Positive Psychology Leader Series: live webinars and audience Q&A with leaders in the field!

About the Series:

The Positive Psychology Leader Series features live webinars and audience Q&A with leading practitioners and researchers in the field.

IPPA members receive exclusive invitations to these regular webinars.

Do you want to pitch a potential presenter? The Series welcomes researchers and practitioners who work would be of interest to members. Email info@ippanetwork.org

Featured speaker:

Why can’t you imagine me as good? Studying positive psychology in urban African American communities
with Jacqueline Mattis, Ph.D.

December 4^th, 1:30pm – 2:30pm EST*

Abstract:
Historically social science research has conceived of urban settings as sites of stress and social disorder, and urban-residing African American youth and adults as people perpetually embedded in social disorder. Consistent with this narrow view of urban settings and urban-residing individuals, positive psychology has generally failed to attend to positive development among African American people living with the everyday complexities of urban life. This talk has three aims. First, I introduce a socioecological, transactional framework for exploring positive development among urban dwellers (SET-RS Urban; Mattis, Palmer, & Hope, 2019). This framework explores how positive and prosocial outcomes manifest and evolve within the unique sociopolitical, structural, and relational conditions that characterize city life. Second, I explore how the SET-RS framework reshapes our understandings of the factors that promote positive outcomes (e.g., compassion, optimism, altruism, forgiveness, love) among urban-residing African American youth and adults. Finally, I issue a challenge to positive psychology to move beyond acultural, apolitical, and acontextual approaches to positive human development. I assert that the failure to meet this challenge will limit positive psychology’s relevance in the decades ahead.

Bio:
Jacqueline S. Mattis, Ph.D. is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-Newark. She earned her B.A. in psychology from New York University, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of African American and Afri-Caribbean youth and adults, and on the factors that are associated with positive psychological and psychosocial development of urban-residing African Americans and AfriCaribbeans. In particular, she uses quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the factors that contribute to volunteerism, civic engagement, altruism, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, optimism, and positive parenting among urban-residing African American and Afri-diasporic people. She has co-authored numerous articles and has served on the editorial boards of numerous journals. She co-authored (with collaborator Fulya Kurter) two books on counseling in the Turkish cultural context, including a handbook entitled “Culturally sensitive counseling from the perspective of Turkish practitioners” (Bahcesehir University Press). This handbook explores the topic of culture, cultural diversity and intercultural dynamics within Turkey as these issues apply to the practice of counseling. Among the honors she has received over her career are the Distinguished Psychologist Award from the Association of Black Psychologists (2014); and NYU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Award (2011) for teaching excellence, leadership, social justice and community building. She has been recognized for her mentorship and teaching. She received the 2020 Paul M. Fitts Graduate Mentor Award from the University of Michigan Graduate Leadership Council) for outstanding mentorship of graduate students in Psychology, and the 2020 Cornerstone Award for unique contributions to enhancing the academic and social progress of African American students at the University of Michigan. She also received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities program (2019).

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Meet the Production Team

Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP
Host, Positive Psychology Leader Series

Read Caroline's Bio

Caroline is one of the world’s leading experts on the science behind successful goal setting and the use of ‘good grit’ to achieve hard things. Caroline used grit to help overcome her personal battle with bulimia, and today she has more than three decades of unbroken recovery. Caroline has a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, and teaches at Wharton Business School’s Executive Education program. Caroline is the author of six books, including Positively Caroline (Cogent 2013), Getting Grit (Sounds True 2017) and Creating Your Best Life (Sterling 2009).

Jodi Wellman
Associate Producer, Positive Psychology Leader Series

Read Jodi's Bio

Jodi Wellman is a co-founder of the coaching firm Happy Work Spectacular Life, where she helps individuals and companies create stunningly spectacular success through their work. Jodi is a leadership coach and consultant with 17 years of corporate experience spanning executive roles in operations, sales and customer retention.

Prior to starting Happy Spectacular, Jodi was Senior Vice President of Operations at a leading health and lifestyle organization. Jodi was also a Chair at Vistage International, where she led a private CEO advisory board and coached executives to improve bottom-line results, execution and leadership performance. She has successfully led strategic initiatives focused on culture development, growth/new business development, organizational change and restructuring, and has general management/P&L accountability.

Jodi is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach with CTI and a Professional Certified Coach with ICF. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Athabasca University. Jodi and her firm work with Reebok, HCSC Blue Cross Blue Shield, Payday Loans, and a host of privately held financial services, REITs, and professional services firms.

Jodi brings to clients a corporate executive’s perspective and understanding of their issues, along with the coaching expertise that challenges clients out of their comfort zones in order to grow, think differently, get out of their own way, solve their issues, and win.