Jul 28, 2025, 6:58 PM ETPanel, Conference Presentation

Toward a Flourishing Future | Global Conference 2025

Flourishing is defined as a fundamental requirement for leadership, not a luxury, necessitating that individuals feel secure enough to engage in difficult conversations.
Dartmouth integrates student health and wellness directly into academic excellence, viewing them as inseparable components of leadership training.
Gallup has systematically measured flourishing in over 140 countries for 20 years using face-to-face and phone surveys to determine if individuals are "thriving."
Economic indicators like GDP per capita and the Human Development Index often mask systematic declines in subjective well-being, as evidenced by data from the Arab Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
During the Brexit referendum, a 15-point drop in positive sentiment occurred despite majority voters believing the economic outcome would be negative.
The "negative experience index" (measuring stress, sadness, anger, pain, and worry) rose by nearly 10 percentage points globally over the tracking period.
Late Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman likened the rise in global suffering to the "Easterlin paradox," describing it as "the other global warming."
A recent decline in the negative experience index indicates a slight improvement in recent years following the long-term upward trend.

A collaborative study by Harvard and Gallup identifies six core dimensions of flourishing: life satisfaction, physical/mental health, meaning/purpose, character/virtue, close social relationships, and financial stability.
Data from 22 countries indicates a correlation between spirituality and higher scores in meaning, purpose, and overall flourishing.
The lifespan trajectory of happiness has shifted from a "U-shaped" curve to a "J-shaped" curve, indicating that youth are currently experiencing significantly lower flourishing levels than in previous generations.
Rising anxiety among youth is linked to social media usage, which the panel identifies as a primary driver of the deterioration in the J-shaped happiness curve.
Work is identified as a primary source of negative emotions, with 81,000 hours of an average lifetime spent working; 60% of workers report bringing daily misery home to their families.
Only 20% of the global workforce reports feeling good about Monday, while 80% experience daily misery.
Loneliness remains a critical deficit, with 6% of adults reporting zero human interaction over a two-week period (approximately 350 million people globally).
Debilitating hunger has risen by 10 points globally over the last decade, reversing 40 years of progress in the fight against hunger.
Self-identified purpose among young people in the U.S. has declined massively since 2005 and 2006, according to UCLA longitudinal data.

Dartmouth trains students to handle failure and engage in dialogue with opposing views, moving away from "safe spaces" to "brave spaces" where discomfort is expected.
Dartmouth's political union (DPU) models bipartisanship through student-led debates featuring figures such as Kellyanne Conway, Donna Brazile, Cornel West, and Robbie George.
The panel critiques the reduction in federal support for medical research, noting potential cuts of up to 40% would be detrimental to public health and individual flourishing.
Dartmouth accepted 1,200 first-year students from 32,000 applications (a 4% acceptance rate) and acknowledges the responsibility to expand access to more students.
Dartmouth offers high school summer programs and the Tuck Bridge program to provide financial fluency to non-business majors.
The panel advocates for a mandatory year of public service for youth, citing examples from Singapore and Israel where such programs fostered civic engagement and social cohesion.
Universities are described as institutions currently under attack, with their stability directly linked to the flourishing of the individuals they serve.

Early saving yields superior results due to compounding; saving $5,000 annually from age 20 to 30 results in more wealth at age 60 than saving $5,000 annually from age 30 to 60.
Technology is democratizing access to private markets, which were previously accessible only to the ultra-wealthy due to illiquidity and high barriers to entry.
Blockchain technology is identified as a key driver for financial access, offering a source of truth, smart contracts, and efficient payment mechanisms.
Tokenization allows for fractional ownership of assets, such as music royalties, enabling smaller investors to participate in non-correlated revenue streams.
Franklin Templeton launched the first tokenized money market fund, allowing account access with a minimum of $20, down from a traditional $500 threshold.
Jenny highlights that removing transaction friction through blockchain will reduce costs, making investment vehicles cheaper and accessible to broader demographics.
The panel notes a decrease in the percentage of finance interns joining firms with the goal of "changing the world," suggesting a shift in aspirational motivations.

Public health and medical research contributed over 50% of global economic growth in the last 200 years.
The average human lifespan in the U.S. has risen from age 47 in 1900 to near normal expectancy, largely due to advances in antiretroviral therapy for HIV.
Americans are statistically the most generous nation globally regarding monetary donations and time spent volunteering.
The psychological boost from volunteering often exceeds the benefit to the recipient, with the act of giving itself being the primary driver of well-being.
Mental health is identified as the number one cause of chronic disease and obesity-related issues, a finding consistent in reports from 21 years ago.
Eliminating cancer as a cause of death was estimated to be worth $60 trillion to the U.S. economy 30 years ago.
While 80% of savings are typically invested locally (in the investor's currency), portfolio diversification remains essential due to global interconnectivity.
Shared human values (faith, family, freedom, truth, goodness, beauty, and love) are proposed as foundational pillars to bridge political and social polarization.

The panel predicts that financial technology will continue to disperse capital and reduce institutional "toll-taking" barriers over time.
There is a warning that current trends in mental health, loneliness, and workplace misery could reverse progress in global flourishing if unaddressed.
The panel suggests that future policy must integrate the science of flourishing into public health and education frameworks rather than relying solely on GDP metrics.
The Center for Advancing the American Dream is scheduled to open in July, aiming to showcase the uniqueness of the American ideal.