Collective Resilience and Healing.
en.v is excited to partner with the Wellbeing Project to host Kuwait’s first Regional Hearth Summit!
Across the world, we are all feeling the weight of conflict, economic instability, and climate change, and their effects on our physical and mental wellbeing. In our communities in the Middle East, we feel these challenges in uniquely profound ways, making the call for regenerative systems and collective care more urgent than ever. The Hearth Summit Kuwait 2025 will gather current and aspiring changemakers across sectors - including civil society, education, business, the arts, philanthropy, and public institutions - to forge a shared vision for a future built on resilience, transformative renewal, and mutual support. By drawing on our collective wisdom and our diverse heritage, rituals, and practices, we will explore how we can come together across differences to nurture a more compassionate, sustainable tomorrow.
Join us over three days (December 4-6, 2025) at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) as we critically reflect, imagine solutions, and foster collaboration among changemakers invested in making Kuwait a more united, compassionate, and resilient society where everyone can thrive. This year, we’ll be exploring themes related to ecological belonging, intergenerational healing, and art for connection. We’re so excited to learn, create, and play together!
Because of our limited capacity, and our goal to ensure a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative space, you must first complete our Express Your Interest Form. If selected, you’ll receive a code to confirm your spot and purchase your ticket.
Our Guiding Principles
- Dialogue and healing are the foundation on which we can build collective resilience.
- A rich, diverse cultural tapestry empowers us all.
- Embracing regenerative practices paves the way for sustainable transformation.
- Recognizing our interdependence is a crucial step to foster solidarity and collective care.
We envision a space where we
We Critically Reflect: explore the root causes of social and environmental crises within our unique regional context.
We Imagine Solutions: co-create sustainable, resilient, and interconnected communities.
We Foster Collaboration: engage in collective sense-making and meaningful dialogue that bridges divides and builds trust.
A collective sense-making approach
Collective sense-making is about creating spaces that allow for negotiated meaning. By sharing stories to articulate what things mean to us, we create the connectivity that allows us to work together, have empathy, and build bridges between people and communities.
At the Hearth Summit Kuwait, the sessions will be co-designed with and facilitated by practitioners and leaders from across the region, and will focus on collaboratively understanding, building shared narratives, and finding common ground around the following themes:
Main themes
Ecological Belonging - Deepening our understanding of the intricate connections between ourselves, each other, and our ecosystems
Intergenerational Healing - Addressing and transforming the traumas passed down through generations, breaking cycles of harm, and strengthening bonds.
Art for Social Change - Honoring the power that art has to:
Convey complex ideas in accessible ways, thus enabling the
cognitive/emotional processes that help with mindset shifts.Foster meaningful and transformative connections between
people from different walks of life while they build and create
things together.Increase our knowledge and understanding of cultural heritage
and traditions.
Hearth Summit Kuwait 2025 Schedule
Our Speakers
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Artist, writer, filmmaker
Zahra Al-Mahdi (1989) is an artist, writer, musician, comedian, and filmmaker from Kuwait. She is known for collage work using ink sketches layered over photographs, animation on live action, and installations that deal with dissected anatomical figures. Her more notable works are her debut graphic novel titled We, The Borrowed (2016), an online mockumentary miniseries titled Bird Watch (2017), and the online series "Haltooma" (rant) on social media platforms.
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Professor, Intergenerational Trauma Specialist
Dr. Mays Imad is a neuroscientist and an expert on trauma-informed teaching and learning. She passionately advocates for institutions to make mental health a top priority and to systematically support the education of the whole student. An associate professor at Connecticut College, Dr. Imad is interested in understanding the social determinants of student well-being and success, and conducts research on emotions, biofeedback, learning, and pedagogy. Her work reflects a deep commitment to justice in and through education. With fervor, she advocates for institutions to pay close attention to trauma and to prioritize healing, repair, and intergenerational well-being.
Her academic journey began at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where she pursued philosophy and minored in chemistry. She earned a doctoral degree in cellular and clinical neurobiology, with a minor in biomedical engineering sciences, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona's Department of Neuroscience, she joined Pima Community College (PCC), teaching a variety of biology-related subjects. During her tenure at PCC, she founded its Teaching & Learning Center.
She is also a content curator and Advisory Board member at The Wellbeing Project.Outside of the classroom, Dr. Imad works with faculty members across disciplines at her own institution and across the US to promote inclusive, equitable, and contextual education—all rooted in the latest research on the neurobiology of learning.
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Doctoral Candidate in Counseling Psychology and Drama Therapist
Fatmah Al-Qadfan is a Kuwaiti Drama Therapist and Fulbright alumna. She holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Post-Traumatic Stress Studies. Currently, she is completing her PhD in Counseling Psychology at Auburn University. Her TEDx talk, "Finding Drama Therapy and Bringing It Home," is available online. Fatmah is deeply passionate about enhancing mental health services and eating disorder treatment for Arab women, with a focus on culturally responsive care.
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Dr. Fahed Al-Sumait is an Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies at the American University of Kuwait whose research focuses on strategic and political communication, intercultural studies, and digital inequalities with a concentration on Kuwait and the Arabian Peninsula. He has served as a research fellow with the Fulbright-Hays program, the National University of Singapore, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr. Al-Sumait is a Past President and current board member of the Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies. He holds an MA from the University of New Mexico and a PhD from the University of Washington, both in Communication.
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Dr. Jawaher Al Bader is an artist, architect, and art educational expert in studio-based instruction. She has a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in Art Education with a specialization in Studio Environments, an MFA in Painting from Pratt Institute and undergraduate degrees, BArch and BFA from Rhode Island School of Design.
Al Bader is also a former faculty member at Kuwait University, where she taught at both the Department of Visual Communication Design and College of Architecture, for over 23 years. She is also the visionary behind Art Studio Kuwait, a communal space that fosters artistic exploration and creation. This studio serves not only as a hub for creatives but as a catalyst for Al Bader's own artistic journey.
Al Bader’s multi-media art practice is embedded in daily acts, bridging boundaries between all aspects of life and disciplines through an Arts-based existence. Her paintings are intimate reflections of her environment that intricately weave color, paint, and movement to evoke presence.
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Mediamaker and Maritime Archaeologist
Talal Al-Muhanna was born in Kuwait and raised in the U.S. and U.K. After earning an MA in Film & Moving Image Production (UK), he produced films for TV and cinema. Since 2017, he has also produced artistic programs at JACC, including Memoirs of a Sailor. Talal is currently pursuing an MA in Global Maritime Archaeology at the University of Malta. He organized Project 3D-Q8 the first underwater archaeology forum in Kuwait in 2025 (underwaterkuwait.com).
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Founder of School of Systems and Complexity
Pedro Portela is an aerospace engineer turned organizational consultant and educator. He founded the School of Systems & Complexity, where he explores how systems thinking, resilience engineering, and relational governance can help teams and networks act effectively in complex environments. His work bridges corporate innovation, peacebuilding, and social change.
*Our list of speakers is growing — keep an eye on this space.
Hearth Summits Happening in 2025!
FAQ
What is the Wellbeing Project?
The Wellbeing Project is the global leader in researching and advocating for the wellbeing of changemakers, and for wellbeing in changemaking. Co-created with Ashoka, Georgetown University, Impact Hub, Porticus, Skoll Foundation and Synergos, The Wellbeing Project is a network of more than 1,200 organisations dedicated to:
Strengthening the research case for centering wellbeing in social development
Connecting a growing network of organizations building a culture of wellbeing
Accelerating the growth of wellbeing initiatives around the world
Convening Summits at the intersection of inner, organizational, societal and planetary wellbeing
Mainstreaming a wellbeing and social impact narrative
What is a Hearth Summit?
Every few years, the Wellbeing Project hosts a Global Hearth Summit. This award-winning, three-day gathering brings together 1,000+ changemakers to advance a hopeful vision of individual, collective and ecological wellbeing for all.
Regional Hearth Summits are smaller versions of the global event, hosted by local communities of changemakers who want to explore and embrace the wellbeing for social impact movement in their own countries. They offer deep conversations, immersive arts experiences, hands-on workshops, cultural activities, and much more.
What is included in the price of my ticket?
Each ticket covers your cost of entry for all three days of the summit including dinner on launch day (04 December), all workshops and summit-related events, and helps support the ongoing work of our team and network. Food and drink on 05 & 06 December are not included in the ticket price, but both will be available for purchase at the event.
What do I do if I can’t afford a ticket?
We never want cost to be the reason someone misses out on being part of our community. If the ticket price feels out of reach, please reach out to us at env@envearth.com. We have a limited number of discounted and sponsored tickets and will do our best to make sure everyone is able to join us.
What if I can only come for one day? Do I still need to buy a ticket?
Attendance is for the full 3-day Summit. Single-day passes are not available.
Can I invite my friends or colleagues?
Due to our space limitations and in the interest of creating a diverse, collaborative, and safe space, we ask that individuals first express their interest in attending Hearth Summit Kuwait. If invited to attend, individuals will receive a link to register and purchase their ticket. We invite you to share our Express Your Interest form with your friends, colleagues, and anyone else you think would be interested in exploring personal and collective wellbeing.
Do I need to prepare or bring anything with me?
No preparation is needed to participate! We invite you to bring an open heart, a spirit of curiosity, and whatever helps you feel comfortable—whether that’s a notebook, a water bottle, or simply yourself just as you are.
