As you may have seen on PBS, Las Vegas recently joined the Hopeful Cities movement.  The sunflower is the international symbol for hope, so it’s very exciting that Green Our Planet is helping activate schools in Las Vegas by planting sunflowers and putting up signs in 220 schools across the area.

So when kids get back to school, they will see the sunflowers, Garden for Hope signs, and get introduced to resources for ‘how’ to hope so that they can write their own Hope Story. How cool is that?! We are super grateful to Liz Morris and Suzanne Petronzi at Green Our Planet and Gard Jameson for making this initiative possible.

Why a sunflower, you might ask? We were very intentional in choosing the sunflower as the symbol for Hope, you can hear Zoya Awan, Director of Public Affairs at Walmart, share why we chose it as a symbol here:

If you want to create your own garden or learn how to practice the Shine Hope framework while planting, check out our gardening resources. We also encourage you to explore the Shine Hope framework through our available resources, put up yard signs, and plant sunflower gardens in your home, school, workplace, place of worship, and/or community.

Nothing brings me more joy than getting our programs to kids, so this week, The Hope Matrix Podcast was extra special as I interviewed Elad Talmor, a cognitive behavioral psychologist based in Israel. I got connected with Elad Talmor last December 2023 when he sent me an email sharing that he is using our Hopeful Minds Teen Hopeguide to help Israeli teens increase their hope during the war.

I can’t imagine teaching Shine Hope skills during wartime, yet that is precisely when these skills must be practiced. In this episode, Elad discusses how he uses our Hopeful Minds for Teens program with Palestinian and Israeli youth.

This is literally why I created this program, to teach our children. Hopelessness in our youth around the world is rising, but we can equip them with the skills to manage hopelessness and grow hope.  If we don’t teach our youth how to hope, the likelihood of anxiety, depression, addiction, and suicide increases.

Consider giving this episode a listen, and sharing it with others. Elad is an example for us all.  You can listen to the full podcast episode here.

Like the City of Las Vegas, Green Our Planet, and Elad Talmor, your efforts to teach and activate hope, whether through our initiatives or in your own unique way, are making a profound impact on countless lives. May you continue to help us teach and keep shining hope!

If you’re inspired and want to learn how to activate hope in your school, community, workplace, or city, visit our website or email us at activate@theshinehopecompany.com.Thank you for your incredible support!

Keep Shining,

Kathryn

Kathryn Goetzke, MBA

• CEO & Chief Hope Officer, The Shine Hope Company
• Author of The Biggest Little Book About Hope
• Founder of International Foundation for Research and Education on Hope (iFred)
• Creator of Hopeful Cities, and Hopeful Minds
• Creator of Hopeful Mindsets Overview, Hopeful Mindsets in the Workplace Overview,  and Hopeful Mindsets on the College Campus Course
• Podcast host of The Hope Matrix
• Chief Mood Officer, The Mood Factory (taking a break, for hope!)
• www.kathryngoetzke.com