Lisa Honig Buksbaum
CEO & Founder, Soaringwords
Professional Speaker Biography
Lisa Honig Buksbaum is a passionary: a visionary driven by great passion and action. An intuitive healer, well-loved inspirational speaker, workshop leader and facilitator, Lisa has shared her wisdom with thousands of people throughout the world. Three experiences with death and illness in her family during a ten-month period motivated her to launch Soaringwords, a not-for-profit organization she founded to inspire ill children, families, adults, and healthcare professionals to take active roles in self-healing.
Since 2001, Lisa has shared Soaringwords’ SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiatives with more than 500,000 people. She’s been featured as an expert on ABC News, Fortune Small Business, USA Today, Delta Sky Magazine, and CEO to Watch in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Lisa graduated with honors from The University of Pennsylvania; holds an MBA in Marketing from Columbia University Graduate School of Business; and a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from The University of Pennsylvania. She has a certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a certificate from the American Institute for Mental Imagery.
Lisa has been a keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist at dozens of professional and scientific conferences including the International Positive Psychology Association (2019, 2015, 2013), European Positive Psychology Conference (2018, 2016, 2014), Canadian Positive Psychology Conference (2018, 2016, 2014), and International Positive Education Network (2018, 2016). Lisa has led workshops as a scholar in residence and at grand rounds at leading universities, medical schools and nursing schools, including University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, UVA School of Medicine & UVA School of Nursing, NYU, Columbia University, Tecmilienio University in Mexico, and Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. She has spoken at Advertising Women of New York, 100 Women in Hedge Funds, MGM Grand Women of Color Conference, and Working Mother Media Diversity & Inclusion Conference. She has led professional development workshops at dozens of Fortune 50 companies such as Accenture, Cigna, Cisco, Eli Lilly, Facebook, Google, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, New York Life, SONY, Verizon, and Viacom.
Lisa lives in New York City with her husband, Jacob. Her pride and joy are her two grown sons, Jonathan and Joshua, daughter-in-law Evelyn, and delicious grandbaby Charlotte. She gets her energy from swimming each day and connecting with people in meaningful ways.
Michaela Smith
, Community Relations Manager, SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiative
Community Relations Manager, SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiative Michaela joined Soaringwords as a fellow after completing her Master’s in Counseling at New York University. Throughout her Master’s Program, Michaela worked with a diverse population of children in the New York City Department of Education as a school counselor. Previously, she attended the University of Virginia and received a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Psychology. During her undergraduate career, Michaela spent her free time working as a research assistant and volunteering at a variety of organizations. Currently, she works closely with leading non-profit organizations in Silicon Valley, Tampa Bay, and Jersey City to deliver the 24 virtual workshops that comprise the Soaringwords’ SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiative. Michaela is often found pouring over the data from participant surveys to measure how this initiative is enhancing the physical, emotional and mental well-being of participants. She is applying for her doctoral degree. She hopes that her experience with Soaringwords can influence and inform future research on trauma and resilience. In her free time, Michaela enjoys running through Manhattan and exploring new restaurants.
Pamela Nuñez del Prado Chaves, Director of Research
Pamela is the Research Director at Soaringwords. She is also the Founding Director of the “Peruvian Positive Psychology Research Centre” at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She is the Founder of the Peruvian Positive Education Initiative and one of the founding members of Mami Linda, a non-profit organization that promotes mental health and well-being for vulnerable populations groups in Perú. Pamela is a registered clinical psychologist and full member of the Peruvian Psychological Society (Colegio de Psicólogos del Perú- CPP). As a qualified clinical psychologist and researcher, Pamela has worked across government and health, not-for-profit welfare, education and business sectors such as the Peruvian Health Department, the Peruvian Education Department, the National Institute of Mental Health and Peruvian Institute of Children’s Health (Children’s Hospital). Pamela graduated with honors from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú and she holds a Master in Applied Positive Psychology, from the University of Melbourne. Pamela discovered Soaringwords at the European Conference on Positive Psychology when she attended a workshop Lisa Buksbaum was leading. She joined Soaringwords and has led the Global Soaringwords Empirical Research study in Latin America. Since then, the two of them have presented the study findings at several International Scientific conferences together.
Anne Moses
Anne brings a depth of experience and expertise to the Soaringwords team helping children and families to take active roles in self-healing. With twenty+ years of working with children and schools, along with parenting three children, including parental management of severe anxiety and OCD, learning differences and ADHD, Anne is a tireless advocate for differently-abled people.
Anne discovered Soaringwords as a participant in the SOARING into Strength Positive Health Initiative in the Silicon Valley. Since she joined the organization, she has worked to expand the initiative into other markets. Anne served on the Board of The Armstrong School (for children with learning disabilities) for ten years, which involved numerous projects aimed at obtaining and analyzing relevant data to help improve school performance, especially regarding curriculum and alumni relations. Anne has an MS in Clinical Psychology from Notre Dame de Namur University. She holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.B.A. from Kent State University. She has consulted in the Silicon Valley in marketing and strategy and held management positions at Quantum Corporation, 3Com, Hewlett-Packard Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard GmbH. Anne enjoys a robust round of Pickleball when she’s not working.
Greta Rozensweig, Community Relations Manager
In 2000, Greta joined Soaringwords as an intern, working 20 hours per week, during her senior year of college. In 2002, upon her graduation, Greta became the first full-time employee. She coordinates corporate community outreach programs, which includes companies such as Accenture, BNYMellon, Cisco, Deloitte, Eli Lilly, Facebook, Google, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, New York Life Insurance, SONY, Verizon, and Viacom. She also manages nationwide educational outreach initiatives working closely with School superintendents and Principals and Child Life professionals at 196 hospitals. Greta managed Soaringwords + Zumba initiative coordinating with Child Life professionals in hospitals and hundreds of Zumba instructors who led classes for hospitalized children. She lives in Arkansas with Alex and her two adorable daughters. She enjoys cooking, hiking and is a voracious reader.
