Ginny Sassaman is a co-founder and past president of Gross National Happiness USA. She created the Happiness Paradigm as a platform for teaching, writing about and advocating for greater personal happiness and creating systems change for maximum well-being for all. Since 2013, she has served as a lay preacher in Unitarian Universalist churches on these topics; a book of 16 of these sermons, called Preaching Happiness: Creating a Just and Joyful World, was published in May 2020 by Rootstock Publishing.

Ginny has a Masters in Mediation, and a Certificate in Positive Psychology.  Her past careers have included a stint as co-host and associate producer at a public television station in Hershey, Pennsylvania; working in Washington, DC as media communications director for Common Cause, American University, and the Women’s Legal Defense Fund; 13 years as a fulltime watercolor artist; and ongoing work as a mediator and facilitator.  Since 2007, Sassaman has been leading classes and workshops on conflict resolution skills, secular meditation, and the science of happiness. 

Ginny also prioritizes time with family, friends, community, and being in nature. She is deeply committed to helping to create a more just world as well as helping individuals learn how to lead more joyful and productive lives, for their own benefit and for greater societal well-being.