The Greater Good
Gratitude Summit

A Day of Science, Stories and Inspiration
Live Event SOLD OUT; Webcast Registration NOW CLOSED


  • Venue: Craneway Pavilion Conference Center
  • Date: June 7, 2014
  • Time: 9:00 am - 5:15 pm
  • Price: $125 - $149 - LIVE EVENT SOLD OUT; WEBCAST REGISTRATION CLOSED

The last 10 years have seen an explosion in the scientific study of happiness. The findings tell a complex, provocative, and unfinished story. But if they had to be distilled into one simple prescription for happiness, it would probably be this: Say thank you.

Gratitude, it seems, is a key—perhaps the key—to feeling more satisfied with your life. Strengthening your sense of joy and social connection, gratitude improves your relationships, helps you cope with adversity, and even fortifies your immune system.

The Greater Good Gratitude Summit will illuminate the critical role gratitude plays in our health and happiness, and explore how we can cultivate more gratitude in ourselves and those we care for. Attendees will learn the latest findings from the groundbreaking new science of gratitude, put into practical, accessible terms.

Joining world-renowned researchers will be Jack Kornfield and Brother David Steindl-Rast—two of the world’s most inspiring thinkers about gratitude. Throughout the day, researchers like Robert Emmons, the leading scientific expert on gratitude, will share cutting-edge discoveries, complemented by insights from real-world programs focused on enhancing gratitude. The day’s presentations will explore how to turn gratitude science into action and extend its positive impact as widely as possible.

Some of the specific issues covered at the Gratitude Summit will include:

  • how to nurture gratitude in children and foster it in the workplace;
  • how gratitude affects our brains, biology, and mental health;
  • the obstacles to gratitude and how to overcome them, especially in a culture where it’s easy to take things for granted.

 

Speakers will share key practices for boosting gratitude across multiple contexts, from kitchen tables to clinics to boardrooms to mobile devices. They'll include Teri McKeever, head coach of both the 2012 U.S. Olympic women's swimming team that won 14 medals in London and of the #1 ranked UC Berkeley women’s swimming team; she'll discuss how and why she has encouraged the practice of gratitude among her world-class athletes. The Gratitude Summit is the culmination of the Greater Good Science Center’s unprecedented three-year project, Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude, funded by the John Templeton Foundation.

GGSC members receive a 20 percent discount on registration. Register Here!

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    Jack Kornfield, Ph.D

    Jack Kornfield, Ph.D., is a world-renowned psychologist, author, and teacher. He is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West, and is a founder of both the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. 

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    Brother David Steindl-Rast

    David Steindl-Rast is a Catholic Benedictine monk , notable for his active participation in interfaith dialogue and his work on the interaction between spirituality and science. He co-founded the Center for Spiritual Studies in 1968 and received the 1975 Martin Buber Award for his achievements in building bridges between religious traditions.

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    Robert Emmons, Ph.D

    Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., is the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude. He is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and the founding editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology. He is also the author of Gratitude Works!: A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity.

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    Sara Algoe

    Sara Algoe, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of psychology and director of the Emotions and Social Interactions in Relationships Laboratory at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her expertise spans emotions, relationships, and health psychology. She is an expert on the role of gratitude in social relationships and a GGSC gratitude grant recipient.

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    Giacomo Bono

    Giacomo Bono, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and studies positive youth development with an emphasis on prosocial behavior and relationships. He is co-investigator of the Youth Gratitude Project and co-author, along with Jeffrey Froh, of Making Grateful Kids: The Science of Building Character.

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    Tom Gilovich

    Tom Gilovich is a professor of psychology at Cornell University. His research deals with how people evaluate the evidence of their experience to make judgments, form beliefs, and decide on courses of action, and how they sometimes misevaluate that evidence and make faulty judgments, form dubious beliefs, and embark on counterproductive courses of action.

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    Amie M. Gordon

    Amie M. Gordon, Ph.D., studies the role of prosocial emotions (e.g., gratitude) and cognitions (e.g., perspective taking) in close relationships. She also conducts research on the impact of sleep on relationship quality. She received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and her B.A. from UCLA. She blogs for Psychology Today in Between You and Me.

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    Peter Jin Hong

    Peter Jin Hong Peter Jin Hong—Sr. Designer, Social Impact, Google—is a creative director, biologist, and humanist, who unlocks innovative experiences that consumers love, based on insights of what makes people tick and experiences stick. He's done this at Google, Hattery, Blast Radius, Tribal DDB, working on Google Search, G+ Photos, Kayak, EA, and BrightFunds.org.

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    Jeff Huffman

    Jeff Huffman is a GGSC gratitude research grant recipient, director of the Cardiac Psychiatry Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

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    Andrea Hussong

    Andrea Hussong is a GGSC Gratitude Research Grant winner, director of the Center for Developmental Science & Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and expert on how to foster gratitude in kids

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    Christina Karns

    Christina Karns, Ph.D. is a researcher at the University of Oregon working at the intersection of emotion, social neuroscience, multisensory integration, attention, and neuroplasticity. Her project, "The Grateful Brain: An fMRI study of Generosity and Social Agency following a Gratitude Intervention" was a Gratitude Research Grant winner through the GGSC and addresses the relationship between gratitude, social reasoning, decision-making, and the brain.

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    Dacher Keltner

    Dacher Keltner, Ph.D., is the founding faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the author of Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life and a co-editor of The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness.

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    Dennis Kim

    Dennis Kim is a poet from Chicago.  He is a co-founder of I Was Born With Two Tongues, an Asian American spoken word quartet, and Typical Cats, a Chicago-based hip hop collective. His poetry has been featured in the Asian Pacific American Journal, Columbia ReviewEchoes upon Echoes: New Korean American Writings, and on three seasons of Def Poetry Jam.  He is a teaching artist at Youth Speaks, Inc.

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    Jason Marsh

    Jason Marsh is the founding editor in chief of Greater Good and the GGSC’s director of programs. He is also a co-editor of two anthologies of Greater Good articles: The Compassionate Instinct (WW Norton, 2010) and Are We Born Racist? (Beacon Press, 2010).

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    Teri McKeever

    Regarded as one of the best swimming mentors in the United States, Teri McKeever completed her 21st year as head coach of the University of California’s women’s swimming and diving program in 2012-13. McKeever was the head coach of the U.S. women’s team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

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    Nipun Mehta

    Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace (formerly CharityFocus), an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology, and gift-economy. What started as an experiment with four friends in the Silicon Valley has now grown to a global ecosystem of over 400,000.

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    Wendy Berry Mendes

    Wendy Berry Mendes is the Sarlo/Ekman Associate Professor of Emotion at UCSF. Her research sits at the intersection of social, personality, and biological psychology and primarily concern questions regarding embodiment--how emotions, thoughts, and intentions are experienced in the body and how bodily responses shape and influence thoughts, behavior, and emotions.

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    Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton

    Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton is the director of the Greater Good Science Center, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the co-editor of the Greater Good book, Are We Born Racist?: New Insights from Neuroscience and Positive Psychology.

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    Chris Murchison

    Chris Murchison is the Vice President for Staff Development & Culture at HopeLab, creatively guiding their efforts to create an organizational culture that values learning and innovation.

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    Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas

    Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., is science director of the Greater Good Science Center, where she oversees the GGSC’s Expanding Gratitude project. TEmilina’s work spotlights the science that connects health and happiness to social affiliation, caregiving, and collaborative relationships.

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    Jeremy Adam Smith

    Jeremy Adam Smith is producer and editor of the Greater Good Science Center ‘s website. He is also the author or coeditor of four books, including The Daddy Shift, Rad Dad, and The Compassionate Instinct. Before joining the GGSC, he was a 2010-11 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. You can follow him on Twitter!

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    Phil Watkins

    Philip Watkins received his B.S. in psychology from the University of Oregon and his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. His work is focused on how gratitude enhances well-being, and he recently published a book on the science of gratitude titled Gratitude and the Good Life.

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    Alex Wood

    Alex Wood is Professor and Director of the Behavioural Science Centre at Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, which links the behavioural sciences (such as psychology) with the social sciences (such as economics and management). His approach focuses on well-being of which gratitude is a key component.

Accommodations

Gratitude Summit attendees can receive a special UC Berkeley rate at the following hotels:

Downtown Berkeley's Hotel Shattuck Plaza. Receive a $169 rate by mentioning that you are attending a UC Berkeley event when you call to reserve at 866-466-9199. 

Hotel Durant, next to the UC Berkeley campus. Receive a $175 rate for a double room by requesting the "UC rate." Spaces are limited.

Parking & Transportation

The Craneway Pavilion Conference Center is conveniently accessible by public transportation, as well as by car.

You can learn more about transportation options to the Craneway at http://www.craneway.com/Contact/Directions, or review the instructions below.

By Car
Address
1414 Harbour Way South
Richmond, CA 94804

Parking
The Craneway Pavilion has 1,200 private, secure parking spots. Parking is free with event registration.

Driving Directions
From Oakland, Alameda, San Jose
Take 880 Northbound to 580 Westbound. Continue on 580 West towards Pt. Richmond. Exit Harbour Way South (Cutting Blvd), make immediate right onto Cutting Blvd (at the light). Make an immediate right onto Harbour Way South (at the light) and follow it to the waterfront.

From San Francisco, Berkeley
Take 80 Eastbound to 580 Westbound. Continue on 580 West towards Pt. Richmond. Exit Harbour Way South (Cutting Blvd), make immediate right onto Cutting Blvd (at the light). Make an immediate right onto Harbour Way South (at the light) and follow it to the waterfront.

From Walnut Creek
Take 24 Westbound. Continue on 580 Westbound towards Pt. Richmond. Exit Harbour Way South (Cutting Blvd),  make immediate right onto Cutting Blvd (at the light). Make an immediate right onto Harbour Way South (at the light) and follow it to the waterfront.

From Marin
Take the San Rafael Bridge/ 580 Eastbound. Exit Cutting Blvd. Turn left onto Cutting Blvd. Make a right onto Harbour Way South and follow it to the waterfront.

From Sacramento
Take 80 Westbound. Exit Cutting Blvd. Turn right onto Cutting Blvd. Turn left onto Harbour Way South and follow it to the waterfront.

By Public Transportation
BART
Exit at Richmond Station (16th and MacDonald Avenue) and get on AC Transit bus #74 South Harbour Way & Ford Point.

Amtrak
Exit at Richmond Station (16th and MacDonald Avenue) and get on AC Transit bus #74 South Harbour Way & Ford Point.

AC Transit—Lets you off at the door!
Take AC Transit Bus line #74, Ford Point stop. Be sure it’s #74 Harbour Way South & Ford Point!
—If you arrive at Richmond BART and board this bus at 7:25 am, you’ll be at the door by 7:36
—(BEST CHOICE) If you arrive at Richmond BART and board this bus at 8:16 am, you’ll be at the door by 8:28
The next bus, leaving BART at 8:54 am, arrives at 9:06.

If you can’t make it to the San Francisco Bay Area, never fear: This event will be webcast live!

With the webcast, you’ll watch real-time video of the event, including slides, be able to submit questions to the presenter online, and receive CE credits—all from the comfort of your home, office, or anywhere with a hard-wired Internet connection.

You will be emailed prior to the event with course materials and a login and password for the webcast.

Please see the registration page for more details about the webcast.

* Attendees can receive 6 CE credit hours for attending in-person or online.
* Continuing Education for this event co-sponsored by R. Cassidy Seminars.

Alcoholism & Drug Counselors: Provider approved by CFAAP/CAADAC. Provider 4N-00-434-0214 for 6 CEHs. CAADAC is an ICRC member which has reciprocity with most ICRC member states.

ICF Coaches: These 6 CE hours are considered RD hours with ICF.  These 6 hours are useful for coaches who attend this program, but the material is not directly related to the ICF Core Competencies.

Nurses: Provider approved by the CA Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #CeP12224, for (6) contact hours.

Physicians: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of the Institute for the Advancement of Human Behavior (IAHB) and the Greater Good Science Center. IAHB is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. IAHB designates this live activity for a maximum of 6.00 AMA PRA Category1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Psychologists: R. Cassidy Seminars is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. R. Cassidy Seminars maintains responsibility for this program. (6) CE hours.

Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs), and Counselors: California: Course meets the qualifications for (6) hours of continuing education credit for MFTs and/or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Provider #PCE418. R. Cassidy Seminars is an approved provider for Social Work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Board (ASWB) through the Approved Continuing Education (ACE) Program. ACE Provider #1082. www.aswb.org Approval Period April 15, 2012 – April 15, 2015. 6 CE hours. R. Cassidy Seminars is a National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP™) and may offer NBCC approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements. The ACEP solely is responsible for all aspects of the program. (NBCC Provider #6375).

 

Attendees will be able to:

  • Describe what gratitude is—and is not—according to scientific research, both as a fleeting emotional state and as a more stable personality trait;
  • Identify the range of physical, psychological, and social benefits of gratitude—its effects on health and happiness;
  • Explain how gratitude affects the human brain and body;
  • Identify the barriers to practicing gratitude and describe methods to overcome them;
  • Apply evidence-based practices for increasing their own gratitude and fostering gratitude in children, families, workplaces, communities, and with their clients and patients.

 

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