2026 Conference Schedule

Day 1 - June 22nd, 9:00am - 10:00am EST

🗓 Day 1 - June 22nd, 9:00am - 10:00am EST

We begin the conference with a heartfelt welcome and conversation with our longtime Georgetown University partner and friend Charles DeSantis, whose wisdom, warmth, and deeply human approach to wellbeing have helped shape the spirit of this gathering for more than 15 years. Reflecting on resilience, gratitude, mentorship, purpose, and the power of believing in ourselves and others, Charles shares the moving story behind his personal mantra, “I’m possible and so are you,” and how it has guided both his own wellness journey and his work serving communities around the world.

Charles also reflects on what it means to care for ourselves while caring for others, the importance of daily practices that ground us, and the role that joy, faith, movement, connection, and gratitude can play in helping us navigate difficult seasons of life. Honest, uplifting, and filled with practical wisdom, his reflections offer a meaningful foundation for the days ahead.

We are then joined by Kristen Coffield for an inspiring exploration of active grandparenting and the profound role grandparents can play in shaping the health, happiness, and wellbeing of future generations. Drawing from her work helping families reconnect through movement, nourishment, outdoor experiences, and intentional living, Kristen shares practical ways grandparents can build deeper relationships with grandchildren while also supporting their own vitality and healthy aging.

Her message is both hopeful and empowering, reminding us that grandparenting today can be far more than a supporting role. It can be an opportunity to model resilience, curiosity, wellbeing, and joy while creating meaningful memories and stronger family connections that ripple across generations.

Day 2 - June 23rd, 9:00am - 10:00am EST

🗓 Day 2 - June 23rd, 9:00am - 10:00am EST

On Day 2, we explore the science of happiness with Georgetown University researcher Dr. Kostadin Kushlev, including the surprising importance of everyday social connection and how our increasingly digital lives may be quietly pulling us away from the very things that help us thrive.

Drawing from global happiness research spanning more than 1.5 million people across 161 countries, Dr. Kushlev shares why strong relationships, community, and even small moments with strangers have profound effects on wellbeing. He also dives into the growing body of research surrounding smartphones, notifications, fragmented attention, and how constant digital stimulation impacts your nervous system, focus, stress levels, and emotional health.

You will come away with practical, research-backed insights on reducing digital overwhelm, reclaiming your attention, creating healthier technology habits, and rebuilding the kinds of real-world connection that support both happiness and longevity.

Warm, accessible, and deeply relevant to modern life, this conversation offers a hopeful reminder that wellbeing is often found not in doing more, but in reconnecting with yourself, with others, and with the simple practices that make you feel most alive.

Day 3 - June 24th, 9:00am - 10:00am EST

🗓 Day 3 - June 24th, 9:00 am - 10:00 am EST

Day 3 welcomes conservationist and wildlife advocate Paula Kahumbu for a moving exploration of nature, wellbeing, conservation, and community. Through stories of elephants, forests, children, and life in the natural world, this conversation reflects on what happens when we lose our connection to nature, and what becomes possible when we rebuild it.

Paula shares powerful insights from her decades of work protecting elephants and wildlife across Africa, including her efforts to combat poaching, support coexistence between humans and animals, and inspire the next generation through outdoor education and storytelling. Along the way, she reflects on awe, resilience, curiosity, forgiveness, and the importance of helping children experience nature not through screens, but through direct connection with the living world around them.

You will hear extraordinary stories of elephant intelligence, family structures, and emotional depth, alongside deeply human stories about courage, community, and the people living on the front lines of conservation. Paula also explores how time outdoors can support emotional wellbeing, creativity, perspective, and a greater sense of belonging within the larger web of life.

Grounded, inspiring, and filled with wisdom, this conversation is a reminder that nature is not separate from us. It shapes us, heals us, teaches us, and reconnects us to something far larger than ourselves.

Day 4 - June 25th, 9:00am - 10:00am EST

🗓 Day 4 - June 25th, 9:00 am - 10:00 am EST

Day 4 brings us a fascinating conversation with Melissa Yamaguchi about authenticity, energy, self-awareness, and the hidden patterns shaping your life. Drawing from more than 30 years of experience and her innovative work through The Source Method, Melissa explores how ancient principles of feng shui can be applied not only to physical spaces, but to the inner landscape of who you are.

At the heart of this conversation is the idea that many of the struggles we experience in our health, relationships, work, and emotional wellbeing come from living out of alignment with our true nature. Melissa shares how understanding your energetic blueprint can help you better understand your strengths, behavioral patterns, relationships, and the deeper motivations influencing your choices.

Together, we explore the powerful connection between authenticity and wellbeing, including how unresolved stress, emotional depletion, people-pleasing, and chronic self-neglect can quietly impact every area of life. Melissa also introduces her nine-segment framework for examining the major dimensions of life, from career and creativity to love, health, purpose, money, mentors, and personal growth.

Insightful, deeply personal, and filled with practical wisdom, this conversation encourages you to take an honest inventory of your life, reconnect with who you truly are, and begin making choices that reflect your own authentic rhythm rather than the expectations placed upon you.

Day 5 - June 26th, 9:00am - 10:00am EST

🗓 Day 5 - June 26th, 9:00 am - 10:00 am EST

We close the conference with an inspiring and deeply personal conversation with Mariel Hemingway about resilience, mental health, aging, authenticity, and what it truly means to live well from the inside out. Reflecting on a life shaped by public success, family legacy, personal loss, and profound self-discovery, Mariel shares how she has learned to move beyond fear, reconnect with herself, and embrace this chapter of life as a beginning rather than an ending.

Mariel reflects on the powerful connection between emotional wellbeing, spirituality, lifestyle, nature, and mental health. She speaks candidly about growing up within the Hemingway family legacy, the generational patterns of depression and addiction that shaped her early fears, and the journey that ultimately led her toward healing, presence, and self-acceptance.

At the heart of her work is the belief that women are not broken, and that many of the struggles we carry are rooted in old survival patterns formed early in life. Through meditation, ritual, self-awareness practices, and creating supportive spaces for women, she encourages a return to authenticity, intuition, vitality, and deeper connection with both ourselves and the natural world.

You will also hear thoughtful reflections on aging with grace, redefining beauty, finding freedom later in life, and creating daily practices that support both physical and emotional wellbeing. Honest, wise, funny, and incredibly grounding, this conversation is a reminder that every stage of life holds the possibility for reinvention, healing, and renewed purpose.