CBD 2026: Flourishing Within, Together, and Worldwide: How brief moments of insight and action empower and uplift us all with Emiliana Simon-Thomas, PhD

This session will share science-backed keys to well-being as well as the measurable impact of engaging in a variety of prosocial reflections, experiences, and behaviors.

The work of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center that offers a vast landscape of ideas and practical techniques for tapping into and strengthening prosociality will be presented. Raising awareness about what well-being means, which factors reliably impact it, and what people can do to promote it, this work aims to embolden prosocial motivation and encourage caring, generous, and compassionate behavior. Participating in the Big JOY Project for example, a 7-day online program that invites brief daily reflections and actions, increases both prosocial feelings and well-being.

Emiliana Simon-Thomas, PhD is the Science Director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center (GGSC). She runs the GGSC’s annual research fellowship program as well as major research initiatives on topics like gratitude, humility, and love. She teaches the science of well-being widely, including open online courses on the science of happiness and happiness at work that have enrolled over 1M learners worldwide. Emiliana leads collaborative efforts to give widespread access to well-being insights and practical strategies for both personal and workforce improvement, and also investigates the impact of improvement on individuals, interpersonal dynamics, biological processes, and organizational systems. She is a co-editor of the 2017 and forthcoming 2nd edition of the Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science, and co-authored the 2025 Daily Flourish: A Science Backed Journal to Build Positivity, Connection, and Resilience. Emiliana serves as an expert voice on the neuroscience and social implications of prosocial states like compassion and awe and the well-being benefits of generous, nurturing, and mutually bettering behaviors. https://www.holstee.com/products/the-daily-flourish

This session is part of the FREE Contemplation by Design Summit, Oct. 14-25, 2026.

The full summit schedule is posted at: https://med.stanford.edu/contemplation/summit.html.