Dr. Ellen Cole is a member of Soaringwords’ Advisory Board and a professor of Psychology at the Sage Colleges in Albany and Troy, New York. She is past president of the Society for the Psychology of Women, a division of the American Psychological Association and the Alaska Psychological Association. For 13 years she co-edited the journal Women & Therapy and currently serves as book review editor for Psychology of Women Quarterly. At age 70, she received a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. For several years, she has been working on numerous fronts to change perceptions of aging from one that is medically and negatively driven to one that focuses on quality of life and celebration. To that end, she and Jane Giddan launched the blog 70Candles.com and published a book, 70 Candles: Women Thriving in their Eighth Decade. Ellen and Dr. Mary Gergen co-edited Retiring but Not Shy: Feminist Psychologists Create Their Post-Careers and Positive Aging: What Feminist Therapists Need to Know, four special issues of the journal Women & Therapy, in 2016.

Ellen earned a PhD in Counseling Psychology from Union Institute, a Master in Education Counseling from Harvard University, and a BA in Psychology from Boston University. Ellen and her husband, Dr. Douglas North, relocated from Anchorage, Alaska to Albany, New York. They are the proud parents of four adult children and ten grandchildren.

As an educator and Positive Psychology coach, Dr. Karen Garman offers systematic training and performance-based solutions to organizations for the development and implementation of innovative training in Positive Psychology. By designing results-based programs and statistically testing the outcomes of these adult learning interventions, using attitude, learning, and behavioral change instruments, she systematically identifies performance gaps, designs and develops cost-effective interventions to close the gaps, implements training and mentorship interventions, and evaluates the human performance results. As Director of Positive Psychology Education for Soaringwords, she assists the CEO & Founder in designing research studies, Positive Psychology interventions, and professional development courses to increase agency and resilience in individuals, families, and organizations. Since 2015, she has been a lead strategist in the SOARING Into Positive Wellbeing Model and has co-presented Soaringwords’ empirical studies at the International Positive Psychology Association World Congress.
Dr. Garman has over 42 years of experience in the delivery of a variety of professional development training programs to public and private health care organizations. She holds a doctorate from the University of Southern California in medical education and certification as a human performance improvement expert. In addition to the large-scale health care systems work that she designs and implements, she is a board-certified coach and professionally coaches health care practitioners to become better leaders and clinicians at the local, state, and national levels. Dr. Garman was one of the first graduates of the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania. She recently had a leadership role in the launch of the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine integrating positive psychology and health into the medical student curriculum over all four years, and the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine pioneering precision health care for infants and children through rapid diagnosis and targeted treatment for newborns. Dr. Garman lives in sunny Coronado, California.

Dr. Ironson is a Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Miami and a board-certified psychiatrist. She received her medical degree from the University of Miami, her PhD from the University of Wisconsin, and did her residency training in Psychiatry at Stanford University. She has 280 publications in the field of behavioral medicine and Positive Psychology. She is the immediate past president of the American Psychosomatic Society; past president of the Health Division of IPPA; and past president of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. She is also a past member of the editorial board of five journals. She has directed federally funded research studies investigating psychological factors in long survival with illness (especially HIV), stress management, and treatments for traumatized individuals. She has received four awards for her work, most recently from the International Positive Psychology Association (July, 2021) for her research on Positive Psychology and Health. In 2019, she was awarded the Research Professor Award from the Academy of Consult-Liaison Psychiatry. In 2011, the Society of Behavioral Medicine awarded her the Spirituality and Health Award. And, in 1983, she received the Alumni Professor Award from the University of South Florida. Her current areas of focus include examining positive psychological factors (including positive affect, life satisfaction, meaning, compassion, and spirituality) in health and recovery from trauma. She just directed and completed a Templeton funded grant, which is the six-year follow-up examining the predictive power of spirituality and positive psychological factors for health in a nationwide sample. With over 250 publications, Dr. Ironson has directed federally funded research studies investigating psychological factors in long survival with HIV, stress management, positive psychological factors and coping, spirituality, and treatments for traumatized individuals.

She is currently President of the American Psychosomatic Society and is Past President of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (a senior level organization by invitation only) and Past President of the Health Division of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). She has been on the editorial board of 5 journals and has received 4 awards for her work – most recently from the International Positive Psychology Association for her research on Positive Psychology and Health; The Society of Behavioral Medicine for her work on Spirituality and Health; from the Academy of College of Consult-Liaison Psychiatrists; and the Alumni Professor Award from the University of South Florida.

Dr. Ironson set up and currently directs the Trauma Treatment Program at the University of Miami Psychological Services Center (with Dr. Blanche Freund), which trains students and treats residents of the local community on a sliding scale. Her current focus areas include examining positive psychological factors and health, with an emphasis on spirituality and trauma. She is currently the Primary Investigator on a Templeton Foundation funded grant, which is the 6 year follow-up examining the predictive power of positive psychological factors and spirituality for health and survival from a nationwide sample. Gail lives and works in Miami, Florida where she enjoys a beautiful view of the lake outside her home.

Dr. Pninit Russo-Netzer, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer and researcher, the head of the Education Department and the head of the Resilience and Optimal Development Lab at Achva Academic College. She is also the head of the ‘Compass’ Institute for the Study and Application of Meaning in life; founder and head of the Academic Training Program for Logotherapy (meaning-oriented psychotherapy) at Tel-Aviv University. She is the recipient of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) Spirituality and Meaning Researcher Award.

She has published academic articles and chapters and is the co-author and co-editor of several books on the topics of meaning in life, positive psychology, existential psychology, positive change, and growth. Dr. Russo-Netzer serves as academic advisor and consultant to both academic and non-academic institutions worldwide. Pninit is a member of Soaringwords Board of Directors. She and her husband live with their three daughters in Israel.

Dr. Diana Whitney is the newest member of the Soaringwords Board of Directors. A global social entrepreneur, she is a co-founder of Appreciative Inquiry, a collaborative problem-solving method that focuses on what’s working well, rather than what’s not. This strengths-based approach encourages people to ask questions that strengthens a system’s capacity to achieve its positive potential. It’s also a radical way to encourage participation from all members of a community, rather than a traditional top-down hierarchical approach. For more than 12 years, Soaringwords has built immersive Appreciative Inquiry prompts into all its workshops and programs. Research shows that when people are encouraged to share about experiences from their life, it reminds them of their strengths and values which strengthens their resilience and confidence.

She’s the founder of the Corporation for Positive Change, a global consulting cooperative; co-founder of the Taos Institute, an international think tank dedicated to relational processes in business, education, families and communities; and a founding advisor to the United Religions Initiative, a global network of interfaith cooperation circles working for peace and social justice.
Diana’s unique style of ‘interactive storytelling’ has inspired audiences from 50 to 1,500 at national and international conferences and leadership symposiums in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Diana’s presentations are rich tapestries of experience, research, and innovative practices that enliven relationships and transform leadership practices. Diana is a prolific, provocative, and practical author. Her award-winning books on Appreciative Leadership and Appreciative Inquiry, the revolutionary process she helped to develop, have been translated into over a dozen languages and are used as textbooks in business schools, universities, and corporate learning centers around the world. The International Organization Development Network (ODN) honored Diana’s written contributions to the field with the Larry Porter Award.

As a master consultant, Dr. Whitney’s work spans the globe. Diana consults with executives and teams in support of strategic planning and organization development, organization culture creation and transformation, and leadership capacity building. With over thirty years of experience, her clients include British Airways, Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, Merck SA, City of Regina, Calgary Health Region, UVA Health System, Idaho Department of Education, and the Sisters of Good Shepherd, and Civic Federal Credit Union. The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) recognized her Appreciative Inquiry work with David Cooperrider, at GTE (Verizon) with their award for Best Organization Culture Change.

Diana serves as Distinguished Consulting Faculty with Saybrook University, and a Ph.D. advisor with the Taos Institute. She is Expert Faculty for the NCR Picker Patient Centered Care Institute and a Fellow of the World Business Academy.

Dr. Whitney received her Ph.D. from Temple University in Organizational Communication. Her research on the dissemination of educational innovations was funded by the National Institute of Education and used to create an agenda for the development of educational R&D laboratories in the United States. She currently resides in Denver, Colorado.

Soaringwords community mourns the untimely death of our beloved friend and mentor Chris Mackey who served on the Soaringwords Advisory Board with wisdom and joy since 2016.

Chris was a clinical and counseling psychologist and Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society with 40 years’ psychotherapy experience. He is the principal psychologist at Chris Mackey and Associates, his private psychology practice in Geelong, Australia. Chris was the resident psychologist for Destination Happiness, a wellbeing TV show aired nationally across Australia. Chris contributes a monthly opinion column for The Geelong Advertiser. Chris has presented at numerous national and international scientific conferences over the past 25 years on such topics as the assessment and treatment of psychological trauma, the evaluation of effectiveness of psychological therapy for anxiety and depression and the wellbeing benefits of synchronicity. He had a particular interest in promoting more optimistic approaches to mental health, including positive Psychology. Chris and Lisa Buksbaum met at the International Positive Psychology World Congress in 2013 and he featured this meeting in his first book Synchronicity. He has been a guest on the SOARING Into Positive Wellbeing Initiative.

Pamela Núñez del Prado Chaves is the Research Director at Soaringwords. She is also the Founding Director of the “Peruvian Positive Psychology Research Centre” at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She is the Founder of the Peruvian Positive Education Initiative and one of the founding members of Mami Linda, a non-profit organization that promotes mental health and well-being for vulnerable populations groups in Perú.She is a founder of Pinda, a virtual therapy solution for a Spanish-speaking audience. Pamela is a registered clinical psychologist and full member of the Peruvian Psychological Society (Colegio de Psicólogos del Perú or CPP). As a qualified clinical psychologist and researcher, Pamela has worked across government and health, not-for-profit welfare, education, and business sectors, such as the Peruvian Health Department, the Peruvian Education Department, the National Institute of Mental Health and Peruvian Institute of Children’s Health (Children’s Hospital). Pamela graduated with honors from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú and she holds a Master in Applied Positive Psychology, from the University of Melbourne. Pamela discovered Soaringwords at the European Conference on Positive Psychology when she attended a workshop Lisa Buksbaum was leading. She joined Soaringwords and has led the global Soaringwords empirical research study in Latin America. Since then, the two of them have presented the study findings at several international scientific conferences together.

Professor of Nursing & an Attending Physician, University of Virginia Department of Pediatrics

Julie Haizlip is a clinical professor of nursing and holds a joint appointment as associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia Schools of Medicine and Nursing. She serves as co-director of the University of Virginia Center for ASPIRE (Academic Strategic Partnership for Inter-professional Research and Education) and is director of the UVA Center for Appreciative Practice.

Dr. Margarita Tarragona is a psychologist who specializes in personal and relational transformation. As a clinician, coach and organizational consultant, she incorporates findings on flourishing from positive psychology with collaborative and narrative ways of working with clients to generate dialogue and expand their life stories.

Dr. Tarragona has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago and specialized in family therapy at the Family Institute of Northwestern University and the Ackerman Institute for the Family.

She co-founded and teaches at Grupo Campos Elíseos, a training institute in Mexico City. She was the director of the Instituto de Ciencias de la Felicidad Tecmilenio, where she created a positive psychology class taken by thousands of college students. She serves on the board of directors of IPPA (International Positive Psychology Association), is a global representative for IPEN (International Positive Education Network), and a member of the Taos Institute and the American Family Therapy Academy. She publishes regularly in academic publications and popular media and authored Positive Identities: Positive Psychology and Narrative Practices.