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If you are leading through complexity, change, or burnout and you want leadership to feel more steady, more human, and more effective, I invite you to join us. ~ Alexia Georghiou, Founder World Happiness Fellowship

Research from Shawn Achor (Harvard Business Review, 2012) shows that when teams operate from a positive cognitive state:

• ~31% increase in productive energy
• ~37% higher sales performance
• ~40% greater likelihood of promotion (leadership readiness)
• Up to 3× greater creativity
• ~23% reduction in the negative effects of stress

These effects are durable. When positive habits are practiced for as little as three weeks, gains persist months later — indicating systemic change in how the brain processes information, not temporary motivation.

“World Happiness Fellowship embodies happiness as a science, skill and tool to empower employers and employees alike to embrace simple actionable strategies together to improve overall wellbeing.”
~ Alexia Georghiou, Founder, World Happiness Fellowship

March 20, 2026

9am-2pm

Summit 2 Banquet Room

Crown Plaza Hotel

401 W Summit Hill Dr SW

Downtown Knoxville, TN 37902

A retreat-style experience for leaders who need to refuel.

This is not another conference.
It’s a pause.

The World Happiness Fellowship is an in-person retreat designed for leaders across industries and disciplines who are carrying a lot—and want to leave resourced, grounded, and clear.

Who will be there:
Leaders from business, nonprofit, government, education, healthcare, and community organizations.

Come as you are.
Leave refueled.

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Elia Gourgouris, Ph.D. America’s Happiness Doctor

Dr. Elia Gourgouris also known as America's Happiness Doctor, is the author of the #1 best-selling Amazon book, 7 Paths to Lasting Happiness which has been translated in 5 languages. He co-authored the highly acclaimed book 7 Keys to Navigating a Crisis: A Practical Guide to Emotionally Dealing with Pandemics and Other Disasters.

He's the President and co-founder of The Kindness Factor International and just produced a documentary feature film called For Such A time As This on the impact of kindness worldwide!

Opening Keynote; How to Effectively Navigate ANY Life Challenge with Resilience & Manifest Success & Happiness!

This keynote equips professionals with a framework for navigating challenges with resilience and for creating workplace cultures that foster well‑being, engagement, and performance. Attendees will explore four personality responses to challenges and learn to shift to a Navigator mindset, enabling effective leadership in any circumstance. The session highlights the power of H.O.T. (Honest, Open, Transparent) communication, the traits that define resilient leaders, and practical strategies for building inclusive, resilient, high‑trust cultures that drive organizational success. Participants will leave with actionable insights to strengthen resilience skills across their teams and enhance overall organizational effectiveness.

FINTEK TV interview at the NY Stock Exchange

 

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Kim Black, Former Pwc Wellness Director, Founder Sage Leadership and Wellness

Kim Black is the founder of Sage Leadership & Wellness and a leadership consultant, certified executive coach, and speaker whose work sits at the intersection of organizational psychology, happiness science, and leadership effectiveness.

She brings 25 years of experience from PwC, where she held multiple senior leadership roles, including serving as Wellbeing Director for PwC’s U.S. and Mexico workforce of approximately 75,000 employees.

Interactive Experience; The Belonging Effect: Escape Room Edition - Unlocking the Keys to Trust & Wellbeing

This isn’t a lecture - it’s an experience. In this high-energy breakout, participants become part of The Belonging Escape Room, an interactive simulation where teams must “unlock” trust, and wellbeing through real-world HR challenges. Each lock represents a workplace dilemma: misfired feedback, invisible burnout, or an overlooked voice. To escape, participants must decode data, rewrite dialogue, and design rituals that build psychological safety.
 
Along the way, they’ll discover how belonging directly drives performance and retention: Gallup research shows disengagement now costs organizations $8.9 trillion globally, while replacing a single employee costs 50–200% of annual salary. Gamified learning increases knowledge retention by 75% (ATD), so participants leave with muscle memory, not just notes.
 
The session closes with each team designing a “Belonging Ritual Card” - a practical, measurable culture habit they can pilot within 30 days.
 
Learning Objectives:
  • Experience how trust, and wellbeing influence team performance under pressure.
  • Diagnose three everyday leadership blind spots that erode belonging and design rituals to fix them and prevent them from happening again.
  • Leave with a ready-to-use “Belonging Ritual” to implement immediately - and a business case to sustain it.
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Closing Keynote

Enrique Rubio CEO & Founder Hacking HR

Top voice and disruptor of HR, Engineer and Fulbright Scholar

Technology with a Soul: How We Can Leverage AI to Strengthen Human Happiness at Work

Can we leverage AI to make people happier at work?

AI alone will not create happiness, but how we design work, relationships, and communities around AI absolutely can. This keynote explores why community, belonging, and human connection matter more than ever as technology reshapes how we work.

While AI promises efficiency, speed, and scale, it also risks deepening isolation, fragmentation, and disconnection if deployed without intention. Drawing on insights from global organizations and communities, this session challenges the assumption that smarter tools automatically lead to better work experiences. Instead, it reframes AI as a powerful enabler that can either erode or strengthen trust, collaboration, and well-being depending on the choices leaders make.

The session introduces the idea of being connected by design: intentionally shaping workplaces where AI supports human relationships. Participants will explore how AI can help reduce friction, free up time for meaningful interactions, and reinforce a sense of belonging, when guided by human-centered values and community-first thinking.

Ultimately, this keynote invites leaders to rethink the future of work not as a technological race, but as a human one. Moving from isolation to belonging requires more than new tools. It requires new ways of thinking, new forms of leadership, and a renewed commitment to building workplaces where people feel seen, supported, and connected in an AI-powered world.

Session Objectives

By the end of this keynote, participants will be able to:

  1. Reframe the role of AI at work from a productivity tool to a human-enabling force that supports happiness and well-being.
  2. Understand why community and belonging are critical drivers of happiness in increasingly digital and AI-augmented workplaces.
  3. Identify how poorly designed AI implementations can unintentionally increase isolation and unhappiness, and how to avoid it.
  4. Explore practical ways leaders can design AI-enabled environments that strengthen trust, collaboration, and connection.
  5. Rethink leadership in the age of AI by placing human happiness, relationships, and purpose at the center of technology decisions.
Through the investment and support of the Knoxville Happiness Coalition, tickets for our Knoxville leadership community are available at a preferred rate of $30 per seat.

SHRM® PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CREDITS—HR professionals can earn 3 PDCs toward SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification for an additional $15; Attendees will receive a separate email with instructions to add PDCs.

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World Happiness Fellowship Partner
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World Happiness Fellowship Presenting Sponsor

Come for Fellowship Find Community

The Knoxville Happiness Coalition is for leaders who are committed to building healthier workplaces through consistent, thoughtful leadership. ~ Alexia Georghiou, Founder 

The Fellowship is just the beginning. It connects you to the Knoxville Happiness Coalition’s year-round leadership community; where monthly academy offerings and in-person gatherings support leaders in sustaining clarity, energy, and wellbeing long after the event ends.

Alexia Georghiou is a keynote speaker on happiness and human-centered leadership, organizational development consultant, and founder of the Knoxville Happiness Coalition and World Happiness Fellowship.

Author of The Future of Work is Human and The Future of Success is Happiness featured at national and international conferences. 

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