WE THRIVE TOGETHER

Prepare • Adapt • Grow

Who We Are

Worldmaker is a nonprofit organization providing resilience programs backed by scientific research and global fieldwork to build stronger groups and communities. Worldmaker partners and consults with corporations, educational institutions, healthcare organizations and military communities to train their teams to help their people prepare for and cope with the emotional and mental toll of dealing with hardships such as natural disasters and mental health crises.

Our History

Founder and CEO Dr. Mollie Marti started the grassroots resilience work in 2011 in her Iowa community with the aim of stopping an active suicide contagion that resulted in the loss of several young lives. As word of her local efforts got out, requests for help from other communities came pouring in. So, Mollie established the nonprofit National Resilience Institute (NRI) which later transformed into Worldmaker International, with a mission to help individuals and communities build their capacity to prepare for, adapt to and grow through adversity.

Our Vision

A world prepared to thrive through adversity.

What We Do

Our time-tested, research-based THRIVE Resilience Model™ provides a proactive approach to help communities build the capacity to thrive in today’s world. Specifically, we:

Convene experts to create narratives of thriving and needed field tools
Serve as a global resource for human resilience education
Equip communities to prepare for and respond to disruptions
Lead global professional development experiences that strengthen helpers and vulnerable communities

Why Our Work Matters

We live in turbulent times. Too often, when bad things happen, structures that help people cope are not in place. People are suffering unnecessarily. Worldmaker equips leaders and helpers to thrive and to unleash the power of human potential. We shape academic work understood by the few into practical tools used by the many.

Our Team

Our Board and Executive Team collaborate closely, leading with clarity of vision and generating impact that provides donors with a strong return on their philanthropic investments.

Dr. Mollie Marti, PhD, JD, Chief Executive Officer

Mollie Marti, PhD, JD, Founding CEO of Worldmaker International, is a social psychologist, attorney and resilience researcher. She began this work in response to the tragic loss of young lives by suicide and then led the growth of the U.S. based nonprofit National Resilience Institute, working across school safety, military and crisis response resilience, organizational wellness, and leadership. She is known for adapting research into effective applications, including the THRIVE Resilience Model™ that Worldmaker uses to go beyond individual traits to help build environments that repair trauma and nurture connections between people and their communities.

Ivy Kusinga, Board Vice Chair

Ivy Kusinga is the Chief Culture and Talent Officer at Chubb; a global property and casualty insurer serving large corporate, mid-market, small business, and lower-middle income to high-net-worth consumers through brokerage, agency and direct-to-consumer distribution channels. With more than 25 years of work experience, she partners with other leaders to strengthen Chubb’s culture and provide an inclusive, equitable environment that enables high performance. She also works with leadership teams across Chubb to support a focus on attracting, developing and retaining talent. Prior to this role, Ivy led the talent management function for Chubb North America and worked for Chubb Overseas General as VP, Business Development, International Accident & Health. Ivy speaks extensively on issues of corporate culture, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion and serves on several non-profit boards in addition to Worldmaker International. Born in Uganda, she attended university in Nova Scotia, Canada and currently resides in Philadelphia.

David Richmond, Board Chair

David serves as Board Chair of Worldmaker International, a multi-disciplinary consortium of global experts dedicated to building human resilience. After 26 years of British Army service, he received a medical discharge for serious battle wounds that required four years of surgery and rehabilitation. He went on to serve as Recovery Director at Help for Heroes, overseeing services for over 18,000 wounded and sick servicemen, veterans and families. David was awarded the rank of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his leadership, including serving as Chairman of the Contact Group, which brings together UK military charities and governmental agencies engaged in delivering mental health support to veterans..

Kristen Hayes, M.A., Research & Education Manager

Kristen's passion is supporting positive and holistic youth development by bringing practical and evidence-based tools and support to the adults who work with them. She has worked in various roles within the education system, and she is particularly interested in working with schools to help their students become well-equipped, well-resourced human beings. She has a M.A. in Developmental Psychology and a B.A. in Education.

Katie Foy, Communications Manager

Katie works to cultivate communities of resilience, understanding, and healing by transforming the way society responds to adversity, especially in the lives of children. Katie draws on her communication and social media experiences in the non-profit sector, coupled with her various roles working with infants and adolescences, to connect the dots between research and real-world application. Her goal is to ensure each child receives the tools and resources needed to become healthy, thriving human beings. She has B.A. in Communication and Journalism with concentrations in Psychology and Sustainability.

Rori West, Communications Associate

Rori is inspired by Worldmaker’s desire to equip people to handle trauma and mental health crises. She is passionate about spreading the message of this amazing work. Rori is currently a student at the University of St. Thomas, studying Digital Media and how communications can further the good work of Worldmaker and similar organizations.

Board Members

Maya Tadmor-Anderman, MBA

Consultant, Community Resilience and Social Impact

Jeffrey Buchanan

Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (retired)

Kirk Ferguson

Director of Special Projects, R2P Innovations, US

Thembi Gola

Clinical & Operations Director, Consolidated Africa Services, Zimbabwe

Lola Olakunbi, M.D.

National Health Service, UK

Fiona Sweny

Founder, Ingo Health, UK

Sean Taylor

Director, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, UK

Giacomo Tormene, PhD

Managing Director, Carma Laboratories, US

Mark Zinkula

Consultant and former CEO, Legal & General Investment Management, US

April Smith, JD

Immediate Past Chair, Managing Attorney, Office of the Texas Attorney General

Speakers Bureau

Click here for our full list of speakers with resilience expertise and real-world experience.

A note from our CEO

It’s hard to believe how taking action from that “not on my watch” moment years ago when my community was senselessly losing young lives has propelled our Worldmaker team through hundreds of thousands of miles traveled and lives touched across the U.S. and around the world,