I began my career conducting research on mental health at Queen's University in Canada and positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Inspired to put the research into practice, I designed a digital campaign and mobile app to deepen people's relationships, which won an award at Stanford University.

With this newfound interest in innovation, I joined an entrepreneurship team at Harvard Medical School and started working with a variety of startups in the healthcare and mental health space. This led me to Verily, the spin-out of Google focused on health tech, where I led community engagement and strategic partnerships for three years.

Along this journey, inspired by various personal experiences, I was fascinated by the role that human connection plays in people's health and well-being. When researchers and the media started talking about a rise in loneliness in the US and other countries, I was ready to put my experience and passion to use.

To that end, I organized community events as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, joined the board of a nonprofit to support programs that reduce loneliness among older adults, and completed a master's in public health at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Currently, I am advancing social well-being as the founder of Social Health Labs and as a writer, speaker, and consultant.

Raised in rainy Vancouver and now based in foggy San Francisco, I have lived in nine cities and three countries and traveled to many more. Ask me about the year I lived in a flamingo reserve in the south of France, the month I meditated with monks in Nepal, the moment the Dalai Lama sneezed on me, or the time I gave hugs to hundreds of strangers.