PESA’s New Ambassador

Dear PESA Community,

On behalf of the PESA Board, I am delighted to announce the appointment of our new PESA Ambassador, Dr Anne Johnstone.

Following an extraordinary 12 years of service as a founding PESA Board member and then Chair, Anne has continued to champion PESA’s mission over the past year. Her unwavering passion and extraordinary contribution to Positive Education have been evident throughout her career including most recently in her role as Global Chair of the International Positive Education Network (IPEN). During her time as Chair of PESA, Anne was pivotal in the development and growth of our association, growing PESA to new heights as the peak association for Positive Psychology and wellbeing education in Australia.

Anne began her journey in Positive Education in 2004 when she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to explore how to foster resilience in learning. Since then, she has led the implementation of Positive Education across a number of schools and in 2012 Anne helped establish our wonderful association. In 2017, she completed her Master of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Professor Martin Seligman, where her capstone project was recognised as ‘distinguished.’

Anne’s contributions have been widely acknowledged, including at the 2019 Positive Education Global Summit in Philadelphia, where she was recognised for her pioneering leadership in the field. This year, she was awarded a PhD in Education from the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Wellbeing Science. Her thesis, Wellbeing, prosocial psychological interventions, and developing an other person mindset, introduces the 'Other Person Mindset' (OPM) model—a groundbreaking framework that shifts the focus from individual wellbeing to enhancing the wellbeing of others, thereby strengthening belonging and connection, especially among young people.