Patricia (Tish) Jennings, PhD, is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of social and emotional learning (SEL), mindfulness in education, and teacher well-being. A Professor of Education at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, her research focuses on promoting well-being in K-12 learning environments. Her work has been recognized by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for supporting school mental health and by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) for supporting adult SEL. A former teacher, school director, and teacher educator with over two decades of practical experience, Jennings brings deep insight to her work. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and several books. Her contributions have been recognized with multiple honors, including the 2024 Joseph E. Zins Award from CASEL, the 2023 UVA Distinguished Researcher Award, the 2018 Cathy Kerr Award for Courageous and Compassionate Science from the Mind & Life Institute, and recognition by Mindful Magazine as one of “Ten Mindfulness Researchers You Should Know.” She also served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development.
Noted neuropsychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel, MD is the Co-Founder of Mind Your Brain in Santa Monica, California, the Founder and Director of Education of the Mindsight Institute, and Founding Co-Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, where he was also Co-Principal Investigator of the Center for Culture, Brain and Development and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine. An award-winning educator, Dr. Siegel is the author of five New York Times bestsellers and over fifteen other books which have been translated into over forty languages. As the founding editor of the Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology (“IPNB”), he has overseen the publication of over one hundred books in the transdisciplinary IPNB framework which focuses on the mind and mental health.