Cultivating Connections at Philabundance
Penn collection
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
positive emotions
positivity resonance
micromoments
character strengths
meaning
mattering
appreciative inquiry
whole system approach
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Nonprofit Administration and Management
Social Psychology
Training and Development
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Contributor
Abstract
Philabundance is a Philadelphia-based food bank, serving the food insecure in nine counties in Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey. Owing to its ambitious goal of not just relieving hunger, but ending it, a dispersed and diverse team working out of multiple sites and leadership turnover, issues with silos, morale and productivity have developed over recent years. Based on a situational analysis and a review of potentially applicable positive psychology research, Team Black believes that the organization could benefit from the positive psychology theories and research relating to (1) positive emotions and positivity resonance, (2) character strengths, and (3) meaning and mattering. Team Black has suggested a menu of positive interventions that would serve to bring these theories to life at Philabundance, to be introduced based on a timing that will depend on operational feasibility, particularly given the Covid-19 crisis. It is hoped that these interventions, all cultivating more connections at the organization, will not only help Philabundance to weather the crisis, but to cultivate connections among individuals, team and the organization as a whole, and ultimately increase well-being for all.