Renée Crown Wellness Institute

Renée Crown Wellness Institute The Crown Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute at CU Boulder.

We seek to promote the wellness of all children and the adults who support them, through research-practice partnerships.

The Crown Institute of University of Colorado Boulder starts its research from a simple premise: the people a project af...
09/18/2026

The Crown Institute of University of Colorado Boulder starts its research from a simple premise: the people a project affects should help shape it, as equal partners.

Our free Participatory Design Toolkit follows the stages of our participatory design cycle: build trusted teams, identify and understand, co-design, evaluate and refine, and scale and sustain. The stages supply checkpoints for who holds power.

🤝 Who's at the table?

The “Team Composition Protocol” has teams map stakeholders on two axes: how much is at stake for them, and how much say they have in setting the terms of the conversation. This allows researchers to identify leaders from the groups with the least say and recruit them onto the team.

🧭 Who is this for?

“For Whom Are We Designing?" builds design personas. In the field example, students, staff, and researchers co-designing our Mindful Campus Program at CU Boulder developed personas of people the program might serve, then discussed the range of concerns, goals, and experiences to keep in mind.

🗳️ Who decides?

"Think, Pair, Share" turns a decision into a structured process: options go up around the room, everyone votes, and the team talks through the reasoning. Every vote is displayed and counted equally without regard to age, education, or other identity statuses.

🔍 Who makes sense of the data?

“Collaborative Qualitative Coding” brings collaborators into theme-building and analysis. This ensures that their perspectives are represented in the conclusions, and strengthens the validity and reliability of the claims made.

✍️ Who gets credit?

“The Guidelines for Authorship” suggest beginning authorship conversations early, distinguishing co-researchers from participants, and recognizing that a community brief or panel can sometimes honor a contribution better than a journal article.

🌱 Whose work goes unseen?

“Make Infrastructure Visible” documents the emotional, temporal, and material labor a program runs on. In the example, community health workers' documented role was tending gardens; tracing their work showed how much of the model's success rested on the relationships they built with residents.

This robust resource includes more than 20 activities and guidelines, with facilitation steps, preparation notes, virtual adaptations, and examples from the field. It was created by researchers and practitioners across education, psychology, and sociology, developed through extensive partnerships with youth and community collaborators, and is FREE to download, adapt, and share with attribution for noncommercial use.

If you mentor students or early-career researchers, the principles in the Toolkit are indispensable for ensuring research stays relevant to the people it’s intending to serve.

🔗 Download the toolkit free: https://crowninstitute.colorado.edu/learn/educators/tools-for-educator/participatory-design-toolkit

Registration is open for the Crown Institute’s Mindful Campus Program 8-week series this fall — open to students, facult...
09/17/2026

Registration is open for the Crown Institute’s Mindful Campus Program 8-week series this fall — open to students, faculty, staff, and anyone in the Crown Institute community.

CU Boulder students who participate in the Mindful Campus 8-week series become eligible to pursue the Foundations in Compassion and Mindfulness microcredential — CU's way of recognizing this work as part of your education, not just something you did on the side.

A microcredential is shorter and more focused than a full course: it's a structured way to build real experience in mindfulness and compassion practice, and have something concrete to point to for it — on a resume, in a grad school application, or just for yourself.

🎓 CU students: eligible to pursue the Foundations in Compassion and Mindfulness microcredential

📅 Wednesdays, 2–3 PM MT, October 7–December 9

💻 Free and virtual

⏰ Registration closes September 25

🔗 Register here: https://crowninstitute.colorado.edu/learn/students/on-campus-practices

📃 More about the microcredential: https://crowninstitute.colorado.edu/learn/students/courses-and-microcredentials

“There is a special kind of trust that can develop when someone feels that the person sitting across from them understan...
09/11/2026

“There is a special kind of trust that can develop when someone feels that the person sitting across from them understands something about their life and their community — someone who has walked the same path.“ That’s how our director and founder, Dr. Sona Dimidjian, described Alma in Vox’s reporting on what actually helps women experiencing postpartum depression.

Alma is a research-based, peer-to-peer mentoring program that supports new and expectant moms. Mothers who have recovered from depression during pregnancy or the postpartum period complete 80 hours of training, then meet with a new mom up to 10 times, in person or virtually. The regular, meaningful, peer connection is an important part of creating conditions for new mothers to thrive.

As Dr. Dimidjian says, “A peer can often say, in effect, ‘I have been there too, and I know how hard it can be.’ That shared experience can also help reduce the stigma and shame that many women feel about depression during pregnancy or the postpartum period.”

Alma was built the same way it's delivered. 450 mothers helped design it, not as participants but as partners. The women who now run its sessions aren't clinicians filling a gap — their own experience is the qualification.

💛 450 moms co-designed the program
🤝 61 peer mentors trained and certified
📊 In one study, nearly 2 out of 3 participants reported meaningful improvement in depression

English and Spanish-language versions of Alma are now being implemented in Colorado, California, and New Jersey.

🔗 Read the Vox piece: https://www.vox.com/health/501565/lindsay-clancy-trial-postpartum-depression-psychosis
🔗 More about Alma: https://crowninstitute.colorado.edu/learn/for-families/alma

How students experience flourishing depends on where they are and who they are. But they hold this in common: when they ...
09/10/2026

How students experience flourishing depends on where they are and who they are. But they hold this in common: when they describe flourishing for themselves, flourishing becomes more possible. This toolkit is a structured way of asking — and of helping the answers travel beyond the room.

Across 14 lessons, students write roughly 400 words answering one question -- what does it mean for you to flourish here? --and then build a short film from that draft. Every layer of it stays theirs:

🎙️ The voice-over is the student reading their own story aloud.
🖼️ The images are their own photographs.
✂️ The final cut is their decision.
🔒 So is whether it's shared at all — the toolkit covers written permission and anonymity options, so students stay in control of what leaves the room.

The toolkit is built around authorship: people telling their own stories rather than having someone else tell those stories for them.

Written by faculty and educators from CU Boulder and CU Denver across learning sciences, geography, and anthropology, and piloted with CU Boulder undergraduates in 2025. Adaptable to a semester course, a club, or a standalone workshop.

🔗 Download it free: https://crowninstitute.colorado.edu/learn/educators/tools-for-educator/digital-storytelling-toolkit

The Crown Institute at University of Colorado Boulder is celebrating two of our researchers.What happens when educators ...
09/09/2026

The Crown Institute at University of Colorado Boulder is celebrating two of our researchers.

What happens when educators are given the tools to strengthen one another — and invited to help design those tools themselves?

Through the Creative Futures Fellowship from Venture Partners at CU Boulder, Crown Institute researchers Ashley Seidel Potvin, PhD, and Michelle Reininger, PhD, will receive funding, support, and a cohort of fellow innovators to help develop Mentor BWell, an educator wellness mentoring model for Boulder Valley School District's induction program. It's an exciting honor — and an opportunity to bring a promising idea closer to practice.

🏫 Dr. Potvin brings firsthand experience as a teacher who has also helped other educators as a coach and curriculum leader.

📊 Dr. Reininger brings deep expertise in education research, policy, and research partnerships.

🤝 Together, they are co-designing Mentor BWell with educators themselves, helping shape a model teachers can use, adapt, and sustain.

The Creative Futures Fellowship is Venture Partners' first program built specifically for arts, humanities, and social science innovators — backing work that's ready to move out of the university and into communities. The 2026 fellows were selected through a competitive review and represent disciplines from across CU Boulder.

Congratulations to Dr. Potvin and Dr. Reininger!

🔗 More on the 2026 Creative Futures Fellows: https://www.colorado.edu/venturepartners/2026/07/16/internal-news/bold-ideas-arts-humanities-and-social-sciences-backed-creative-futures-fellowship

The Crown Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, welcomes Sophia Hwang, PhD, as the newest Crown Institute fac...
09/08/2026

The Crown Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, welcomes Sophia Hwang, PhD, as the newest Crown Institute faculty, Yvonne Kristy Endowed Chair and Assistant Professor in the School of Education. She joins us from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Much of the Crown Institute's work begins with a simple recognition: schools are central to young people's daily lives, and educators play a powerful role in shaping whether those environments support wellness and flourishing. Dr. Hwang's research speaks directly to that.

🤝 Supportive relationships: what they do for students and the adults supporting them.

🏫 Systems change: addressing challenges and barriers to create conditions for students and educators to thrive.

🔬 “How” is as important as “what”: community-based research through research-practice partnerships and people-centered experiments. This means the people closest to the work help shape the questions.

Her work builds on Crown Institute research showing how compassion and mindfulness equip educators with practices that sustain their own well-being and, in turn, the students and communities they serve.

In her words: "I'm thrilled to continue my work on the power of relationships in schools to support student and educator well-being alongside colleagues who center both science and love in how they think, feel, and act."

Dr. Hwang earned her PhD in Applied Psychology from NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and completed postdoctoral training at UC Berkeley's Center for Prevention Research in Social Welfare.

Welcome, Professor Hwang!

🔗 More about her work: https://crowninstitute.colorado.edu/team-members/sophia-hwang-phd

💫 You don’t have to wait until grad school to do research, lead, and take on work that matters.The Crown Institute suppo...
09/02/2026

💫 You don’t have to wait until grad school to do research, lead, and take on work that matters.
The Crown Institute supports CU Boulder students through three student opportunities and two scholarships:

✨ the Undergraduate Research Fellowship (three years of mentored psych & neuroscience research)

✨ the Dalai Lama Fellowship (a global, compassion-centered leadership program for Leeds School of Business students)

✨ the Student Voice & Leadership Council (a paid council of undergraduate and graduate students shaping mental health and flourishing at CU)

✨ the Baer and Draizin Crown Institute Scholarships for students already involved in our work.

Learn more about each program at the link in bio.

The Crown Institute of University of Colorado Boulder offers students real opportunities to research, lead, and grow — t...
09/02/2026

The Crown Institute of University of Colorado Boulder offers students real opportunities to research, lead, and grow — through three student programs and two scholarships built for people who want to make a difference.

We believe you shouldn't have to wait for grad school to do research, lead, and take on work that matters. These programs give students hands-on experience, real mentorship, and financial support.

🔬 The Undergraduate Research Fellowship is a three-year program that turns curious sophomores into independent researchers, blending rigorous psychology and neuroscience research with real mentorship. Applications open January 2027 for current freshmen entering their sophomore year.

🌍 The Dalai Lama Fellowship is a one-of-a-kind leadership program for Leeds School of Business students, building capacity for resilience, self-awareness, and compassionate leadership alongside changemakers from around the world. Applications open December 2026.

🗣️ The Student Voice & Leadership Council brings undergraduate and graduate students together with campus leaders to strengthen student mental health, wellness, and flourishing at CU, moving from insight to action on real programs and policies. Council seats are open to undergraduate and graduate students. About two hours a week commitment with a $600 stipend per semester. Applications open Spring ‘27 for the 2027-28 academic year.

🎓 The Baer Endowed Crown Institute Scholarship and the Draizin Crown Institute Scholarship support students already involved in our work — as fellows, research assistants, volunteers, or co-designers.

"Over three years, we've not only developed a deep passion for research, but also gained the confidence, mentorship, and opportunities that are helping shape our future careers."
—Kit, Cohort 2022 Undergraduate Research Fellow

We invite you to join us.

💫 Learn more about each program here: https://crowninstitute.colorado.edu/learn/students/fellowships-and-scholarships

This $1,000 scholarship supports Colorado PK–12 educators completing the Cultivating Compassion & Dignity in Ourselves a...
09/01/2026

This $1,000 scholarship supports Colorado PK–12 educators completing the Cultivating Compassion & Dignity in Ourselves and Our Schools graduate certificate and working to cultivate more compassionate school communities.

We asked Christian to share a little about himself, his work as an educator, and what inspires his commitment to compassion and dignity in schools…

🍎 What is your role in your school community?
I am the school counselor at a public Title I elementary school in the Boulder Valley School District. I teach social emotional lessons (SEL) to all students and I am a full-time resource for students, families and staff.

🍎 Why did you become a school counselor?
I married into a family of educators. I got to see the passion, dedication and compassion they all carried for their schools, students and colleagues. I also got to see and hear how hard their jobs were and I wanted more for them. For all educators. A primary reason I became a counselor was to support staff wellness and longevity in their roles.

I also wanted to be part of a team working to create and promote safe spaces where every child feels seen, supported, and like they belong.

🍎 Why are you interested in compassion & dignity for yourself, your classroom, your school environment?
Compassion and dignity have always been an important personal and professional value. Compassion and dignity both support connection and relational growth, which I believe are essential foundations in educational pedagogy.

Personally and professionally, I hope compassion and dignity integration works to support a greater sense of connection and belonging for students and increased synergy and work fulfilment for staff. Systemically, leading with compassion and dignity with all of our students and families can only benefit our current and future charges, schools and communities.

🍎 What are your hopes for your experience in earning the Compassion & Dignity certificate?
My hopes for the program are to grow additional awareness and intentionality around compassion and dignity which inherently benefits those I support and work with every day.

Please join us in congratulating Christian on this incredible achievement! We’re thrilled to support Christian as he deepens his work around compassion, dignity, connection, and belonging and brings what he learns back to his school community.

🔗 Learn all about about our Cultivating Compassion & Dignity in Ourselves and Our Schools digital certificate here: https://crowninstitute.colorado.edu/learn/educators/compassion-dignity/earn-a-digital-certificate

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University Of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO
80303

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