Event Details

Join qualified Positive Psychology Practitioners and Organisational Experts and Researchers, Reece Coker, Diane Dreher, Ilene Berns-Zare, Kay Melton, Rebecca Jackson, Linda Bonnar and Syd Lewis, for a 3-part panel presentation and Q&A series on Positive Organisations.

Over the course of 3 live webinars (recorded for later viewing), and across multiple contexts, the panel experts will be sharing their perspectives on answers to the following questions:

What is a “Positive Organisation”?
What facilitates a Positive Organisation?
What obstructs a Positive Organisation?

For more information on the series, please click here.

To access the webinar recordings, please scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on the links under “Course Content”.

To access the course instructions, including Zoom links for live attendance of the series, please click here.

Speaker Biographies

Reece Coker (UK) – Webinar 1

Reece Coker is the founder of PPG. A fellow at the Institute of Leadership and Management, and Royal Society of Public Health, he is an experienced trainer, psychologist, and sector expert within the subjects of Positive Psychology, Motivation, Organisational Development & Culture, Neurodiversity & Inclusion, and Business Management. A senior manager within the corporate commercial and not-for-profit sectors, Reece is passionate about learning and development at all levels. He completed his Masters in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at Bucks New University in 2016, where his research focused on hope and fear, and is currently completing a PhD in Education and Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University with a focus on courage, anxiety, and autism. He leads and lectures on the Positive Psychology and Autism Awareness in Practice Programmes. He is an autistic individual who is a passionate advocate for autism and strengths-based approaches. Reece leads PPG’s Autism Centre and is keen to work with stakeholders within the areas of employment, mental health and wellbeing, and neurodiversity and inclusion. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester, where he is a subject matter expert in the fields of qualitative research, autism, and neurodiversity (theory and practice).

Diane Dreher (USA) – Webinar 1

Diane Dreher, PhD, PCC, is a Positive Psychology Coach, teacher, researcher, and author who has worked in higher education for over 30 years. After completing her PhD in Renaissance English literature at UCLA, Diane began teaching at Santa Clara University, where received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2019. Her publications include the bestselling Tao of Inner Peace, Tao of Personal Leadership, Tao of Womanhood, Inner Gardening, and Your Personal Renaissance as well as scholarly books and articles on literature, Positive Psychology, and hope. Seeking new frontiers in learning, she went on to complete a Master’s degree in Counseling and became a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), with the International Coaching Federation and a HeartMath Clinical Practitioner. Her research interests explore the convergence of Positive Psychology with Eastern philosophy, leadership, mindfulness, and hope. In addition to lecturing in the Positive Psychology Academy, she is Associate Director of the Applied Spirituality Institute at Santa Clara University, maintains an international coaching practice, is an advisor for the Hopeful Mindsets Project, and is writing a book on hope.

Ilene Berns-Zare, PsyD, PCC (USA)

Dr. Ilene Berns-Zare is an executive and life coach, certified by the International Coaching Federation. She provides life coaching for individuals and executive coaching for seasoned and emerging leaders who want to leverage their strengths, purpose, and potential to build more successful organisations and transform their personal and professional lives. Dr. Berns-Zare combines coaching techniques with positive psychology, the scientific study of flourishing and wellbeing. Dr. Berns-Zare brings 25+ years of broad-based experiences in a variety of organisational settings. Early in her career, she worked in the pharmaceutical/medical industry. Transitioning from the corporate world, she led an innovative multi-community coalition for public health and prevention, bringing public and private organisations together in collaborative partnerships. She’s held faculty posts teaching college counseling and psychology courses, served as a public middle school educator, and led multi-disciplinary teams of teaching staff. Currently, she serves as adjunct faculty at the Georgetown University, Institute for Transformational Leadership in Washington DC. Dr. Berns-Zare writes a monthly blog for Psychology Today called Flourish and Thrive: Navigating Transitions with Mindfulness and Resilience.

Kay Melton, MSc, PPGDip (UK)

Kay Melton has over 25 years’ experience of working in large multi-national companies in the Financial and Professional Services sectors. This has provided the opportunity to operate across business functions and to lead work on significant organisational changes including mergers, acquisitions and off-shoring. Curiosity about how individuals and teams respond to such change led her to study a Master’s degree in Management Learning and Change at the University of Bristol. This was also where she discovered her interest in Positive Psychology with a research dissertation on meaning in work for individuals at mid-career. Another enduring area of interest is how managers learn and develop in organisations. In her research, Kay aims to combine these two interests to explore how Positive Psychology, in particular, character and authenticity, can support first-line managers in their roles. When not working or studying, Kay enjoys long walks and photography and has recently revisited a childhood passion by having singing lessons.

Rebecca Jackson, PhD, PPGDip (UK)

Rebecca is a proudly autistic and ADHD coaching research practitioner. She is interested in best practice in Positive Psychology Coaching for supporting a range of different brains. She researches and coaches on zest, energy, self-regulation, motivation and wellbeing habits. When she’s not using her signature strengths of humour, learning, creativity, curiosity and social intelligence to study coaching, she can be found travelling, doing yoga, or playing with her dog, Mossy. Rebecca is currently using ADHD-friendly self-coaching interventions to train for Everest Base Camp in 2023.

Linda Bonnar, PCC (USA)

Linda Bonnar is a pragmatic and client-centred Master NLP Coach & Practitioner, entrepreneur, trainer, keynote speaker and author. Since leaving her full-time teaching job in 2015, Linda has successfully established herself as a personal & corporate coach, coaching employees in global companies such as Google, Salesforce, Chevron and Warner Media, in areas of leadership, executive and career coaching. Action-oriented and solution-focused, Linda equips her clients with the skills, tools and techniques they need to overcome challenges successfully and move forward confidently in their lives. Maintaining her passion for education and empowering young people, Linda co-founded the wellbeing app, Upstrive, which is helping thousands of people to look after their wellbeing every day. She is also the author of two coaching books: Press Play: A Teenager’s Guide to Living an Awesome Life, and Just Three Things: Bite-size Ways to Transform Your Life. An accomplished equestrian and avid runner, to date, Linda has run 15 marathons, 2 ultra marathons and numerous half marathons. Originally from Ireland, and having spent 15 years living in the Middle East, Linda now resides in New York City with her husband, Steve, and their two tortoises.

Syd Lewis (UK)

Syd Lewis is an accredited Counsellor, CBT Therapist, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Advanced Addiction Professional and Auricular Practitioner. He works for one of the larger charities in addiction the Forward Trust who provide programmes in the community and HMPs, as a Health and Well-being Practitioner. He is presently studying for a Level 7 Diploma in Applied Positive Psychology Research with the Guild. Syd would describe himself as family orientated, adaptable, always looking for ways the help others. His top three Character Strengths are Love of Learning, Kindness, and Forgiveness & Mercy. He has followed various career paths qualifying with the American College of Sports Medicine and helped to set up a Sports and Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre in Chelsea and Harley Street London, was a freelance Teaching the Teachers (Fitness and Exercise) course director for the Y.M.C.A. He worked for the NHS as a regional health promotion officer for SW London Surrey and Sussex, championing CHD prevention and Health in the Workplace. In his annual report (1992) The Look After Your Heart Programme was introduced to 3.9 million employees over three years. He has personally assisted 60 business to restructure and refinance. He has also managed several successful property developments and has run three small businesses.

Event Facilitator

Claire Higgins, MSc, PPGDip (UK)

Claire is the COO and Director of Education for the Positive Psychology Guild. Before this, she worked in the humanitarian sector for 16 years with international organisations such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF), International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and various branches of the United Nations across the Middle East, where she spent the first 40 years of her life. Her roles covered media, communications, operations, protection, and project coordination. During four of these years, she ran an executive coaching practice for non-profit and government entities on strategic communications and performance. She holds MSc degrees in Exercise & Sport Psychology (MMU) and Violence, Conflict & Development (SOAS), and a BA (Hons) in Arabic & Persian (SOAS). She is also a certified Positive Psychology Practitioner, self-defence and fitness instructor, health coach, martial arts practitioner (karate, judo), and former yoga teacher, and a Movement Psychology researcher. Amongst her treasured memories are building a small community of yoga students and practitioners on mission to the Gaza Strip, and practicing marital arts with Budo for Peace in Israel and other martial artists striving to build peaceful communities. She is the author of Wild Zen: An Inner Roadmap to Humanity and Cherry Blossom Dojo: The Way of Inner Strength.

CPD Positive Organisations Webinar Series