Discovery, and Connection embedded in their projects and activities. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
Ed Diener
Individual
Ed Diener
This year, the World Happiness Awards is once again ready and eager to recognize and celebrate organizations and individuals that are realizing a world with freedom, consciousness, and happiness for all! Our World Happiness Award Laureate in the Category of Happiness at Research (Individual) is Dr. Ed Diener.
Ed Diener, also known as ‘Dr. Happiness,’ was a leading researcher in positive psychology who coined the famous expression ‘subjective well-being,’ as the aspect of happiness that can be empirically measured. Diener has been one of the leading pioneers in scientific research on happiness for the past twenty-five years. Diener developed numerous research protocols which are currently used by positive psychologists worldwide.
Born in 1946 in Glendale, California, he received his B.A. in Psychology from California State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington. For the past thirty years, he taught at the University of Illinois as the Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor of Psychology. Dr. Diener was the president of both the Society of Personality and Social Psychology and the International Society of Quality of Life Studies and the first president of the International Positive Psychology Association.
Dr. Diener’s research was focused on the measurement of well-being, temperament and personality influences on well-being, theories of well-being, income and well-being, and cultural influences on well-being. He has developed several scales that are in widespread use. For instance, his Satisfaction with Life Scale has been cited over 8,000 times in the scientific literature, and his psychological flourishing scale is also being widely used. He has found that, in general, happiness does not just feel good but helps the person function better. Another outstanding work by Dr. Diener was his project to have nations implement national accounts of well-being for policymakers and leaders.
Diener was equally known for his generosity toward students and other scholars. He mentored hundreds and received several teaching awards. Along with his wife and fellow psychologist Carol, he created the Noba project to provide students with online access to free, high-quality textbooks and other educational materials, relieving a significant financial burden for students worldwide.
Dr. Diener has co-edited three books on subjective well-being: Well-Being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology, Advances in Quality of Life Theory and Research, and Culture and Subjective Well-Being. He also wrote a popular book on happiness with his son, Robert Biswas-Diener, and authored a book on policy uses of accounts of well-being with Richard Lucas, Ulrich Schimmack, and John Helliwell. Sadly, Dr. Diener passed away on April 27, 2021.
Despite the sad news, we couldn’t be more proud to have Ed Diener as one of our laureates for the 2021 World Happiness Awards! All of our laureates will receive recognition by the World Happiness Fest, highlighting and showcasing them in the individual or community category on the World Happiness Awards website and the World Happiness Fest communications channels. Special recognition will be granted to individuals and communities that showcase “broad and/or deep outreach” and “positive impact” within the boundaries of their communities of influence. These relate to cities, companies, countries, hospitals, schools, etc., which, at the same time, showcases the core values of Compassion, Gratitude, Discovery, and Connection embedded in their projects and activities. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
We need communications and news that bring positivity and hope to our lives. There is good news happening most of the time around the world, but it looks like we are inundated by the opposite. We want to award institutions and individuals that are able to inform while creating conditions to go beyond fear and anger.
Communications
Thrive Global
Community
Thrive Global
The 2021 World Happiness Awards is just around the corner! Like every year, the objective is to recognize individuals and communities which are realizing a world with freedom, consciousness, and happiness for all. Anyone from anywhere can nominate an individual or community in one of twelve existing categories. This year, we are focusing on the new World Happiness Award Laureate in the category of Happiness at Communications (Community) – Thrive Global, and it’s brilliant founder and CEO Arianna Hufington.
Thrive Global is an organization with a mission to end the stress and burnout epidemic by offering companies and individuals sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance well-being, performance, and purpose and create a healthier relationship with technology. Thrive Global has been born in response to the need to take control of our lives, offering new strategies and tools based on the latest science to address the unintended consequences of these profound and invasive changes.
The Belgian philosopher Pascal Chabot has called burnout “civilization’s disease.” And the casualties are proliferating around the world. Recent science has shown that the pervasive belief that burnout is the price we must pay for success is a delusion. We know, instead, that when we prioritize our well-being, our decision-making, creativity, and productivity improve dramatically. Thrive Global is committed to accelerating the culture shift that allows people to reclaim their lives and move from merely surviving to thriving.
To accelerate this urgently needed culture shift, Thrive Global has three interconnected core elements: corporate training and workshops, their media platform, The Thrive Journal, designed to be the global hub for the conversation about changing the way we work and live, and an e-commerce platform that offers their curated selection of the best technology and well-being products and services.
To scale the cultural shift that’s already happening, the world needs new role models. That’s why Thrive Global brings examples of leaders in business, sports, media, entertainment, and technology who are proving that taking care of ourselves, far from detracting from success, enhances productivity and creativity.
The core to a Thrive culture shift is addressing the relationship of humans with technology, which is one of the most pressing issues of our time. People are addicted, and it’s getting worse. Although technology allows us to do amazing things, it also consumes and controls our attention. In an endeavor to correct this, Thrive Global has partnered with Bennett Miller, the Academy Award-nominated director of Foxcatcher and Capote, to create a Silo app. By selectively blocking distractions, alerts, and notifications on your phone, Silo allows you to reclaim space in your life for focus, creativity, and genuinely connecting with the world, those around you, and yourself.
What distinguishes The Thrive Journal from other media platforms is that they go beyond informing and entertaining to action. Their goal is to help people bring about changes in their lives by giving them concrete, actionable tips laid out in five pathways: Calm, Joy, Purpose, Well-Being, and Productivity.
For these and many other reasons, we are happy to have Thrive Global as one of the laureates of the 2021 World Happiness Awards! All of our laureates will receive recognition by the World Happiness Fest, highlighting and showcasing them in the individual or community category on the World Happiness Awards website and the World Happiness Fest communications channels. Special recognition will be granted to individuals and communities that showcase “broad and/or deep outreach” and “positive impact” within the boundaries of their communities of influence. These relate to cities, companies, countries, hospitals, schools, etc., which, at the same time, showcases the core values of Compassion, Gratitude, Discovery, and Connection embedded in their projects and activities. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
Teresa Viejo
Individual
Teresa Viejo
The 2021 World Happiness Awards is just around the corner! Like every year, the objective is to recognize individuals and communities which are realizing a world with freedom, consciousness, and happiness for all. Anyone from anywhere can nominate an individual or community in one of twelve existing categories. This year, we focus on the new World Happiness Award Laureate in the category of Happiness at Communications (Individual) – Teresa Viejo, for her work and impact on Curiosity as a subject.
Teresa Viejo is a well-known Spanish journalist, TV and radio host, and a vocational writer, who distributes her time between radio, television, closeness to readers, and workshops and talks. Her social commitment has led her to become a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and A Victims of Traffic Foundation.
She has written four very successful historical novels, translated into Italian and French, while one was adapted into a TV mini-series. Curiosity is her primary field of work. Curiosity is what opens us to the world and others. It encourages us to explore new opportunities, stirs our creativity, and pushes us toward continuous learning. Curiosity is what makes us flexible in the face of what escapes our mental maps and stops the fear of uncertainty.
As Teresa explains, there are no people who aren’t curious. There are only those who either developed it or those who have it asleep. That is why she devised a method to promote and exercise it called ‘The C Training.’ Both in her talks and workshops, individuals and organizations can learn how to develop a curiosity to manage uncertainty in the face of any change, how to stop fears from engulfing you, how to attract the attention of others, and what are the powerful questions that can move a person to action.
The C Training is aimed at organizations, entrepreneurs, freelancers, or anyone who wants to “activate” curiosity and open their minds to achieve better results in their professional development. Companies can benefit from this program in numerous ways:
They can have more motivated and positive employees and collaborators;
Learn a more effective and creative conflict resolution;
Reduce communication silos;
Encourage continuous learning that starts with the employee himself/herself;
Implement innovation and creativity at work;
Identify talent and reinforce the sense of belonging to the organization;
Reduce the resistance to change of employees, enhancing their flexibility;
Reduce cognitive biases.
That is why we couldn’t be happier to have Teresa Viejo as one of the laureates of the 2021 World Happiness Awards! All of our laureates will receive recognition by the World Happiness Fest, highlighting and showcasing them in the individual or community category on the World Happiness Awards website and the World Happiness Fest communications channels. Special recognition will be granted to individuals and communities that showcase “broad and/or deep outreach” and “positive impact” within the boundaries of their communities of influence. These relate to cities, companies, countries, hospitals, schools, etc., which, at the same time, showcases the core values of Compassion, Gratitude, Discovery, and Connection embedded in their projects and activities. Join us in our celebration of people and communities, making this planet a better place for all!
From the implementation of socio-emotional curriculums to the creation of new programs aimed at the promotion of positive education. We recognize institutions and individuals disrupting the education sector to bring increased happiness and well-being to learners.
Education
Wake Up Schools
Community
Wake Up Schools
Attention and awareness are necessary traits, especially for teachers. One of the best ways to enhance attention, focus, or awareness is to cultivate or develop mindfulness in the classroom. Mindfulness helps develop awareness by reducing stress, disciplining the mind, and supporting emotion management.
When our minds are stressed, it isn’t easy to focus. Both teachers and students tend to experience daily stressors, making too many of them unprepared for today’s classroom’s social and emotional demands. Stressful situations and conditions can lead to feeling discouraged, burnt out, and ready to quit. Luckily, developing and cultivating mindfulness (the ability to stay focused on one’s present experience with non-judgemental awareness) can help teachers to promote a relaxed, calm, but enliven classroom environment that children need to learn. This is precisely the mission of the Wake Up Schools initiative.
Wake Up Schools was created by Thich Nhat Hanh and his French Plum Village community. Since Thich was exiled from his native Vietnam for speaking out against the war, he has been a pioneer of adapting and teaching mindfulness to western audiences. As he himself says: “I think it is the good teachers who will be able to change the world. That’s my belief, because a teacher can nourish, can heal, can build healthy, happy human beings.”
Wake Up Schools teaches educators how to bring practices of mindfulness and applied ethics into their lives so they may feel happy and free, and so they may, in turn, share these practices with colleagues and students in their school communities. Mindfulness practices allow teachers and students to experience more peace, learn how to take care of difficult emotions, and create conditions for a happy school and a happy world. This is especially important for young people because teaching them mindfulness allows them to develop emotional stability and create a basis for them to lead happy, authentic, engaged, and ethical lives.
Wake Up Schools focuses on teachers and offers a flexible approach without rigid curriculums. Though mindfulness has its roots in Buddha’s teachings, the Wake Up Schools approach is holistic and non-religious, allowing everyone to practice it. The movement is based on three principles: embodiment, service, and community. The embodiment principle teaches the art of being present. Without a peaceful, happy presence, teachers can’t be truly there for their students and educational community. The service principle is based on gratitude, understanding, and love. It is used to develop a feeling of deep service to others. With community principle, Wake Up Schools aim to deepen friendship and connection so everyone can support each other and walk together in harmony and joy.
This is why the Wake Up Schools initiative is one of our World Happiness Awards Laureates. The World Happiness Awards celebrate and elevate people and communities that are working hard to make this planet a better place for us all.
In collaboration with the United Nations University for Peace and 300+ international thought leaders, corporate, government, research, and educational institutions, The World Happiness Awards situate happiness and well-being as essential components of global innovation.
Do you want to be a part of a global change and help us achieve our goal of ten billion free, conscious, and happy people by 2050? Get involved today!
Irene Greaves
Individual
Irene Greaves
We don’t have to read about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to understand that love is a basic human need. Once our physiological needs such as breathing, food, water, etc., and the feeling of safety and security are satisfied, we need to feel love and belonging to grow. But, if we look at modern society, it seems that humans are doing a poor job on this notion. Lack of understanding, respect, and acceptance, along with the rise of Artificial Intelligence, has caused people to isolate themselves, igniting loneliness, confusion, and antisocial behavior. Sadly, those who lack love often end up feeling flawed, alone, and worthless.
Irene Greaves believes that people should not wander aimlessly through life alone. Humans are social creatures, and love is the glue that binds us all together. Above all, love is an action that people can learn to practice.
Through her work ® Lovescaping hers, Irene is addressing this most urgent, timely and important need in the world: learning to love. Her lovescaping® philosophy is based on 15 pillars without which love cannot exist: empathy, humility, caring, respect, honesty, communication, trust, vulnerability, patience, liberation, compassion, solidarity, gratitude, forgiveness and hope. These pillars are derived from her experience teaching and working in community development in different parts of the world. They are universal values and actions that people can learn to practice.
There are multiple means through which Irene is delivering her Lovescaping® program. One of them is partnering with schools and non-profit organizations to implement her curriculum during the school day and in the after-school setting to children and youth of all ages. Another means is through workshops, presentations and coaching for adults, all of them adapted to the needs or context of the particular group.
As she explains, the impact of teaching people – from toddlers to adults – how loving can and will change the world. When we build a society based on learning to love and when people willingly practice love in action, we will witness a dramatic decrease in crime, violence, racism, xenophobia and all other forms of hatred and oppression. Once the seeds of love are planted, they will only flourish and continue to grow.
Irene’s Lovescaping® program focuses on creating a more just, loving, free, conscious and happy world. Her ultimate goal is to address the greatest need that she sees in our world, and that is lack of love. That is why she is one of our World Happiness Awards laureates. The World Happiness Awards celebrate and uplift people like Irene, as well as communities who are working hard to make this planet a better place for us all.
In collaboration with the United Nations University for Peace and more than 300 international thought leaders, corporate, government, research and educational institutions, the World Happiness Awards rank happiness and well-being as essential components of global innovation.
Do you want to be part of a global change and help us reach our goal of ten billion free, conscious and happy people by 2050? Get involved today!
Health and happiness are two sides of the same coin. We recognize institutions and individuals in the health sector making a major impact, creating unique conditions for happiness and well-being within their organization or communities.
Health
Youth Era
Community
Youth Era
Whether we realize it or not, we all benefit when a young person graduates from high school and finds a job that helps them pay rent, live a quality life, or gain access to effective services and support.
Every society should grapple with what outcomes it hopes to produce in raising its young generations. What exactly do we hope our children will be capable of accomplishing as adults? How should we harness what is known in research, practice, and policy areas to ensure that our youth will have what they need to meet young adulthood challenges successfully?
Preparing our youth for meaningful, productive futures requires well-organized, well-coordinated efforts and intentional practices by adults across all the settings youth inhabit daily. To address these questions, the Youth Era works hard for a future where every young person has the opportunity to lead a happy, successful life and where whole communities flourish as a result. They believe that change happens when we support young people as they work to complete high school, find jobs when we advocate for system change, and so much more.
Youth Era creates solutions for communities across the country that look beyond short-term assistance for the few and toward sustainable support for the many. With their services, young people have a much better chance of becoming happy, successful, and contributing adult community members, allowing everyone to reap the rewards.
Youth Era creates lasting positive change in the lives of young people and the systems that serve them. By uniting a diverse collective of young adults and organizations around innovative solutions, Youth Era impacts thousands each year. They collectively work to provide accessible support services to all young people. Their focus is on direct service, training, and advocacy, which are the building blocks for creating lasting change for young people in communities across the country.
Their programs, models, and services include:
- Drop-in centers where they create safe, welcoming, and inclusive spaces for youth where they can receive peer support, gain leadership skills, meet new people, and achieve their goals;
- Culturally-relevant, stigma-aware, and youth-centered virtual support for youth from all over the world;
- Crisis response where they provide trauma-informed and stigma-aware relief for students and community members;
- The wraparound staff that supports youth across the state of Oregon;
- The training which is specifically tailored to the needs of youth and young adults;
- Technical assistance program provides consultation and training for youth-serving groups, organizations, and agencies across the country.
This is why the Youth Era initiative is one of our World Happiness Awards Laureates. The World Happiness Awards celebrate and elevate people and communities that are working hard to make this planet a better place for us all.
In collaboration with the United Nations University for Peace along with 300+ international thought leaders, corporate, government, research, and educational institutions, The World Happiness Awards situate happiness and well-being as essential components of global innovation.
Do you want to be a part of a global change and help us achieve our goal of ten billion free, conscious, and happy people by 2050? Get involved today!
Pilar Sordo
Individual
Pilar Sordo
In everyday life, it is vital that we take care of ourselves first and foremost. A great way to do this is to practice self-care. Self-care means taking care and prioritizing our physical, mental, and emotional health. But self-care doesn’t stop there. In relationships, it is also important that we take care of ourselves. Self-care while in a loving relationship is all about reaching that delicate balance of caring for ourselves while caring for our partner so that we can have the best relationship possible. However, self-care is important no matter our relationship status.
Emotional self-care means caring for our emotional needs by identifying and nurturing our feelings, conscious inner state, and intellect. Why? Because our emotions are the most present, vital, and often painful force in our lives. Emotions trigger feelings and thoughts that can play a powerful role in our behavior and how we experience and interact with the world around us. Unfortunately, people often have an adversarial relationship with themselves and their emotions, forcing them to seek guidance and ways to handle their emotions.
Pilar Sordo has devoted her life and career to finding the answers and solutions to these fundamental human issues. Pilar is a Chilean psychologist, lecturer, writer, and columnist. She has turned her research into precious books about interpersonal relationships.
Her writings cover such topics as sex, family, and relationships. She is known as a commentator on typical behavior in different Latin American countries. Pilar uses her own experiences to conduct her research and expresses it in a simple language so that everyone can understand and learn from it. She has participated in countless talks, seminars, and courses in regularly packed rooms.
In 2019, she participated in the Mandela Conversation, a discussion forum on human rights and freedom with people deprived of liberty. As an author of several Best Sellers in Latin America and the Caribbean, Pilar has been awarded numerous awards and recognitions throughout her career. Some of her awards are Woman of the Year, Alberto Hurtado Award, Atrevidas Award, Golden Book Award, and an Outstanding Woman 2010-2011, for the permanent support to Chilean women. She directs the CáncerVida Foundation for lung and pancreatic cancer patients and is an Ambassador of Women with Pants since 2011.
Pilar has become one of the most influential Spanish-speaking people in good living, personal development, and resilience. This is why Pilar Sordo is one of our World Happiness Awards Laureates. The World Happiness Awards celebrate and elevate people like Pilar, as well as communities, that are working hard to make this planet a better place for us all.
In collaboration with the United Nations University for Peace and 300+ international thought leaders, corporate, government, research, and educational institutions, The World Happiness Awards situate happiness and well-being as essential components of global innovation.
Do you want to be a part of a global change and help us achieve our goal of ten billion free, conscious, and happy people by 2050? Get involved today!
Archna Sharma
Individual
Archna Sharma
Our beliefs become our thoughts. Our thoughts become our actions. Our actions control our success and happiness. After all, our lives are determined not by what happens to us but by how we react to it. When we understand this, we can understand how our mindset is everything.
Therefore, a positive mindset will help us make positive decisions in our lives. If we refuse to make decisions based on fear, insecurity, or scarcity, we will begin to do so based on optimism, love, and abundance. Instead of assuming the worst of ourselves, we may learn to act with confidence. Also, instead of assuming the worst of others, we may learn to trust and open up to them. These are just a couple of examples of how mindset coaching can fundamentally change our perspective and our actions.
This fresh mindset will lead to new actions that bring more happiness and fulfillment in various areas of our lives. As a happiness and mindset coach, Archna Sharma is on a mission to eradicate mental poverty and to improve the mental health and well-being of one million people by making them learn the Art of Positive Thinking through her talks, teachings, coaching, and social activities.
Archna Sharma is an award-winning Indian Social Activist and the founder of Roccia Bliss – Your Happiness Partner®. She is widely known as Thought Technologist® for her work in art and science of thoughts, who is on a path to cultivate right thinking skills in people that enable them to develop an elevated mindset and a healthy belief system.
Archna believes that children are taught how to study, speak, play, dress up, and more, but they are not taught how to think. This has prompted her to leave her job and start a social firm that develops and promotes the ‘Art of Thinking’ to rectify mental health issues like depression, addiction, suicide, violence, etc., and in turn to increase per capita happiness.
She promotes happiness and positive thinking all around the world in more than twelve diversified sectors, such as the Indian Army, Border Security Force, prisons, hospitals, government departments, schools, colleges, PSUs, judiciary, police training centers, clubs, public, youth, legislative assembly, corporate, aviation, etc. impacting thousands of lives worldwide. Archna believes that people with passion can change the world, so she took the road less traveled to make the world a better place to live.
This is why Archna Sharma is one of our World Happiness Awards Laureates. The World Happiness Awards celebrate and elevate people like Archna, as well as communities that are working hard to make this planet a better place for us all.
In collaboration with the United Nations University for Peace along with 300+ international thought leaders, corporate, government, research, and educational institutions, The World Happiness Awards situate happiness and well-being as essential components of global innovation.
Do you want to be a part of a global change and help us achieve our goal of ten billion free, conscious, and happy people by 2050? Get involved today!
Exponential and Transformative Technologies are shaping the way we experience the world and ourselves. We need to design tech that enhances our well-being and we want to recognize the individuals and institutions working on inventions that enhance happiness and balance morality and ethics within their creations.
Technology
The Mind Clan
Community
The Mind Clan
Mental health is crucial to living a healthy, balanced life. It encompasses our psychological, emotional, and social well-being. This means it impacts how we think, feel, and behave every day. Our mental health also helps our decision-making process and affects how we cope with stress and how we relate to others in our lives.
Being emotionally and mentally healthy can promote productivity and effectiveness in school, work, or caregiving. Emotional and mental health also plays an important role in our relationships’ health and allows us to adapt to changes in our lives and cope with adversity.
Unfortunately, the discussion of mental health is still considered taboo of sorts in today’s society. People avoid talking about it out of fear they will be labeled or called ‘crazy.’ But what most fail to realize is how that silence actually holds us back from fixing such a critical problem.
However, talking about and taking care of our mental health has numerous benefits, having better physical health, developing a stronger work ethic and stability, and forming healthy relationships, leading to an overall better quality of life.
This is what Shweta Srinivasan and Mani Kumar wanted to address when they decided to create TheMindClan, a mental health community platform dedicated to giving people access to the resources they need to care for their mental health. They believe that the intimidation, judgment, and stigma surrounding mental health can be chipped away when people can make choices for their mental health care by themselves, based on their current needs. The platform is completely volunteer-driven and is offered to users for free.
TheMindClan platform offers its users access to a curated range of support services that they can reach out to when they feel stuck at ‘Where do I start?’ Their community of specially curated mental health counselors cares deeply about mental health and people who need help in taking care of theirs. They also provide a list of group therapy gatherings and support groups that offer a space for sharing experiences, making connections, and providing support.
The platform also offers active mental health helplines that are privately operated by trained professionals, information on events and workshops in a specific city, and a myriad of stories, posts, poems, resources, and articles useful to people while they are going through their mental health journey.
This is why The Mind Clan organization is one of our World Happiness Awards Laureates. The World Happiness Awards celebrate and elevate people and communities that are working hard to make this planet a better place for us all.
In collaboration with the United Nations University for Peace along with 300+ international thought leaders, corporate, government, research, and educational institutions, The World Happiness Awards situate happiness and well-being as essential components of global innovation.
Do you want to be a part of a global change and help us achieve our goal of ten billion free, conscious, and happy people by 2050? Get involved today!
Dr. David Rabin & Kathryn Fantauzzi
Individual
Dr. David Rabin & Kathryn Fantauzzi
Stress is a normal part of our lives, and in small doses, it can even be good for us. Overcoming daily stressful events can make us more resilient. But what happens when that stress turns into a chronic or even acute type? Then it needs to be dealt with immediately.
Chronic stress can have a huge impact on our health, especially on our brains, leaving us vulnerable to many physical and psychological problems. Chronic stress is a major trigger for persistent inflammation in the body. This persistent inflammation can lead to a range of health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. Stress sends a signal to our bodies that we’re under threat. It kicks off our fight-or-flight response and makes it difficult for us to focus, relax and maintain the sleep we need to recharge and recover.
During his research, Dr. David Rabin, MD, Ph.D. has found out that deep breathing, biofeedback, and meditation are effective techniques to help manage stress. But unfortunately, these techniques are difficult to do when we’re already stressed out. This prompted Dr. Rabin and his wife, Kathryn Fantauzzi, to create Apollo Neuro, the Wearable Wellness Device for Stress Relief. Dr. Rabin is a board-certified psychiatrist and neuroscientist who specializes in treating chronic stress, while Kathryn, Apollo’s CEO, specializes in bringing discoveries out of the lab and into the real world.
Dr. Rabin began his research on what would become Apollo Neuro in 2014 at the University of Pittsburgh. He noticed a common theme in his clinical work: all of his patients’ symptoms worsened when they experienced stress. However, he also noticed that touch has an incredible ability to signal safety to the body and reduce stress. Dr. Rabin discovered that certain vibration waves could rapidly restore balance to our bodies and minds while actively improving heart rate variability, a critical measure of the effects of mental and physical stress on the body.
Once they’ve determined that their Apollo Neuro device measurably reduces stress, improves focus, and helps people sleep, they’ve brought it out of the lab and into the lives of anyone looking for a non-habit forming and safe way to take control of their health. When used consistently, Apollo retrains a nervous system to manage stress more effectively on its own. Over time a person will sleep better, improve their focus, and feel more balanced.
This is why Dr. Rabin and Kathryn Fantauzzi are one of our World Happiness Awards Laureates. The World Happiness Awards celebrate and elevate people like them, as well as communities that are working hard to make this planet a better place for us all.
In collaboration with the United Nations University for Peace along with 300+ international thought leaders, corporate, government, research, and educational institutions, The World Happiness Awards situate happiness and well-being as essential components of global innovation.
Do you want to be a part of a global change and help us achieve our goal of ten billion free, conscious, and happy people by 2050? Get involved today!
Special recognition to the individual or community that works a creative solution to stop covid-19 and / or creates conditions for a harmonious life under the impact of the virus.
COVID-19
Christina Williams
Individual
Christina Williams
The COVID-19 pandemic forced closure on schools and university campuses worldwide in March 2020, forcing millions of students to finish their semesters via remote studying. However, according to the new UNICEF-International Telecommunication Union report, two-thirds of the world’s school-age children (children aged 3 to 17 years old) have no internet access at home. The numbers are almost the same for young adult people aged 15 to 24 years old, with 63% unconnected at home.
Understandably, for those without internet access, education is practically out of reach. This digital divide is, unfortunately, perpetuating inequalities that already divide many countries and communities. Aware of this situation, Jamaica-born Christina Williams decided to take matters into her own hands.
Christina is an advocate for sexual and reproductive health rights. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, she took the lead and founded several programs such as COVINNECTED and A.H.E.A.D to assist the students and schools with insufficient funding.
She listened to young people saying they need to have a youth response to the UNDP UNHCR Global Report and its grave numbers of billions of students affected by school closures due to COVID-19. She was positive that thousands of Jamaican students were also a part of that statistic. Having served as a student leader, she knew firsthand how, in many regards, students were negatively affected.
COVINNECTED aims to ensure that no student is left behind during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing a guidance framework that can be used to inform online learning onboarding plans. The idea behind COVINNECTED is a standardization model by students for students to ensure equitable digital access throughout the education system. Thus far, the project has been endorsed by the UNDP Multi-Country Office headquartered in Jamaica, and tenets of the model have been included in the top five main universities within Jamaica with a preliminary nod of acceptance from the Ministry of Education.
The A.H.E.A.D (Active, Health, Education, Awareness, Development) program is designed to support remote and underfunded schools with building solutions, nutritional aid as well as meaningful additives to their curriculum to foster additional learning experiences and opportunities for students. The program aims to target unemployed and or unskilled parents/guardians of the students within these schools and sustainably empower them through skills training and job opportunities facilitated by our corporate partners. The main priority at this time, however, is to provide schools with resources that can support their efforts in managing the risk of COVID 19.
This is why Christina Williams is one of our World Happiness Awards Laureates. The World Happiness Awards celebrate and elevate people like Christina, as well as communities that are working hard to make this planet a better place for us all.
In collaboration with the United Nations University for Peace along with 300+ international thought leaders, corporate, government, research, and educational institutions, The World Happiness Awards situate happiness and well-being as essential components of global innovation.
Do you want to be a part of a global change and help us achieve our goal of ten billion free, conscious, and happy people by 2050? Get involved today!
The World Happiness Community Award recognizes an institution, organization or group of individuals making a profoundly positive impact in their community. Nominate a community.
Community
The World Happiness Catalyst Award is for individuals that go above and beyond to bring freedom, consciousness, and happiness to the world. Thanks to these game-changers, every day is a new opportunity to make a positive difference. Discovery, Connection, Gratitude, and Compassion are a major part of their values.
Catalyst
