ActivistI found my life's purpose in the Happiness Movement, which I see as a natural and needed extension of the Sustainability Movement.
I'm co-founder and executive director of The Happiness Alliance, a non-profit collaborating with scholars, activists, and organizations to bring a version of Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index to communities and individuals since 2011. With this work, I have gotten to do some amazing things I never imagined I would do. I am fortunate to walk alongside my partner Dr. Clinton Bliss at Bliss Medical Center in Seattle, where our focus is on providing caring healthcare to our neighbors that really makes the connection between the body and mind. In our commitment to sustainability, we are growing an urban edible forest around our building, our waiting rooms double as greenhouses, and we reduce and recycle as much as is feasible and safe while adhering to best medical practices. |
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I am so lucky and honored to work as the executive director of the Happiness Alliance. The work we do is a project that I feel exemplifies my purpose in life. We are fortunate to work in collaboration with other organizations as well as scholars and activists, most notably One Nature and Planet Happiness.
My work in the Happiness Movement has taken me to places I never imagined. In 2011, I was invited to join the Balaton Group, an amazing organization whose work I greatly admire. In 2012 I was an invited participant at the UN High-Level Meeting Well-being and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm where I worked with the Civil Society working group. In 2015 and 2018 I participated in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Forums Statistics, Knowledge and Policy, The Future of Well-being and Transforming Policy, Changing Lives. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, I was also an invited participant at the World Government Summit's Global Dialogue for Happiness, where we met and discussed the Happiness Movement in round tables. In 2019, I spoke at the Global AI governance forum about the work I did with IEEE to create their first standard in their ethical AI program, IEEE 7010-2020. My life as an activist extends beyond volunteering in the Happiness Movement. I feel so fortunate to work with my partner, Dr. Clinton Bliss, to provide healthcare to our neighbors at our small clinic, Bliss Medical Center. We provide the kind of care we would like to receive to patients we genuinely care about and who genuinely care about us. We also host a Bliss Community Dance that builds community and gives us a space to dance our true nature. I love love love to dance and I am so happy to be able to share that love with our neighbors and fellow Seattleites. To get a better picture of the work I'm involved in, explore the links below! |