Announcing Two New Global Ambassadors Strengthening the WHIS & Global Social Prescribing Movement
We are delighted to announce the appointment of two exceptional global leaders as new Global Ambassadors for the World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS), who will also support the work of the Global Social Prescribing Alliance.
Dr. (h.c.) Robert Browning and Sheva Carr bring decades of international leadership, innovation, and impact across mental health, resilience, peacebuilding, and whole-person care. Their appointments reflect our continued commitment to advancing prevention, wellbeing, and community-driven health solutions worldwide.
Welcoming Dr. (h.c.) Robert Browning
Robert Browning serves as Director of Healthcare and Organizational Development, Director for Health Partnerships, and Master Trainer at HeartMath Institute. With more than 30 years of service, Robert has trained over 100,000 individuals globally in resilience-building skills designed to support mental health, emotional regulation, and optimal wellbeing.
His work focuses on cultivating heart-based organizations—environments where compassion, coherence, and human connection are central to performance and care delivery. Robert has helped lead and implement programs across some of the world’s most respected health systems and academic institutions, including:
- Johns Hopkins Health System
- Kaiser Permanente
- Stanford Health Care
- UCLA Health
- Duke University Health System
- Mayo Clinic
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Through these collaborations, Robert has advanced programs centered on self-care, human caring, mental health, resilience, and wholeness-based healing for healthcare professionals and patients alike.
Robert received an Honorary Doctorate in Human Caring and Caring Science from Dr. Jean Watson of the Watson Caring Science Institute. He also serves as Co-Vice President of Pathways to Peace, an organization with consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
In this role, he has presented HeartMath as a peace-building initiative at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum and co-curated the global staff series “You Are the UN.”
Additionally, Robert is Vice President of the Fyera Foundation, supporting partnerships with international bodies including the World Health Organization, the Red Cross, and global policy forums such as the G20/C20.
Most recently, he was invited as an expert contributor to the WHO’s 2nd Global Traditional Medicine Summit in Delhi, India.
Robert also holds faculty roles with the Esalen Institute and the Watson Caring Science Institute and serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus College of Nursing.
His lifelong inquiry into the science and power of the human heart continues to shape global conversations on healing, leadership, and systems transformation.
Welcoming Sheva Carr
Joining alongside Robert is Sheva Carr—founding CEO of Heart Ambassadors® and the Fyera Foundation, Co-Director of HeartMath Healthcare, and Vice President of Pathways to Peace.
Sheva is an internationally recognized innovator integrating Traditional Chinese Medicine, Polarity Therapy, and HeartMath heart-rate variability self-regulation into scalable programs supporting mental health and population wellbeing.
Her work bridges science, policy, and humanitarian action—advancing social and emotional resilience as foundational pillars of sustainable development.
Sheva spearheaded mental health and social-emotional learning policy adopted by the C20/G20, promoting inclusive access to mental health services and education systems worldwide. She serves as a consultant to both the United Nations and the World Health Organization and has advised government bodies including the California Select Committee on the Mental Health Crisis.
An accomplished author, her books include:
- Where the Sky Meets the Earth
- Being the Source of Love She also co-authored HeartMath’s Stopping Emotional Eating Program and developed Freedom with Pain, a 13-hour trauma-recovery series supporting war veterans.
Her suicide-prevention and mental health education initiatives—including Bust 7 Myths About Your Mood and Science-Based Hope for Happiness—have reached global audiences struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, and bipolar disorder.
Global Healthcare & Workforce Impact
Sheva has trained and mentored clinicians, nurses, executives, and care teams across leading institutions, including:
- Mayo Clinic
- Harvard-affiliated programs
- Stanford
- Dartmouth Hitchcock
- Cedars-Sinai
- Kaiser Permanente
- Johns Hopkins She also founded the first HeartMath hospital patient-education program in partnership with Cleveland Clinic’s Heart-Brain Institute at North Hawaii Community Hospital.
Her advisory work extends to the U.S. Military, Homeland Security, international civil servants, cardiologists, neuroscientists, and peace negotiators—applying heart-intelligence practices to diplomacy, crisis response, and public health.
Through the Fyera Foundation’s ECOSOC consultative status, she has partnered with the Red Cross to deliver resilience and mental-health first-aid training in disaster and conflict zones.
Sheva’s thought leadership has been featured in academic journals including Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, and she was recognized as a “Love Luminary” in Marci Shimoff’s New York Times bestseller Love for No Reason. She also collaborated with Nobel Peace Prize nominee Scilla Elworthy to operationalize The Business Plan for Peace through applied heart-intelligence learning.
Like Robert, Sheva was recently appointed as an expert contributor to the WHO’s 2nd Global Traditional Medicine Summit in Delhi.
Advancing the Future of Social Prescribing & Whole-Person Health
The appointment of Robert Browning and Sheva Carr as Global Ambassadors marks a significant milestone for WHIS and the Global Social Prescribing Alliance.
Their combined expertise strengthens our mission to:
- Scale social prescribing globally
- Address mental health and workforce burnout
- Advance prevention and community wellbeing
- Integrate heart-centered, evidence-based care
- Support peace, resilience, and systems transformation Both ambassadors embody a deeply human approach to healthcare—one that recognizes the vital role of emotional resilience, connection, and purpose in achieving sustainable health outcomes.
A Shared Vision
As WHIS continues to convene global leaders, innovators, clinicians, policymakers, and communities, the addition of Robert and Sheva expands our capacity to drive meaningful change across systems and societies.
Their leadership will support collaborative programs, global partnerships, and innovation platforms aligned with our shared vision:
Healthier people. Healthier communities. A healthier world.
“Robert and Sheva embody the very essence of what WHIS stands for compassionate leadership, innovation in wellbeing, and a commitment to building healthier communities. Their global influence and heart-centred approach will help accelerate social prescribing and workforce resilience at a time when the world needs it most. As CEO of both WHIS and the Global Social Prescribing Alliance, I am proud to welcome them as Global Ambassadors supporting our shared mission to advance prevention, mental health, and community wellbeing worldwide.” Gareth Presch, Founder, CEO, WHIS, CEO, GSPA
We warmly welcome Dr. (h.c.) Robert Browning and Sheva Carr to the WHIS and Global Social Prescribing Alliance family and look forward to the impact we will achieve together.