This past Saturday, the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Born This Way Foundation – created by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, – hosted the Emotion Revolution Summit to build awareness of the critical role emotions play in young people’s learning, decision-making, academic achievement, and overall wellness. The Summit featured  panel discussions, workshops, and remarks by advocates, educators, nearly 200 visiting Youth from around the country, and Lady Gaga herself.

Throughout the day, Lady Gaga encouraged the youth attendants to take their own mental and emotional health seriously and to proactively seek the tools they need to foster wellbeing. She called on participants to join the conversation around why emotions matter through the #IAmNotJust hashtag on Social Media.

Dr. Marc Brackett, Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, unveiled the results of an unprecedented online survey of 22,000 high school-age youth. The survey explored how young people currently feel and how they want to feel in school, and the possible reasons for these emotions. Here are some of the highlights of the research:

The #EmotionRevolution generated more than 618 Million Social Media Impressions worldwide, with the #IAmNotJust hashtag trending globally.

If you were unable to attend or view the LiveStream, you can re-live the #EmotionRevolution by watching both the Opening and Closing sessions online.

Some Highlights from the Day

Facebook also had a major presence at the event. They launched inspirED—a resource center for high school students and educators born out of a partnership between Facebook and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Designed by educators, teens, and experts in social and emotional learning (SEL), inspirED is a tool to help high school students and educators work together to create the best possible learning communities.

The Emotion Revolution was made possible by the generous support of Facebook, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Microsoft, Mattel, Life is Good, HopeLab, WWE, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Flawless Foundation, and the Faas Foundation.