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About Us

The EQJOY Mission

Our mission is to strengthen children’s emotional wellbeing by empowering children to become
MASTERS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

About EQJOY

Imagine a world in which children have the emotional intelligence skills to understand their feelings, express themselves confidently, navigate challenges, build strong relationships and create more fulfilling, joy-filled lives. At EQJOY, we are working to help make that vision a reality.

EQJOY is a California-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit developing practical, playful and research-informed tools and programs that help children build emotional intelligence. Our two core solutions — EQJOY Masters for children aged 6–10 and EQJOY World for children aged 11+ — support children at different stages of their emotional development through play, exploration, reflection and real-life practice.

Explore EQJOY Masters →
Explore EQJOY World →

Who We Are​

EQJOY Co is a California-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN# 88-2986394), co-founded by Andrew Cannon and Debby Schlesinger-Hellman.

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Meet the Founders

Andrew

Co-Founder

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Debby

Co-Founder

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Andrew

Co-Founder

Andrew Cannon is co-founder of EQJOY and founder of The Art and Science of Joy. His work is centered around two interconnected questions: how do we empower children to improve their emotional wellbeing, and how do we empower people to live more joy-filled lives?

Andrew has spent much of his career researching and developing a deep understanding of people’s values, attitudes and behavior. Since 2019, he has applied those research skills to a deep exploration of the drivers of and barriers to joy, alongside the role emotional intelligence plays in resilience, relationships and emotional wellbeing.

Through EQJOY, Andrew is focused on making emotional intelligence practical, playful and accessible to children — developing tools and programs that help them understand their feelings, navigate life’s challenges and build skills they can use throughout their lives.

Alongside his work with children, Andrew continues to research, write and speak about joy, helping adults turn insights into practical action and begin creating their own recipe for a more joy-filled life.

When he isn’t working on EQJOY or joy, Andrew can usually be found enjoying family and friends, nature, travel and music.

Debby

Co-Founder

Debby is co-founder of the Art and Science of Joy and EQJOY CO.
Debby’s background in business has given her experience in coaching, mentoring and building teams. She is currently interested in bringing that knowledge along with new learnings to advance more joy to both individuals as well as teams.
During Debby’s time developing leaders she has found that people are searching for more
belonging and a sense of purpose in their everyday life, including the workplace. With this knowledge Debby is passionate about helping others find a path to that more joy-filled life, looking to have a positive impact on many.
The past couple of decades has highlighted the lack of Joy for many and filled it with fear, anxiety and stress front and center. Debby has learned that taking the time and effort to rebuild the joy muscle through conscious work on wellbeing, belonging, positive impact and fun has helped her live a more joy filled life. With this knowledge, Debby is dedicating time to bring this knowledge to others in a way that will encourage them to build that Joy muscle and bring Joy to their lives and those of their loved ones. The Year of Joy is the perfect vehicle to allow many people to join in changing the Joy level of their journey. Debby is passionate about working side by side with Andrew on EQJOY, a tool to help children develop their emotional intelligence through the power play. If we are successful in guiding our children to emotional health and wellbeing, we will see them grow to be much healthier and joyful adults.
While Debby is continuously working on her Joy journey you will find her collaborating with others on expanding their Joy through nature walks, discussing books, having fun filled meals together, traveling to new places and sharing stories.