Our Speakers

Jonah Paquette PsyD

A brief introduction to Jonah

Jonah Paquette is a clinical psychologist and sought-after keynote speaker who’s presented for top companies and organizations around the world including Genentech, Kaiser Permanente, and Google. His work focuses on the science of well-being and the promotion of emotional fitness for individuals, teams, and organizations. Jonah’s the author of four books that aim to teach the science of happiness to individuals and organizations in order to help them flourish both personally and professionally.

Jonah’s Areas of Expertise & Topics

  • The Wow Effect: The secret ingredient for a better workplace

  • From Grateful to Great: How a culture of gratitude can transform your organization

  • Connection at Work: Your organizational superpower

  • The Emotionally Fit Team: Fostering well-being at work


Vanessa Patrick PhD

A brief introduction to Vanessa

Vanessa Patrick, PhD. is an award winning researcher and teacher and the author of the book The Power of Saying No: The New Science of How to Say No that Puts You in Charge of Your Life. She is a regular speaker at both academic and practitioner conferences. She has published dozens of research articles in top-tier academic journals in psychology, marketing, and management, and popular accounts of her work have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Los Angeles Times, Business Week, Fast Company, Forbes, Huffington Post and Washington Post.

Vanessa’s Areas of Expertise & Topics

  • The Power of Saying No: Learning the ART of Empowered Refusal

  • Slay the Day: Personal Policies for Greater Productivity and Well-being 

  • You are what you do: Creating, Crafting and Curating YOU as a Brand

Jill Stoddard PhD

A brief introduction to Jill

Jill Stoddard is passionate about sharing science-backed ideas from psychology to help people thrive. She is a speaker, writer, award-winning former professor, peer-reviewed ACT trainer, therapist, and co-host of the popular Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. Her thoughts have been featured in The Washington Post, TEDx, today.com, NBC, ABC, CBS, and elsewhere. She lives in Newburyport, MA with her husband, two kids, and disobedient French bulldog.

Jill’s Areas of Expertise & Topics

  • Cultivating courage vs confidence for taking risks at work and beyond

  • Overcoming imposter “syndrome”

  • Managing stress, anxiety, and overwhelm

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)/psychological flexibility

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)/Exposure Therapy

Chris Willard PsyD

A brief introduction to Chris

Chris Willard is a clinical psychologist, speaker, author, and consultant based in Massachusetts. His thoughts have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, mindful.org, cnn.com, and elsewhere. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Chris’s Areas of Expertise & Topics

  • Mindful Resilience Training for the Real World

  • Creating Cultures of Belonging

  • The Neuroscience of Negotiation

  • Introduction to EI in the Workplace