Educator, author, and award-winning innovator, Rita Marie Johnson has been sharing her wellness skill worldwide for over 20 years. She discovered a synergy between empathy and
insight that maximizes social-emotional intelligence, eliminates unnecessary suffering and leads to life enriching choices. This epiphany resulted in the Connection Practice, which transforms confusion into clarity and conflict into connection for people of all ages and all walks of life.

Rita Marie’s implementation of the Connection Practice in Costa Rican schools earned her the Ashoka Changemakers Innovation Award: Building a More Ethical Society, chosen from 79 projects in 32 countries. She has certified over 300 Connection Practice Coaches and Trainers, who have taught it to over 100,000 individuals in more than 20 countries. Her book Completely Connected: Uniting Our Empathy and Insight for Extraordinary Results won a Nautilus Award in the Psychology category of Better Books for a Better World and is an Amazon bestseller.

Rita Marie taught the Connection Practice for credit at the United Nations University for Peace, a
graduate school for international leaders. In addition, she brought the Connection Practice to
professionals at Stanford, Harvard and Minerva Universities.

A seminar leader and keynote speaker, Rita Marie has presented in the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Europe and Central America, Some highlights include:

• Women in Leadership Summit at Stanford
• INCAE Business School (considered the Harvard of Latin America) for the Annual Reunion of Rectors and Deans of Latin America
• Central American Leadership Initiative (CALI), a think tank sponsored by the Aspen
  Institute
• Global Summits for Ministries and Departments for Peace
• Rotary International “Peace Through Service” Conference
• Peace Alliance Conference in Washington DC.

In 2006, Rita Marie and her nonprofit, Rasur Foundation International, initiated a bill in Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly to establish a Ministry for Peace. It passed in 2009. Now this Ministry for Peace serves as a model for other countries to replicate.

Johnson is an Instructor in Executive Education and an Advisory Board Member for the University of California Santa Barbara Extension, Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE), Women in Leadership Certificate Program.