United Nations International Day of Happiness Founder celebrates 30th Anniversary of Institute for Global Leadership

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May 06, 2016, 03:31 ET

BOSTON, May 6, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Nations International Day of Happiness Founder Jayme Illien is in Cambridge, Massachusetts to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University honoring IGL's Founder and Executive Director Sherman Teichman.

Founded in 1985 in response to the hijacking of a TWA flight out of Cairo, the Institute for Global Leadership began as an international symposium on terrorism and global security. Three decades later, the Institute for Global Leadership is renowned for training future global leaders. Every year, IGL operates some 30 selective and rigorous multidisciplinary programs which immerse 400-500 undergraduate and graduate students in deep dive experiential learning designed to get them thinking about conundrum issues, which Mr. Teichman has described as, "problems with seemingly no exit like climate change and refugee crises".

To celebrate, Mr. Teichman's magnanimous influence and legacy, global leaders, policy advisors, and security experts from around the world, many of whom are Sherman's former students, will gather at the Marriott ballroom in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, May 7th, 2016 to share memories, enjoy sustained debate over global events, and dance.

President Vartan Gregorian of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, who serves on President Obama's White House Fellowships commission and numerous boards including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Colin Powell Center for Leadership and Service, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the World Bank, will speak on challenges in higher education. Professor Phillip Bobbit, Director of the Center for National Security at Columbia Law School will discuss the evolution of terrorism.

Jayme Illien, Founder of the United Nations International Day of Happiness and an alumni of the Institute for Global Leadership, credits IGL's Founder Sherman Teichman for inspiring his own organization's work with the United Nations to promote and advance happiness as a human right, fundamental human goal, and as a solution to the complex and interrelated challenges confronting all of us.

"I met Sherman Teichman when I was 16 visiting Tufts University and applying to colleges. I had grown up helping my mother find families for orphans and witnessed firsthand the plight of abandoned children trapped in poverty, often victims of war and conflict, subsisting in refugee camps, slums, streets and institutions, children like me and my sisters before we were adopted," said Jayme Illien, an alumni of IGL's EPIIC program, which stands for Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship.

"As a young aspiring student who simply wanted to improve the world for the orphans like I was, Sherman's energy and passion were magnetic and captivating as was IGL's mission to prepare new generations of critical thinkers for effective and ethical leadership, and to act as global citizens in addressing seemingly impossible national and international issues across cultures. Sherman is why I chose Tufts University in 1998," says Jayme.

More than 15 years later, Jayme Illien says that Sherman's leadership, inspiration, and spirit directly influenced the creation of the United Nations International Day of Happiness which was founded in 2011 when Jayme's organization, Illien Global Public Benefit Corporation, brought the idea of an International Day of Happiness to the United Nations, successfully campaigned to gain support from all 193 member states, senior UN officials, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon, and authored UN resolution 66/281 creating the new International Day of Happiness.

Since 2012, the new global day of happiness is celebrated worldwide every March 20, a date selected for its planetary significance as the vernal equinox, a universal phenomenon felt by all of humankind and marking the annual season of new beginnings, creation and resurrection known as spring.

UN Resolution 66/281 recognizes "the pursuit of happiness as fundamental human goal, and "the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives", as well as "the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples."

In 2012, at the first High Level Meeting on Happiness and Wellbeing: Defining A New Economic Paradigm, UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon said, "We need a new economic paradigm that recognizes the three pillars of sustainable development. Economic, social, and environmental well-being are indivisible. Together they define Gross Global Happiness."

In 2015, the United Nations took one giant leap forward in laying the foundation for this new economic paradigm of gross global happiness when it unanimously adopted "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" composed of 17 global goals and 169 targets to get our planet back on track by ending poverty, tackling inequality, and stopping climate change as humanity reaches for the ultimate quest, happiness for the entire human family.

"It's amazing to step back and think about how profound Sherman's impact has been on inspiring young students to take an active role in their communities and civic life in order to improve society, and address challenges and opportunities we all face together. With more citizen leaders and educators like Sherman, the world would be a healthier and happier place," said Jayme.

Jayme Illien currently serves as United Nations representative for Economists for Peace and Security, an international network of the world's leading economic thinkers, scholars, and security experts. Its Chairman is world renowned economist James K. Galbraith, and its Trustees and Board are comprised of seventeen Nobel laureate economists including Professors Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, who led the first "Happiness Commission" launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to study happiness as an alternate measure to GDP, as well as Former Greek Minister of Finance Yannis Varoufakis, Former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, and Former Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou.

For more information please visit

www.tuftsgloballeadership.org
www.happinessday.org
www.epsusa.org

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SOURCE Happiness Day