Amy Cuddy | Power, Agency, and the Architecture of Wellbeing

Amy Cuddy | Power, Agency, and the Architecture of Wellbeing

Every year, global happiness rankings spark headlines, but rarely deeper conversation. In her keynote at Abundant Futures / Live, social psychologist and bestselling author Amy Cuddy asks us to look beyond “happiness” and toward the overlooked ingredient that distinguishes the world’s highest-well-being societies: personal power.

Drawing on decades of research in psychology, embodiment, and social behavior, Amy shows how personal power activates the behavioral approach system, a neurological state that expands our creativity, resilience, openness, trust, and capacity to engage with others. When we feel powerless, the inhibition system takes over, narrowing our thinking, heightening threat perception, and shrinking our sense of possibility.

In a world shaped by inequity, discrimination, and exclusion, Amy’s work offers tools for reclaiming internal power while challenging architects, planners, and leaders to create environments that give people space to stand tall, to act, and to thrive.

Her keynote reminds us that empowerment is a design challenge as much as a psychological one, and that a more abundant future depends on our ability to build places that expand rather than constrict our collective sense of possibility.

Explore how personal power can reshape our bodies, our relationships, and the spaces we call home.