Hope is not a destination, but a journey.

This March, The International Foundation of Research and Education (iFred), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to teaching hope, is launching the first-ever, 30-Day Global Hope Challenge as part of its Hopeful Cities initiative.

The Global Hope Challenge is a free program that introduces participants to the skills they need to create, maintain, and grow hope. Hope, defined as a vision, fueled by positive feelings and inspired actions, is a learnable, measurable, and teachable skill that can have positive impacts on all aspects of your life. 

Research shows that higher levels of hope correspond to greater emotional and psychological wellbeing, as well as improved academic and job performance and enhanced personal relationships. Hope is also a known protective factor against anxiety and depression, both of which have increased significantly due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people around the world.  There has never been a more critical time to activate hope in your life and your community. 

“Hope is tangible and teachable, and it is an essential ingredient for a successful life trajectory,” said Myron Belfer, MD, MPA, Hopeful Minds, Professor of Psychiatry Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, “People want something simple and easy, and this is a great way to start learning more about hope.”

The Global Hope Challenge introduces participants to the hope skills they can implement in their daily lives through 30 days, 30 lessons, and 30 actions. Each morning, participants receive an email about the day’s hope skill, along with a video, a lesson, an activity that puts the day’s skill into action, and a downloadable workbook to help monitor progress and reinforce the skill.  

Check our press release.

iFred has used their years of research on hope in children, as well as the lessons from the Hopeful Minds curriculum, to create a program that gives teens and adults the “what, why, and how” of hope. This is a program that is grounded in the science of hope, and provides a clear path towards a more hopeful mindset. 

iFred views hope as a human right, and introduces all of its resources, programs, and curriculums for free. The Global Hope Challenge is also available in both Spanish and English.

For more information about the program, visit https://globalhopechallenge.com/. For more information on iFred’s other projects, visit https://www.ifred.org/

Author(s)

  • Kathryn Goetzke

    MBA, Global Hope Ambassador, iFred Founder, Chief Mood Officer

    iFred, The Mood Factory

    Kathryn Goetzke is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, strategic consultant and global depression advocate. She is the entrepreneur and innovator behind Mood-lites™, a brand that achieved over 35 million dollars in retail sales. As her role as Chief Mood Officer at The Mood Factory, her goal is to ‘Improve Moods’ by teaching consumers how to get in the present moment through engaging the senses. Armed with an MBA in International Marketing, an undergraduate degree in Psychology, over 20 years of experience with small and Fortune 100 companies, and a successful product launch of her own under her belt, she aims to do just that with her new line of product based on how scents impact moods and 21 Day Courses teaching how to rewire the brain. In addition to launching Mood-lites, Goetzke founded a non-profit organization for depression called iFred (the International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression – www.ifred.org) dedicated to eradicating the stigma of the disease using the sunflower, a focus on hope, the color yellow, celebrity engagement, creating hopeful mindsets, and education on the biology of the brain. According to the World Health Organization, there are 300 million people around the world with major depressive disorder, yet depression is treatable and episodes often preventable. She is most excited about her Hopeful Minds initiative (www.hopefulminds.org), based on research that hope is a teachable skill and aimed at teaching kids around the world so they may be equipped to always create, maintain, and sustain hope. Goetzke and her work has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Home, InStyle, Family Living, Scholastic Choices Magazine, and others. She has spoken at the United Nations, World Bank, Global Mental Health Conference, Mental Health Community Associations Conference, the Scent Marketing Institute, and more. She has been featured on multiple radio and television shows including BBC, WGN Chicago, CBS Chicago, Tasty Trade, and eWomenNetwork. Goetzke is a regular contributor to the Thrive Global and PsychCentral, writes regularly for iFred and The Mood Factory, and serves on advisory boards for FundaMentalSDG, the Global Mental Health Movement, and Women's Brain Project, and is a member of the Founding Steering Committee Member of YMentalHealth, a global coalition for youth mental health nonprofits. Goetzke has a Master of Business Administration degree in International Marketing Management from the University of St. Thomas, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, International Studies and Biology from Winona State University. She currently resides in Reno, NV, where she enjoys hiking, meeting new people, playing with her nieces, exploring the mountains, skiing, and solving complex global challenges.