For four days in July, 2019, more than 1700 delegates from 60 countries around the world came together in Melbourne, Australia, for the 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology (WCPP). Academics, researchers, educators, practitioners, change agents, students, and positive psychology experts gathered at the Melbourne Convention Center to exchange ideas, learn from one another, and to advance the field. Think MAPP Summit (the alumni conference at Penn each fall) times 10, and you’ll begin to get a sense of the energy that was generated during this year’s WCPP.

The extraordinary conference team at IPPA, led by chair Lea Waters, made it their mission to ensure that every delegate who came to Australia felt at home and left enriched. They more than succeeded.

The theme of this year’s Congress was Nexus — the building of connections, collaborations and pathways to help us work together to enhance human flourishing, and that is exactly what the experience Down Under offered.

Foreign, Yet Familiar

There is something very special about being on foreign soil yet surrounded by familiar faces. Fifty of our fellow Penn MAPP alumni joined together in Melbourne. Indeed, outside of the Fete and Summit, the WCPP was the ultimate MAPP Meet-Up. We’ve all experienced the MAPP “squeeze and squeal:” when two or more MAPPsters see each other across a crowded room, rushing together with exclamations of positivity resonance into an oxytocin-inducing bear-hug. WCPP was no exception. In spite of jet-lag and time changes, there was a lot of Love 2.0 going on.

A whopping 37 Penn MAPPsters presented at this year’s Congress - totaling almost a quarter of all the talks and workshops delivered. What’s more, there was at least one presenter from every Penn MAPP class, from 2006 through 2019, with an astounding 7 presenters from the MAPP 2010 class alone! And our fellow MAPPsters represented brilliantly: presenting keynotes, running workshops, hosting roundtables, fielding discussion hours, presenting posters, and even running a pre-congress appreciative inquiry summit!

Penn MAPPster sessions covered a wide range of topics including education, law, technology, health, founding research, organizations & business, ethics, politics, psychodrama, camp, grief, aging, families and relationships (for a full list see below). We were called out time and again for having some of the most impactful sessions at the WCPP, with many described as “masterclasses” in applied positive psychology.

Awards Galore for MAPP Alumni

We also had multiple award winners among our alumni group: Giselle Timmerman (‘06) won the Raymond D. Fowler Service Award for her exceptional work in advancing the field of positive psychology; Judith Mangelsdorf (‘12) won the Top Dissertation Award for her PhD dissertation exploring suffering and posttraumatic growth; Lucy Hone (‘10) received an honourable mention for her PhD dissertation on wellbeing and resilience; and our very own James Pawelski, received the inaugural James O. Pawelski Positive Catalyst Award for his 12 year commitment to IPPA as founding Executive Director - a position he will be retiring from in 2020.

Working Behind the Scenes

Penn MAPPsters weren’t just working the podium, though. They also supported and served the WCPP from behind the scenes. A huge number of our alumni helped to make IPPA and the World
Congresses possible through serving
as onsite volunteers, selection
committee members, division
leaders, board members and staff.
Penn MAPPsters play a massive role
in making IPPA what it is today.
 Special kudos go to Lisa Sansom
and Leona Brandwene who served
as Co-Chairs for the Practice 
Abstract Review Committee. Leona
also served as the Divisions 
Committee Director and helped
division leaders develop their
sessions year-round. Current MAPP
student, Liz Corcoran, serves as
President of the Work and 
Organizations Division. Elaine
O'Brien and Kathi Norman helped
the leadership team of the Positive Health and Wellness Division to develop programming at Congress and year-round. Nicole Mikanik led communications for the Positive Clinical Psychology Division's Case Study Challenge. Andrew Soren led the IPPA Board in a post-Congress strategic planning session. And finally, Laura Taylor and Jenny Brennan supported the Board and Program Committee in planning for Congress while tirelessly managing year-round programming and operations for IPPA.

We Are Not Alone

You may be wondering why we keep distinguishing our group as “Penn” MAPPsters. In short - it’s because we were reminded at the Congress that as MAPP grads we are definitely not alone in the world. One of many peak moments of the WCPP occurred during the opening ceremony when MAPP students and alumni from around the globe were asked to stand and be recognized. Hundreds of individuals rose in unison. It sent a collective chill down our spines to witness this sea of humanity - cousins we didn’t even know existed - standing together, shoulder to shoulder, an army of love, compassion and change, each doing our part to cultivate human flourishing in every corner of the world. It was truly an incredible moment.

Another peak moment came when the University of Melbourne MAPP alumni hosted a breakfast for the international MAPP community and positive psychology graduates in attendance. We hailed from Bucks New University, Claremont University, North-West University (South Africa), University of East London, Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico), University of Lisbon, and of course Penn. We welcomed one another with open arms, warm exchanges, and moving stories of the work we are doing. It was a powerful experience with a key takeaway: as MAPP alumni and positive psychology graduates - we are so much more than the sum of our parts. While we are all striving, individually, to improve our corners of the world, we have begun to envision the collective impact we could have by joining forces! The potential is beyond anything any of us might achieve alone. One couldn’t help but walk away from this MAPP meeting with great hope for the future of positive psychology and of the heights we can reach together. Nexus in action!

Mark Your Calendar for 2021

For those of you who could not make it to Australia this year, this article isn’t intended to spark regret but rather to share some highlights. For those who did attend, we hope this has helped you to reminisce and savor a truly memorable experience. For all - may these words inspire you to mark your calendars and join us for the 7th World Congress taking place in Vancouver, Canada, in July 2021. Preparations are already underway, and once again we want Penn MAPPsters to be front-runners as attendees, presenters, supporters and volunteers.

We have a lot to be proud of in our MAPP family, including the breadth and depth of work of our classmates and fellow alumni. At the link at the end of the article you’ll find a list of all the presenters and volunteers who participated in the WCPP-19. We invite you to take a moment to savor the sheer tonnage of meaningful work we are doing in the world!

LINK TO 2019 WORLD CONGRESS PRESENTATIONS