Leadership Team

Trained as a classical musician, she holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of Southern California, where she also completed minors in Music Education, Ethnomusicology, and Electro-Acoustic Media. She also holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her creative and scholarly practice centers on music as a vehicle for human flourishing, and her research in positive higher education focuses on embedding well-being as an essential outcome of the university experience. Dr. Zhao is the founder of Project Harmonia, a creative initiative dedicated to musical approaches to well-being. She serves as Professor of Music, Chair of the Music Department, and Director of General Education at the University of La Verne, where she leads institutional efforts in integrative learning and curricular innovation. She is the current President of the Education Division of the International Positive Psychology Association.

Following graduation, she moved to Columbus, Ohio and now works as a Research Assistant for the Mood and Personality Studies Lab at The Ohio State University (OSU). At OSU, she collaborates on studies that examine how acts of kindness can improve social and individual well-being.

She holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology and a Professional Certificate in Positive Education from The University of Melbourne and has worked as PYP Primary Educator for over a decade in both the ACT and Victoria. Currently serving as Head of Teaching and Learning and PYP Coordinator at Geelong Grammar School, Toorak, Bec is also leading Positive Education initiatives as the school’s Positive Education Coordinator. Guided by her signature strengths of humour, hope, zest, and love of learning, Bec brings curiosity, and a strengths-based approach to fostering both student and staff wellbeing.

Jacky believes that wellbeing is a collective responsibility and that relationships are at the heart of education.

Jacky has significant leadership experience in student wellbeing, positive education, health & physical education, coaching, curriculum development and the facilitation of professional learning for educators.

Jacky has completed postgraduate studies in student wellbeing, positive psychology and has recently completed a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at The University of Melbourne. Jacky is a forward-thinking educator who is passionate about the wellbeing of students and educators along with the cultivation of positive school cultures.

He has developed training programs in positive psychology for various organizations and educational settings. Currently, his research focuses on the role of school climate in student well-being and the impact of temporal perspective on overall wellness.

Additionally, he is highly interested in exploring the spectrum of well-being by studying social functioning and its effects on individual wellness. As the Director of Research at the Institute of Purpose and Integral Well-Being at Tecmilenio University, he co-authored the BEAT model for assessing workplace well-being and the Factor Wellbeing Educational project, which analyzes school environments and their influence on student wellness. He is also a co-author of the books “Organizational Well-being” and “Factor Wellbeing,” which provide methodologies to enhance quality of life in educational institutions.

Driven by a passion for fostering well-being in educational contexts, Mario aims to strengthen students’ potential through evidence-based practices

She also held the position of Vice president for High School Education.  She has PhD in Humanisitic Studies from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.  She has experience in leadership roles at Universities in Mexico where she has applied Positive Psychology in curricular plans for different age groups. She is representative for Latin America of the International Positive Education Network. Member of the Board for the “World Happiness Foundation”, “Pace begins with Children in Mexico” and “Education for Peace International” in Canada. Currently writes columns for different media outlets in Spanish.

He also served as the Education Division World Congress Lead for 2021, 2019 and 2017. He is the Interim Head of the School of Education and an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Adelaide. He is also a principal fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Publications include Wellbeing and Resilience Education: COVID-19 and Its Impact on Education (with Faye McCallum, Routledge, 2021), Critical Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Leadership: Enhancing Educational Outcomes (with Faye McCallum, Springer, 2020), Future Directions in Wellbeing: Education, Organisations and Policy (with Gavin Slemp and Simon Murray, Springer, 2017) and Evidence-Based Approaches in Positive Education: Implementing a Strategic Framework for Wellbeing in Schools (with Simon Murray, Springer, 2015). In 2020, Mathew was presented the Distinguished Contribution to Research in Educational Leadership Award by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders South Australian Branch. In 2021 he was awarded Fellowship of the International Positive Psychology Association. Mathew was a secondary school teacher for 20 years and has a decade’s senior leadership-level experience in schools. His next co-authored research book with Professor Faye McCallum, Wellbeing Education and Professional Practice: Transforming Teaching will be published by Springer (forthcoming 2022).

Having earned the Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in Psychometrics from the University of Massachusetts, Dr Zhao is currently Director of Teaching and Learning Evaluation and Measurement Unit at the University of Hong Kong. An academic and practitioner, Maggie has heavily engaged in leading large-scale educational projects from K-12 to higher education with a wide range of leading, teaching, research, and professional practice experience in the United States and China. Her research over the past decade has centered on the intersection of data science, learning sciences, and well-being science. Her work has appeared in refereed journals like Lancet Psychiatry, Journal of Positive Psychology, and Assessment. Maggie actively serves on advisory boards, professional committees, and professional consultations in student learning, well-being, curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and quality assurance.

Her research addresses the question of who flourishes and why. More specifically, my research focuses on two related areas: (a) understanding and measuring healthy functioning, and (b) evaluating sophisticated theories of psychosocial processes underlying health over time.