The C. Everett Koop National Health Awards recognize outstanding workplace health and well-being programs that are theory-based, implemented effectively, and evaluated rigorously. This session spotlights employers recognized by The Health Project as being innovators in the field having introduced significant innovation into their organization’s health and well-being programs. Innovators are chosen using the following criteria: 1) Evidence-Based, 2) Novelty, 3) Sustainability, 4) Scalability, 5) Impact on Participation/Engagement, 6) Physical, Mental, and Other Health-Related and Well-Being Outcomes, 7) Business Outcomes, 8) Impact on Policy or Practices, and 9) Impact on Outside Community. Winners will share their stories and answer the questions: what was done; did it work; and was it worth it.
It turns out that being nice is not so nice after all, and we now have the data to prove it. Nice cultures are actually destructive and unsustainable, because Nice is the Counterfeit of Kind. Nice does an incredible job of masquerading as the virtue of kindness, yet it is nothing more than a defense mechanism to avoid conflict. Kindness is a virtue that transforms conflict into connection. "Nice Culture" is the hidden destroyer of companies. Nice does such a great job at counterfeiting kindness that we don't even recognize its injurious nature often until it's too late. We easily create these environments without seeing how corrosive they are to workplace satisfaction, retention, productivity, employee morale, and profitability. Companies in the United States are currently estimated to be losing $483 billion annually to conflict-avoidant or "nice" cultures. Join Curtis Morley, Chief Emotionologist at Counterfeit Emotions, and Jen Chandio, Chief Nursing Officer at Intermountain Health, as they show how transforming your company from Nice to Kind creates authenticity, safety, efficiency, profitability, and removes inscivility.
In a world of rapid communication and constant noise, we often underestimate one of the most potent tools we possess: our words. This compelling session, led by Dr. Marleece Estella-physician executive, wellness innovator, and creator of the Kindnesscise(TM) movement-explores how language can be used as a therapeutic agent in clinical care, the workplace, and everyday life.
Drawing on neuroscience, clinical research, and real-world leadership experience, Dr. Estella reveals how positive, intentional language influences stress hormones, immune function, emotional regulation, and even cellular healing. Attendees will discover how communication-whether in a medical chart, a team meeting, or a casual conversation-can either harm or heal, inspire or erode trust.
This session bridges evidence-based science with practical application, empowering participants to transform their personal and professional interactions using the healing power of words. Whether you're a clinician, leader, educator, or caregiver, you'll leave with tools to improve outcomes, reduce burnout, and foster environments where people thrive.
Incivility at work rarely begins with shouting. It often starts with silence—when people don’t speak up, they may gossip, disengage, or show subtle dismissiveness. These behaviors erode trust, psychological safety, and team effectiveness. But here’s the truth: withholding feedback isn’t kind—it’s a form of incivility. And yelling or being overly harsh in the name of “honesty” isn’t courage—it’s poor communication.
Done right, brave conversations can build trust and drive business results. They clarify expectations, fuel accountability, and strengthen relationships. But most people were never taught how to do it well. They need clear training, support, and examples of how to speak up in a way that is both courageous and constructive.
In this energizing, science-backed session, Jill Schulman shares a practical framework to help people say what needs to be said—and say it in a way that builds, rather than breaks, connection. Through tools, stories, and tangible strategies, attendees will learn how small, consistent acts of brave communication can shift culture, improve performance, and create workplaces that work better for everyone.
In an era of constant change and emotional overload, many leaders are conditioned to respond to employee distress with strategies, tools, and solutions. But what if the most transformative move isn’t to fix an employee’s problem immediately—but to feel with the person?
This interactive session introduces the overlooked leadership skill of attunement—the ability to be present with someone’s emotional state in a way that fosters connection, clarity, and commitment.
Participants will explore why attunement matters, how to recognize moments that call for it, and what it takes to practice it skillfully. In a time when workplace incivility and disconnection are on the rise, attunement offers a path back to respect, humanity, and trust. Through real-world examples, reflective exercises, and embodied practice, leaders will learn how presence—not performance—can shift a conversation from tension to trust.
Participants will walk away with:
This session is ideal for leaders, educators, and professionals who want to deepen trust, strengthen engagement, and lead with more humanity—without needing more time or budget.
Workplaces thrive when kindness is more than a value—when it’s a practiced skill. In this interactive “playshop,” the Greater Good Science Center's Kia Afcari combines research-backed insights from the science of kindness with theater-based learning to help participants move from passive bystanders to active “Upstanders” in the face of workplace incivility.
Participants will begin by watching a short skit or video illustrating real-world incivility, then identify key dynamics and emotional responses. Grounded in research on altruism, fairness, and prosocial contagion, Kia will guide participants through Boal-informed theater techniques designed to build confidence and skills in intervening with compassion and effectiveness.
Together, we’ll explore what unbidden empathy looks like in action, how fairness preferences guide behavior, and why collaborative wins can shift entire workplace cultures. Participants will leave with practical Upstander practices they can apply immediately—and the science to back them up.
Come ready to move, reflect, and take a stand for civility.
A remote coworker who repeatedly calls in sick now logs on early to team conversations, camera on, ready to engage. The weekly staff meeting, where participants barely conceal their eye rolls, transforms into lively and meaningful discussions leading to company innovations. A junior employee, sitting in the back of the room and feeling invisible, now pulls up her chair to the table and speaks up as a valued team member. How do leaders heal unhealthy, toxic
workplaces when burnout, cynicism, and incivility fester? What if the most overlooked driver of workplace performance isn’t a new high-tech platform or revamped policy, but simple human kindness? Drawing on the groundbreaking science behind The Rabbit Effect, physician and public health expert Dr. Kelli Harding offers an ancient prescription for addressing modern workplace ills. Examining work through a biological and neuroscientific lens, Dr. Harding explains the risks of isolation and loneliness and how connection and belonging can lower stress hormones, strengthen immunity, reduce burnout, and boost productivity. These “hidden” factors of health (or the “social determinants” of health) contribute to wellbeing beyond the workplace and can even rewire the brain for long-term success. This session explores how
kindness is more than a moral virtue - it’s a powerful, cost-effective, evidence-based tool to improve human health and workplace performance. It’s a strategy that every leader can use to build a workplace culture where people - and productivity - flourish.
This session introduces the INTEGRATE model as a practical framework for shifting organizations from fear-based, transactional cultures to environments rooted in kindness, compassion, and love. The INTEGRATE model—Inspire, Nurture, Trust, Embody, Guide, Regulate, Align, Transcend, Engage—offers a systemic blueprint for addressing incivility not as isolated behavior but as a structural and relational challenge. Drawing from real-world case studies and multi-sector applications, the session will explore how kindness can become an organizational norm—measured, modeled, and sustained. Participants will engage with actionable tools and frameworks to embed kindness in leadership practices, team dynamics, workflows, and institutional policy—transforming how people interact, feel, belong, and thrive.
Stress, burnout, and incivility are now common features of the modern workplace. Yet what if the very experiences that bring us down could also help build us, and others, back up?
This session introduces Positive Altruism—the insight that helping others doesn’t just benefit the recipient, but also enhances the well-being of the giver. Research suggests that adversity, when meaningfully processed, can deepen empathy, strengthen connection, and inspire people to care for one another in new ways. While post-traumatic stress is widely recognized and post-traumatic growth increasingly valued, the idea of post-traumatic altruism—helping others as a result of one’s own suffering—remains largely underexplored in organizational life.
Grounded in the presenter’s capstone from the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program, this session draws on research in post-traumatic growth, positive psychology, the empathy–altruism hypothesis (Batson et al., 1981), altruism born of suffering (Staub, 2003; 2005), and the survivor mission framework (Herman, 1992). Together, these perspectives suggest that hardship can be a catalyst for prosocial behavior, perspective-taking, and compassionate leadership.
Rather than idealizing pain or pathologizing struggle, this session offers a science-based lens for transforming hardship into human connection. Participants will explore practical, research-backed strategies to support healing, elevate empathy, and help leaders and teams move from pain to purpose and from incivility to kindness.
If you can't pour from an empty cup, how can we expect employees to foster the kindness and civility this conference champions? Over 4,000 studies demonstrate self-compassion's power to build resilience, mitigate burnout, and improve wellbeing – vital for counteracting workplace incivility's corrosive effects. Research shows workers higher in self-compassion are more buffered against emotional exhaustion in uncivil environments. In addition to protecting worker well-being in uncivil environments, this valuable skill can foster empathy and greater tolerance and acceptance of others.
Yet, self-compassion remains misunderstood and underutilized. Join self-compassion researcher Dr. Jennifer Stuber and wellness authority Cassie Christopher, MS RDN, to debunk misconceptions, translate research into actionable strategies, and experience self-compassion practices. Dr. Stuber will also share insights from her study of Mindful Self-Compassion in first responders, offering transferable lessons for crafting interventions to transform your workplace culture and cultivate a kinder and more resilient workforce.
Sponsored by Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES) to receive Category I continuing education contact hours. Provider ID#101039
