Annual Wellness Summit

Wellness is a journey filled with highs, lows, and a fair share of hilarious missteps. From treadmills to the latest biohacking trends, we’ve tried it all—some with great success, others… not so much. Join us for an engaging, lighthearted - but also an insightful discussion on the evolution of wellness, the trends that shaped us, the fads that fooled us, and what the future holds. Expect real talk, relatable stories, and maybe even a few laughs as we explore the ever-changing world of well-being.

In today’s unpredictable and fast-changing world, building resilient and healthy teams is more critical than ever. This session will explore how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help prevent burnout and promote well-being by fostering psychological flexibility and value-driven actions—essential skills for navigating uncertainty. You’ll learn evidence-based strategies to enhance confidence, self-efficacy, and team resilience, empowering individuals to thrive even in stressful conditions. Don’t miss this opportunity to equip your team with the tools to not just survive, but thrive, in an ever-changing landscape.

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into the wellness industry, it is essential for emerging and lifelong professionals to understand its ethical use. This session will explore how AI can enhance efficiency, improve decision-making, and ensure credibility in wellness services across various settings. Attendees will learn best practices for implementing AI responsibly while maintaining human-centered care. Through case studies and expert insights, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to leverage AI ethically in their workflows.

Our country is sick. With more than 93% of the US adults suffering from suboptimal metabolic health, we need to understand that it will take a holistic approach to address this massive epidemic of ill health. Current measures focus on symptom control but sustainable wellness can only be achieved when we have consistent, evidence based easy strategies that can steer us in the right direction. This discussion will explore the science behind simple strategies and how the audience can utilize them to make a positive impact on metabolic health.

Behavior change is at the heart of effective wellness interventions. This engaging session will explore evidence-based strategies for motivating clients/patients to adopt healthier behaviors. Attendees will learn to use motivational interviewing techniques, assess readiness to change, and implement practical strategies to foster sustainable lifestyle modifications.

This session will guide you through creating, promoting, and evaluating a worksite wellness initiative designed to slow or reverse the trend of insulin resistance and inflammation associated with Pre-Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and the emerging Type 3 Diabetes, linked to Alzheimer’s disease. You’ll discover a brain-based approach to educate and empower individuals with practical lifestyle and behavioral interventions that enhance whole-person wellbeing and prevent disease progression. By the end, you’ll have a step-by-step strategy to boost health-related quality of life, increase longevity and productivity, and lower healthcare costs through proactive, cost-effective workplace solutions.

This session will show how to leverage the innately human power of storytelling to inspire wellness, action and behavior change through workplace wellness and public health programs. Through interactive exercises and real-life examples, participants will learn how to transform facts, figures and objectives into meaningful, moving stories that excite and motivate. Attendees will learn why powerful storytelling – whether in 50 words or 500– is a differentiator in a crowded field that's increasingly AI-driven, and how to craft their message for maximum impact.

We hear buzzwords emphasizing the importance of interpersonal skills in creating and sustaining impactful partnerships, calling on us to “be compassionate, flexible, resilient, communicative,” to name a few. These sound great, but how do we actually put those skills into practice to collaborate and connect more effectively, while supporting wellness in our communities and within ourselves? In this highly interactive workshop, attendees will learn through direct experience how improvisation skills and exercises can support these goals in their professional and personal partnerships, supported by groundbreaking research connecting these activities with enhanced resilience, flexibility, and overall wellbeing. After highlighting three decades of research supporting applied improv as a highly effective training method for these skills, we will transition into playing games to practice thinking on our feet and working as a team to enhance our connections, build new worlds together, and collaboratively solve problems in a fun, low-stakes environment.

Positivity is often heralded as a solution to life’s challenges, but when it disregards genuine struggles or suppresses emotions, it can undermine resilience and wellbeing. This session delves into the concept of nontoxic positivity, exploring how a balanced approach to optimism can foster authentic connections and holistic wellbeing without minimizing life’s complexities. Participants will gain insights into the detrimental effects of toxic positivity and the transformative power of healthy optimism. Through guided discussions and actionable exercises, attendees will explore practical strategies to support resilience, nurture authenticity, and promote a culture of realistic hope in both personal and professional settings. This session equips participants with evidence-based tools to navigate adversity with empathy and honesty, fostering a balanced approach to sustaining wellbeing in today’s fast-paced world.

Despite unprecedented access to health technology and medical advances, people are experiencing rising rates of chronic disease, stress, and disconnection from their own wellbeing. Research shows that stress contributes to over 75% of doctor visits, while chronic conditions affect nearly 60% of adults globally. At the same time, workplace culture and unhealthy social relationships exacerbate mental and physical health challenges. Meanwhile, the global digital health market has exploded to over $200 billion, yet these technological solutions often fail to address the fundamental aspects of holistic wellness that ancient healing traditions have understood for millennia. Integrating Eastern practices, like mindfulness and holistic approaches, with Western advancements, along with leveraging tech and startups, offers promising solutions. Audience members have a unique opportunity to explore and implement these integrative strategies in their personal lives, communities, and workplaces.

You may be wondering - how can my relationship with technology be healthier? How can I optimize my digital habits for better productivity, mental health, and communication? You’re in the right place! With the shift to hybrid and remote work, many of us have spent more time on tech than ever before and have learned a myriad of lessons about the connective nature of our devices. While they allow us to bridge distances, time zones, and can bring us together - we also acknowledge that devices can be an obstacle to self-care, stillness, and introspection as the rapid-fire urgency of the digital world beckons. Join us as we discuss navigating this balance and making the most out of your tech time in an era of hybrid and remote work.

Crave, consume and connect discusses the importance of eating the food you crave, why you crave those foods and how to honor these cravings without guilt. This session will explore and explain the gut/ brain connection, its role in cravings, will also be explored and how to impact the health of the gut microbiome. The role of hormonal shifts and the long-term impact of fad diets will be introduced. Understanding the science behind how people make food choices will prepare health and wellness professionals for a deeper understanding of how to address the challenges their target populations face.

Lunch and Learns have long been a workplace staple, but in today’s fast-paced environment, is another PowerPoint presentation the best way to engage employees? Enter team building—more than just trust falls and icebreakers, it’s a hands-on approach that strengthens collaboration, problem-solving, and workplace relationships. This session dives into the research behind experiential learning, explores best practices for designing impactful team-building experiences, and provides a step-by-step guide to structuring effective sessions. Whether you’re looking to refresh professional development initiatives or create a more connected workforce, you’ll walk away with actionable strategies to transform the way your teams learn and grow.

The career growth of wellness professionals follows both an inward and outward path. Inwardly, we seek the personal confidence to perform tasks effectively and serve others well. This is the path of competence that leads to mastery. Outwardly, we look to our wellness community to discern and use authentic, best practices that advance the field. This path of benchmarking leads to accomplishment and celebration. The new Wellness Alliance brings these paths together to help you align inner work with observable outcomes. In this session, you will receive an innovative framework—aligning competencies and benchmarks—with practical guidance for your path at any stage of your career. This research-based framework is also intended for all of us—whether you work with individuals, workplaces, or communities—and so fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration and personal growth.

Health promotion professionals and health and wellness coaches are often stymied by how to reach health promotion’s most difficult population: people who are demoralized, uninvolved, and sometimes appear “resistive” to making efforts to improve their lifestyle. This workshop will focus on the concrete steps and strategies we can use to reach these people by helping them determine what is actually holding them back, build self-efficacy and increase their readiness for change. We’ll draw upon Social Cognitive Theory, the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change, and Motivational Interviewing, to both create effective programs and conversations for change.

Many organizations invest in wellbeing programs, yet employees continue to struggle with stress, burnout, and disengagement. Why? Because systemic issues—such as workload expectations, leadership culture, and lack of psychological safety—are not often associated with wellbeing. This session provides a roadmap for embedding wellbeing into the core of organizational culture using principles of Organizational Development (OD) and Change. Attendees will gain tools to identify and address systemic barriers to wellbeing, ensuring sustainable, meaningful change.

Spiritual wellness is one of the most overlooked yet essential dimensions of overall well-being. This session will guide participants in understanding the deeper aspects of spiritual wellness beyond religious frameworks, offering practical insights from various cultural, philosophical, and spiritual traditions. Through interactive discussion and hands-on practices, attendees will explore self-reflection techniques, resilience-building strategies, and diverse global wellness traditions to integrate spiritual well-being into their daily lives.

Musculoskeletal(MSK) disorders and injuries are one the leading causes for work days missed. In many cases these problems can be avoided with proper risk factor management. However, too often the one risk factor that is not considered is a person's movement ability. During this session Dr. Lee Burton will discuss and share data on how a person's ability to balance, bend, rotate and reach impact MSK health and should be considered along with other lifestyle risk factors. Dr. Burton will offer an evidence-based, quick and efficient way for qualified professionals to screen for movement pattern dysfunction and how to integrate this into MSK health management.

The session will outline a successful treatment structure to encourage long lasting behavior modification which encourages weight loss and ensures long-term maintenance.

Using principles of mindful and intuitive eating rooted in the Mediterranean, Rebecca will share best practices for clients and patients to achieve lasting lifestyle change. In addition to exploring mindful and intuitive eating practices, this session will describe strategies for working with clients to address issues such as client retention and keeping their interest and focus while supporting them in achieving their health goals.

Being human isn't always easy. Let's face it: we have endured numerous challenges over the past few years, including environmental issues, human rights concerns, health crises, and financial uncertainty. How can we learn to view these adversities as our greatest teachers, helping us to grow and develop?

Join Jeff Jenkins, an award-winning travel writer and host of NATGEO's "Never Say Never with Jeff Jenkins," along with Dr. Mark A. Campbell, a human performance expert and host of the "Nature of Wellness Podcast," for a thought-provoking session on how we can be better for ourselves and those we serve. Together, they’ll explore how we can navigate the challenges of modern society and uncover ways to create the lives we truly desire.

How can organizations move beyond surface-level wellness programs and create meaningful, data-driven changes in high-pressure, client-facing environments? This session will explore a real-world case study on how listening to employees through well-being surveys leads to strategic, impactful action. Learn how to capture the right data, analyze results effectively, and turn insights into targeted, sustainable initiatives. This session will explore the challenges of implementing well-being programs in industries where employees face extreme workloads, time constraints, and high burnout rates, offering solutions that prioritize accessibility, engagement, and leadership buy-in.

Join us for an insightful discussion, focusing on the power of building connections through Wellness Champions in the workplace. This session will explore how designated Wellness Champions can foster a supportive, health-focused culture, encourage employee engagement, and enhance overall well-being. The speakers will share practical strategies for establishing a successful wellness network, empowering employees to take charge of their health, and creating a more connected and resilient workforce. Whether you’re an HR professional, a team leader, or an employee passionate about workplace wellness, this presentation will provide valuable tools to cultivate a thriving and engaged work environment.

Join this session for an insightful discussion on the physical demands placed on and those in field focused positions such as heavy equipment operators and drivers. Learn about the unique risks they face, including musculoskeletal injuries, and explore practical solutions for protecting their health and safety using Total Worker Health framework and strategy. This session covers the importance of physical, mental, and environmental load management, along with strategies like ergonomic adjustments, task rotation, and stretching programs. Discover how leadership and education play a crucial role in preventing injury and promoting long-term well-being for industrial athletes.

Once simply considered a sad circumstance, loneliness and its contributor social isolation are now recognized as public health concerns, an epidemic in fact. Join us for an informative overview of loneliness and isolation definitions and community health impact. We will then explore effective solutions to increase connections, including maximizing impactful and easy to implement strategies and programs that have multiple levels of health benefits.

This session explores how strategic, community-driven interventions can address the chronic disease crisis through food-based and lifestyle medicine approaches. It will highlight the development, impact, and scalability of BNMC’s 40 Days to Wellness program, which improved health outcomes for hospital employees and residents in Buffalo’s East Side through medically tailored meals, nutrition education, cooking classes, and mindfulness workshops. Attendees will gain insights into participant demographics, lifestyle prescriptions, and measurable outcomes that demonstrate the program’s success in reducing chronic disease risk and improving mental well-being. The session will provide clinicians with actionable strategies for implementing food-as-medicine programs in their own communities, emphasizing the role of partnerships with registered dietitians and local organizations. Participants will leave with a guidebook of chef- and dietitian-created plant-based recipes, plus practical tools to drive sustainable, evidence-based health interventions.

The AI revolution is here. It is transforming every industry and function. AI is a powerful tool with the potential to do good—but it can also cause harm if not used responsibly.

In this session, she will share key trends and insights surrounding AI, along with opportunities where wellness entrepreneurs, professionals, practitioners, advocates, and enthusiasts can add meaningful value.

As AI technologies continue to evolve rapidly, we can harness them to unlock new possibilities for individuals, organizations, and society - and help shape the future of humanity. This session will explore potential use cases that support holistic wellbeing across four dimensions: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, as well as collective wellbeing at the individual, organizational, and societal levels - all while emphasizing the importance of developing and using AI systems in a safe, ethical, and responsible way.

Whether you’re a wellness entrepreneur, professional, practitioner, advocate, or enthusiast, you'll gain insights and inspiration to leverage AI in building a future that prioritizes wellbeing for all.

Many employees struggle to improve their health, not because they lack motivation but because hidden barriers work against them. Health unawareness, cognitive biases, misinformation, and reluctance prevent employees from making informed decisions, leaving wellness programs underutilized. This session explores how health literacy improves health outcomes by guiding employees to recognize these barriers and take meaningful action. This approach enables employees to see their health through a fresh lens, empowering them to take meaningful action and choose the best path to reach their health goals.

The roles and responsibilities of well-being professionals are increasingly difficult and complex. In a hustle to meet heightened demands and help others achieve their personal and professional goals, wellness professionals often neglect their own wellbeing. Tapping into the synergistic power of emotional intelligence and lifestyle medicine can help wellness professionals reframe and prioritize self-care. This session is designed to empower wellness professionals with the knowledge and strategies needed to navigate challenging roles and maintaining their own wellbeing. Attendees will leave with practical tools to enhance their overall effectiveness in their roles.