Jennifer Breheny Wallace is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. Her first book, Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic — And What We Can Do About It, was a New York Times Bestseller, an Amazon Best Book of the Year, and a Next Big Idea selection. Her forthcoming book Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose, was published in January 2026. Wallace is the founder of The Mattering Institute, whose mission is to create cultures of mattering in workplaces and communities, and co-founder of The Mattering Movement, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating cultures of mattering in schools. Jennifer is a Special Advisor to University Health & Counseling (UHC) at the University of Michigan and a member of their Well-being Collective Advisory Council. She is also on the Advisory Board for Making Caring Common, a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Wallace is a Journalism Fellow at The Center for Parent and Teen Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She also served as a guest lecturer for NYU’s Fall 2025 course, Education, Mattering, and the American Dream: Understanding Achievement Culture. Wallace is a maternal mental health advocate at Calm, the mental health app, a consultant at Netflix, and a BCG BrightHouse Luminary. She has also partnered with The LEGO Group on its global "Play Unstoppable" campaign, aimed at addressing perfectionism and fostering confidence through play. Wallace started her journalism career at CBS's “60 Minutes” and was part of the team that won the Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism. She is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and frequently appears on national television programs. Wallace serves on the board of the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City, where she lives.

Tom Sachs (b. 1966, New York City) is an internationally acclaimed sculptor and interdisciplinary artist known for transforming everyday materials into meticulously crafted objects and immersive experiences. Raised in Westport, Connecticut, Sachs studied at Bennington College and London’s Architectural Association before working in Frank Gehry’s Los Angeles furniture shop, shaping his obsession with process, craftsmanship, and the discipline of “Knolling.” In 1991, he founded his studio in Manhattan, creating early exhibitions like Cultural Prosthetics (1995) and Creativity Is the Enemy (1998) that combine luxury branding, pop culture, and everyday objects. His large-scale installations include Nutsy’s (2001–03), a dynamic remote-control car race around icons of modernist art and architecture fashioned from foam core, and Space Program (2007–2025), a series of missions throughout the solar system, each comprised of dozens of multimedia works with materials ranging from plywood to steel to porcelain and beyond. In 2025, Sachs published the Tom Sachs Guide (Phaidon), the most comprehensive explanation of his work, featuring 23 new essays, and launched the I.S.R.U app, a global initiative through NikeCraft challenging individuals to break their bad digital habits by connecting with a series of impactful daily rituals for the mind and body. For four decades, Sachs’s work has been featured in exhibitions around the world and is in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo; National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; and The Art Institute of Chicago.

Dr. Rana el Kaliouby is the host of the Pioneers of AI podcast and is on a mission to humanize technology before it dehumanizes us. As the co-founder of AI startup Affectiva, with a PhD in machine learning and computer vision from Cambridge University and postdoc from MIT, she has spent over two decades as a leading innovator in AI, pioneering the field of Emotion AI. Dr. Kaliouby is a co-founder and general partner at Blue Tulip Ventures, where she invests in early stage startups building ethical AI that is good for people.

Bob Safian is the host of podcast Rapid Response, named by The New York Times as one of its "Podcasts for the Pandemic Era" and honored as one of the 2025 Best Business Podcasts by The Ambies. Guests on the show include CEOs from Airbnb to Hinge, GM to Khan Academy, Starbucks to the WNBA. Safian was the first editor-in-chief to put Mark Zuckerberg on a magazine cover as the leader of Fast Company, which he oversaw for eleven years. Previously Safian served as an executive editor at Fortune and at Time. As founder of The Flux Group, an advisory group driving awareness of new business practices, Safian directly counsels Fortune 100 firms, startups and nonprofits across multiple industries. An honors graduate of Brown University, Safian is married and has three sons.

Aza is a National Geographic Explorer and co-founder of Earth Species Project, the new frontier of interspecies understanding. He is also the co-founder of Center for Humane Technology and architect and subject of the Emmy award-winning documentary The Social Dilemma, and is the co-host for the popular podcast Your Undivided Attention. Trained as a mathematician and dark matter physicist, he has taken three companies from founding to acquisition, has been a co-chairing member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Al, briefs heads of state, and helped found Mozilla Labs, in addition to being named FastCompany’s Master of Design, and listed on Forbes and Inc Magazines 30-under-30.

Eden Xenakis is deeply committed to advancing equity for young people worldwide by working alongside youth, communities, policymakers, and practitioners to help close the opportunity gap. As Chief of Staff at the Bezos Family Foundation, she collaborates closely with the Foundation’s Founders and senior leadership to drive strategic initiatives, manage cross-functional programs, and steward philanthropic priorities. Before joining the Foundation, Eden spent a decade at Deloitte, where she played a key role in launching Deloitte Digital—a division of Deloitte Consulting—partnering with founding leaders to shape its early vision and growth. With a career rooted in collaboration and innovation, Eden brings a thoughtful, action-oriented approach to building partnerships and driving meaningful change.

Kumar Garg is the President of Renaissance Philanthropy. Previously, Kumar worked with Eric Schmidt to design and launch moonshot initiatives in education, provide early support to game-changing ideas, and build ongoing multi-donor and multi-sector collaborations. He has also served in various roles in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Obama Administration and led the administration’s efforts to bolster STEM education, including policy development, implementation, and communication for various science and technology issues. Before these roles, he worked on behalf of parents and children seeking educational reform as an education lawyer and advocate. He has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a law degree from Yale Law School.

Arati Prabhakar was President Biden’s science and technology advisor and a member of his Cabinet while leading the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In these roles, she helped improve the course for artificial intelligence, health outcomes, climate and clean energy, and the innovation system to enable a prosperous and secure America. She previously led two different federal R&D agencies, serving as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In the private sector, she spent a decade as an early-stage venture capitalist and founded an innovation nonprofit. Today, Arati is advocating for better, bigger ambitions for AI and standing up for public investment in R&D.

Marina Gorbis, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future, has brought a foresight and futures perspective to hundreds of organizations in business, education, government, philanthropy, and civic society. Marina’s current research focuses on transformations in the world of work and new forms of value creation. Marina's book, The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World, explores many of these themes and draws connections between the changes in our technology infrastructure and our organizational landscape, from education to governance and health.

Maisha T. Winn is the Excellence in Learning Graduate School of Education Professor and Faculty Director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning's Equity in Learning Initiative. She is the Principal Investigator for the Futuring for Equity Lab. Her scholarship examines how non-dominant youth and communities have developed literate trajectories across a range of historical and contemporary settings within and outside formal schooling. She seeks to understand how communities that have been depicted as under resourced create practices, processes, and institutions of their own—and what we can learn from those examples to build more just, more collaborative, and more equitable futures. An ethnographer by training, Dr. Winn also engages in historical research focused on social movements in education.

Miriam Schneider is a trusted leader with two decades of experience in edtech, building products and programs at the intersection of cutting edge technology and educational impact. She currently serves as the Director of Learning Initiatives at Google DeepMind, where she leads efforts to explore how the future of AI can help advance and augment teaching, learning and human development. She’s deeply committed to cultivating collaboration across the broader education ecosystem to ensure that AI is grounded in learning science, built responsibly, researched rigorously, distributed equitably and fosters durable outcomes. Miriam’s fingerprints are etched throughout Google’s history in learning and education. During her tenure, she has built and led high-performing marketing and strategy teams across the company’s broad portfolio of education products, including Google Classroom and Chromebooks. She has been a foundational architect of Google’s holistic approach to education, dating back to the company’s early days roadtripping to college campuses in an iconic 1970s biodiesel school bus. More recently, she introduced LearnLM — the world’s most pedagogical AI — and has helped establish global advisory boards, student-focused programs, and communities of practice to enhance engagement with leading industry experts, practitioners and learners. Miriam is known for her unwavering passion for her work, innate desire to elevate and celebrate educators, and steadfast belief that everyone deserves access to high quality learning experiences. She believes the world runs on relationships and that curiosity is our currency of connection. She is an avid crafter (letterpress and calligraphy), active mother (to Poppy and Owen), podcast enthusiast (welcomes all recommendations!) who tries to forest bathe as much as possible. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA and studied French at the Sorbonne.

Martin McKay, Executive Chair & Founder, Everway Martin founded Everway (formerly Texthelp) in 1996 with a mission to create technology that empowers everyone to communicate more effectively. What started as a company focused on supporting individuals with speech and dexterity challenges has evolved into a leader in neuroinclusive technology, helping people of all abilities read, write, and express their ideas more fluently. Martin's vision is to unlock the potential of every brain by developing tools that address the unique needs of individuals. Under his leadership, Everway has impacted over 250 million people worldwide, with a goal of reaching one billion by 2030. Everway now employs 600 people across North America, Europe, and Australia and is backed by Five Arrows, the private equity arm of the Rothschild family. Martin’s dedication to improving literacy and communication has earned him recognition, including the Presidential Award from the International Dyslexia Association for his lifetime contribution to dyslexia and literacy. In 2022, Martin was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Ireland), celebrating his vision and leadership in making neuroinclusive technology accessible to all.

Maureen Polo is the CEO of Hello Sunshine, a multichannel media company that places women at the center of every story it creates, celebrates, and discovers. An award-winning leader with over 20 years of experience scaling high-growth media businesses, she was elevated to CEO in 2025 after joining Hello Sunshine in 2022 as Head of Direct-to-Consumer. In that role, she oversaw social, editorial, marketing, communications, and DTC brands, driving significant expansion of the company's direct-to-consumer offerings. Prior to Hello Sunshine, Maureen ran marketing strategy and solutions for Warner Media’s entertainment properties including HBO Max, TBS, truTV, Turner, Adults Swim, and Cartoon Network. In her previous role as General Manager at Fullscreen, Maureen ran the 400-person next generation entertainment company. Throughout her career Maureen has worked at a mix of traditional agencies and media companies where she excelled at leading start-up digital businesses specializing in the development and execution of cutting-edge cross-platform marketing and branded entertainment. She spent almost a decade at Conde Nast, led the sales and integrated marketing solutions team for Allrecipes.com, and worked with Rachael Ray & CBS to build and sell bespoke in-show, digital, and social integrations- essentially helping to build the industries original digital celebrity. Polo has been consistently recognized for their industry-leading work, including Shorty, Cannes Shortlist, OMMA, Streamy, RealScreen, Brandweek Constellation, and Digiday awards. Polo has also won Ad Age 20 under 30, She Runs It: Changing the Game Awards, and Cynopsis Top Women in Digital. Polo has also been profiled in Thrive Global’s Women Leadership series and featured in Forbes and Inc.

Rebecca Winthrop is a leading global authority on education, the director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She is dedicated to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive in life, work, and as an engaged citizen. She leads cutting-edge research and initiatives aimed at transforming education systems around the world to better support children's learning and development. Rebecca is a trusted advisor to both school communities and national and international organizations. Her expertise is sought by many including parent networks, schools, district education leaders, the White House, the United Nations, and Fortune 500 companies. Rebecca's work is centered on developing and advocating for evidence-based strategies that bring people together—families, educators, policymakers, and companies—to help children maximize their potential. She holds a PhD from Columbia University’s Teachers College, an MA from its School of International and Public Affairs, and a BA from Swarthmore College.

The Art and Science of Connection Kasley Killam is a leading expert in social health and author of The Art and Science of Connection: Why Social Health is the Missing Key to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier. As a Harvard-trained social scientist, 2X TED speaker, sought-after advisor, and award-winning founder, Killam has been dedicated to improving well-being through human connection for nearly 15 years. Globally recognized for her thought leadership on social health, Killam’s collaborations with top organizations like Google, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the World Economic Forum contribute to building more socially healthy products, workplaces, and communities. Discover her insights in outlets like The New York Times, Forbes, NPR, CNBC, and The Washington Post and join her newsletter community at www.kasleykillam.com.

Gustav Söderström is Spotify's Co-Chief Executive Officer and a member of its board of directors. He is responsible for executing on the Company's mission and strategy, and co-leading the management team. Mr. Söderström was previously Co-President, Chief Product & Technology Officer, where he oversaw global product and technology strategy, including the product, design, data, and engineering teams at Spotify. Prior to joining Spotify in 2009, Mr. Söderström founded Kenet Works in 2003, a company that developed community software for mobile phones, and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer until it was acquired by Yahoo! in 2006. Mr. Söderström was Director of Product and Business Development for Yahoo! Mobile from 2006-2009. Mr. Söderström is a startup seed investor and founder of 13th Lab (acquired by Facebook’s Oculus). Mr. Söderström holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Tasia Filippatos is the President of Disney Consumer Products, the global retail division of The Walt Disney Company. This division includes the world’s largest licensing business with $62 billion in annual retail sales, the top children’s publishing brand and one of the leading games licensors. It is also comprised of the global Disney Store business and hundreds of shopping destinations at Disney’s theme parks. With the mission of “creating happiness every day,” Tasia’s global organization brings Disney’s beloved characters and brands into the daily lives of fans around the world. With a presence in over 100 categories and a global reach across more than 180 countries, Disney Consumer Products works with the biggest brands in fashion, luxury, technology, gaming and publishing to reach consumers at every level of retail. Disney Consumer Products is at the forefront of creativity and innovation, including developing the all-new games and entertainment universe with Epic Games. This collaboration will invite fans to play, watch, shop and engage with Disney stories and characters in groundbreaking ways in the digital space. Prior to this role, Tasia oversaw the Disney Consumer Products business in Europe, Middle East and Africa as senior vice president. There, she drove the development of commercial strategies spanning all product categories, spearheaded DCP’s luxury business and oversaw Disney Store retail and e-commerce in Europe. Earlier in her career, Tasia led global communications and public affairs teams for both Disney Experiences and Disney Consumer Products. In these roles, she drove transformative change, instilling a business-driven communications approach to enhance the Disney brand. Tasia sits on the Board of Directors for Make-A-Wish International and previously served on the Development Board of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Board of Disney Cruise Line. Prior to joining The Walt Disney Company in 2008, Tasia served in a number of senior level government positions in Washington, D.C. and began her career as a litigation attorney. She is an honors graduate of Claremont McKenna College and received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Lorraine Ali is news and culture critic of the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she was television critic for The Times covering media, breaking news and the onslaught of content across streaming, cable and network TV. Ali is an award-winning journalist and Los Angeles native who has written in publications ranging from the New York Times to Rolling Stone and GQ. She was formerly senior writer for The Times’ Calendar section where she covered entertainment, culture, and American Arab and Muslim issues. Ali started at The Times in 2011 as music editor after leaving her post as a senior writer and music critic at Newsweek Magazine.

Larry David co-created “Seinfeld,” which debuted in 1989 and ran for nine seasons. As head writer and executive producer, the pressure of delivering a weekly show led to his abuse of anabolic steroids, which contributed to his ill-temper and shrunken testicles. In 1999, HBO aired his one-hour special, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which spawned the 12-season series. In it, he plays an incredibly gifted, loveable writer who spreads bonhomie and good cheer to everyone fortunate enough to encounter him. During one of “Curb’s” many, long hiatuses, David created two new shows, “Girls” and “Orange is the New Black.” To better understand the motivation of his female characters, he began cross-dressing and moved into the Barbizon Hotel for Women. He was evicted after his true identity was uncovered when he evacuated naked from a fire started by his roommate who forgot to unplug her curling iron. After a spiritual sabbatical in Poland, he returned to the US in 2009 to star in Woody Allen’s comedy, “Whatever Works.” The movie garnered David the prestigious Gottlieb Award for “Best Actor with No Training and No Idea What He Was Doing.” Then in 2013, he co-wrote and starred in the HBO Films’ comedy, “Clear History,” elevating him to cult hero status amongst illiterates and diabetics. In 2015, he made his Broadway debut at the Cort Theater as an actor and playwright in “Fish in the Dark,” which he penned over a three-day span while sitting on the toilet. The play broke all Broadway records for most coughing by an audience during a performance. He’s currently pursuing his real estate license and can be contacted through the Inland Empire branch of “Century 21."

Jeff Schaffer doesn’t want to talk about all the work he’s done. Don’t get him wrong, he wants you to know about it, and he really wants the adulation, but he doesn’t want to have to tell you himself and seem like a braggart. He would love you to know that he’s spent a large portion of his adult life working with Larry David - writing and then producing four seasons of Seinfeld with his partner Alec Berg, eventually helping to run the show until it was cruelly cancelled. And he wants you to hear all about how he has worked on Curb Your Enthusiasm since Season 5 as a writer, director and executive producer. But he can’t tell you any of this. How cheesy do you think he is? He’s also worked on movies that he would love to be commended for, including Eurotrip, Clear History, and traveling around the world with Sacha Baron Cohen writing and producing Bruno and The Dictator. These are the highlights. Lowlights are available upon request. And of course he wants you to know that he and his wife, Jackie, also created and ran the show The League for seven seasons. And co-created and EP’d the series Dave. But he can’t just come right out and say it. That would smack of desperation. Though his schedule has been hectic, Jeff has still found the time to regret this bio. He thinks the third person angle is bullshit and he sounds a bit full of himself.

Jonah Peretti is the Founder and CEO of BuzzFeed, Inc. a premier digital media company for the most diverse, most online, and most socially engaged generation the world has ever seen. Peretti has served as the Chief Executive Officer of BuzzFeed, Inc. and a member of the company’s board of directors since 2006. Prior to founding BuzzFeed, Inc., Mr. Peretti co-founded The Huffington Post, a digital publisher of news, lifestyle and popular culture content, and served in various management roles there from the company’s founding until its sale to AOL Inc. In 2021 BuzzFeed, Inc. acquired HuffPost, bringing the award-winning news organization back full circle to Peretti. Mr. Peretti holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from University of California, Santa Cruz and a M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab.

Niall Firth is Executive Editor, Newsroom at MIT Technology Review where he oversees the reporting team and the brand's online journalism.

Rohit Bhargava is on a mission to inspire more non-obvious thinking in the world. He is the 3-time WSJ bestselling author of ten books on marketing, innovation, trends and the future including his #1 bestseller Non-Obvious Megatrends. Rohit has been invited as a “non-boring” keynote speaker to events in 32 countries. He is a frequent contributor writing about non-obvious ideas for Inc, Entrepreneur and GQ magazines and is an adjunct professor of storytelling at Georgetown University. On a personal note, he loves the Olympics, actively hates cauliflower and is a proud dad of boys.

Tyson Ritter is the frontman and co-founder of The All-American Rejects, bringing his unmistakable voice and charisma to hits like Dirty Little Secret, Move Along, and Gives You Hell. Beyond his role as lead singer and bassist, Ritter has also built a career as a songwriter, actor, and producer, continuing to push creative boundaries on and off the stage.

Oklahoma native, drummer, rejects, falconry.

Nickolas Wheeler is the co-founder, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter of The All-American Rejects, the multi-platinum band behind hits like Gives You Hell, Move Along, and Dirty Little Secret. With over 5 million albums sold worldwide, Wheeler has spent more than two decades shaping the band’s sound and legacy, while also working as a Nashville-based producer and songwriter.

Mike Kennerty is best known as the rhythm guitarist for The All-American Rejects, joining the band in 2002 and contributing to their chart-topping run that produced hits like Move Along and Gives You Hell. Beyond touring the world with the multi-platinum group, Kennerty has built a reputation as a producer in the punk and rock scenes, working with acts including Screeching Weasel, Masked Intruder, and Red City Radio. When he’s not on stage, he can be found in his Oklahoma studio or digging through vinyl bins as a self-proclaimed “record nerd.”

Josh Scherer is the Executive Director of Culinary Content at Mythical Entertainment and the host of Last Meals, the hit series from Mythical Kitchen. A former journalist turned New York Times #1 bestselling author (The Mythical Cookbook), Josh brings a rare blend of culinary expertise, cultural commentary, and dark humor to everything he creates. He’s been named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, won two Webby Awards, and once held a Guinness World Record for most baby food eaten in one minute. Josh’s work reaches millions across digital platforms and has redefined how food stories are told online.

Henry is the author of "The Future Normal" and "Trend-Driven Innovation"; he has delivered 200+ keynotes and workshops in 30+ countries – from SXSW in both Austin and London, to leadership teams at brands including Amazon, Calvin Klein, Metlife, the Tata Group, and many more. His latest project is VisuAIse Futures, a ‘multiplayer’ AI-powered creative experience; he is a guest lecturer at HEC business school in Paris, and was Managing Director of TrendWatching for a decade. Henry is also an award-winning social entrepreneur, having cofounded the urban regeneration nonprofit 3Space, which was commended in Fast Company's World Changing Ideas. Fun fact: Henry was once featured in GQ's Most Connected Men in Britain list.

World-renowned futurist and founder and CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group, Amy Webb possesses master-level knowledge and insights on the potential futures for the industries critical to keeping the world moving during this unparalleled period of disruption in business and society. Webb is a sought-after advisor to Fortune 100 companies and provides strategic foresight on the emerging tech and trends that will turn industries on their heads and transform every aspect of our lives. Together with her colleagues, she identifies threats, white spaces and opportunities early enough for action. She was honored as one of the BBC’s 100 Women of 2020, and was just ranked #4 on the Thinkers50 list of the 50 most influential management thinkers globally.

Garry is President & CEO at Y Combinator, which he rejoined in Fall 2023, after founding Initialized Capital, a successful venture fund. Garry was one of YC’s first partners and funded and advised many iconic YC companies including Coinbase, Instacart, and many others. In YC’s early days, Garry also served as a designer and engineer, and he wrote software and created Bookface, the internal network that connects YC’s alumni founders to this day.

Pedro Miranda is the Head of Consumer at the Solana Foundation, where he leads strategy and partnerships across consumer crypto. He currently focuses on creator monetization, emerging IPs, and crypto-native market opportunities.  

Jamie Lee Curtis has built a nearly five-decade acting career that has only shined more brightly with time. She is also a passionate humanitarian and popular children’s book author, she has earned critical acclaim, major industry honors, and the admiration of generations of fans. In Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2022, she won the Academy Award and SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress, along with Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations. In 2024, she earned an Emmy for her guest-star appearance on the acclaimed Hulu series The Bear and an Emmy nomination in the same category the following year. In 2021, she received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival. Curtis recently appeared in Freakier Friday (2025), the 22-years-in-the-making sequel to Disney’s Freaky Friday, for which she previously earned a Golden Globe nomination. Other standout roles include True Lies (1994), for which she won a Golden Globe; Trading Places (1983), which earned her a BAFTA (British Film Academy Award); and A Fish Called Wanda (1988), which garnered both BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. Curtis’ film debut in the 1978 horror classic Halloween brought her to international attention. She returned for the record-breaking 2018 sequel, whose opening weekend was the biggest debut ever for a movie featuring a female lead over age 55. That success was followed by Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022). Other film credits include Ella McCay, Knives Out; Christmas with the Kranks; The Tailor of Panama; Blue Steel; My Girl; and My Girl 2, among many others. Television highlights include two seasons of Scream Queens, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination; the acclaimed sitcom Anything but Love, bringing her a Golden Globe and People’s Choice Award; TNT’s adaptation of The Heidi Chronicles, earning her a Golden Globe nomination; and the CBS television film Nicholas’ Gift, for which she received an Emmy nomination. In 2019, Curtis formed Comet Pictures, a film, television, and podcast production company. Comet's upcoming projects include the Amazon Prime Video series Scarpetta with Blumhouse starring Nicole Kidman and Curtis, which debuts in March 2026. Their most recent production, released in September 2025, was The Lost Bus for Apple Original Films, which Curtis co-produced with Jason Blum, with whom she has a first look deal. She has also produced STOP THE INSANITY the Susan Powter story and SENDER which is having its World Premiere in competition at SXSW. She was founder and CEO of My Hand In Yours, a charitable organization that in five years raised nearly $2 million benefitting Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Curtis is also a New York Times best-selling children’s book author with 14 titles, the most recent being Just One More Sleep (2024).

Matthew Prince is the co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, a company with the mission to help build a better Internet. Today Cloudflare runs one of the world’s largest networks, spanning more than 330 cities in over 125 countries. Prince is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the winner of the 2011 Tech Fellow Award. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar and received the Dubilier Prize for Entrepreneurship. He earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago and his B.A. in English Literature and Computer Science from Trinity College. He is also the co-creator of Project Honey Pot, the world’s largest community of webmasters tracking online fraud and abuse.

Rhett McLaughlin is co-founder of the comedy duo Rhett & Link, creators of Good Mythical Morning, one of YouTube’s most popular daily talk shows. His work spans digital series, live tours, a top podcast (Ear Biscuits), and bestselling books that explore creativity and storytelling. In addition to building Mythical into a leading entertainment brand, Rhett also records music as James and the Shame, blending personal narratives with a modern country sound.

Link Neal is co-founder of the comedy duo Rhett & Link and co-host of Good Mythical Morning, a YouTube staple that reaches millions of viewers worldwide. His work spans digital series, live tours, a top podcast (Ear Biscuits), and bestselling books that explore creativity and storytelling. Link continues to connect with audiences through humor, storytelling, and the creative community he and Rhett have built.

Kaya Yurieff is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Scalable, a media company focused on the business of the creator economy, alongside Jasmine Enberg. Kaya’s rigorous reporting and industry expertise help readers and listeners execute their business strategies and better understand the sector, with insights delivered through Scalable’s newsletter, podcast, research report and annual event. She has spent more than a decade as a journalist on staff at media outlets including CNN and The Information. Kaya has broken major news about the biggest social media platforms in the world, including TikTok, Meta Platforms, and YouTube, and has written extensively about the creator economy’s evolution. She was one of the first reporters to cover the creator economy as a full-time beat.

Arthur Leopold is the CEO & Co-Founder of Agentio, the first-of-its-kind AI-powered ad platform for creator content. Agentio is enabling a new level of scale, measurement, and efficiency through its ad platform, giving brands the ability to share their message through trusted, authentic voices. Arthur has guided the company through rapid growth, recently raising a $40M Series B in November, led by Forerunner and Benchmark, bringing total capital raised to $56M and valuing the company at $340M. Arthur brings over a decade of experience in tech and finance, working across multiple facets of sales and strategic business operations. Prior to Agentio, Arthur was the first employee and President at Cameo. He holds a degree from Duke University. Prior to attending Duke, Arthur worked for the Obama ‘08 campaign, where he became the youngest Elected Delegate in the country.

Over the past decade, Raja Rajamannar has transformed Mastercard into one of the world’s most valuable brands. At the helm of the iconic Priceless platform, he and his team are on the cutting edge of experiential, multisensory marketing programs that embrace emerging technologies. A Wall Street Journal-bestselling author, Raja is a frequent speaker and media commentator. His book, “Quantum Marketing: Mastering the New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow’s Consumers,” has become a touchstone for marketing leaders and academics around the world, and is now available in 13 languages. Additionally, Raja hosts a Bloomberg Original series titled “Quantum Marketing,” delving into the future of marketing in an era of rapidly emerging technologies. Recently inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame, Advertising Hall of Fame and Forbes’ Most Influential CMOs Hall of Fame, Raja has been recognized as one of Insider’s Most Innovative CMOs six times. He was also named Advertising Person of the Year by The AD Club of New York, WFA Global Marketer of the Year, Adweek’s Brand Genius, Billboard’s Top Branding Power Player and Fashion Group International’s Tech and Brand Innovation Award recipient. He has also been honored by Creative Spirit as a Champion of Disability Inclusion among many other recognitions. He sits on the boards of the Association of National Advertisers, The Ad Council and Yale School of Management Consumer Insights Council. He serves on the board of PPL Corporation and is also on not-for-profit boards including Bon Secours Mercy Health, New York City Ballet and Cintrifuse. He also held the position of President of the World Federation of Advertisers for six years.

Amy Gallo is a workplace expert who writes and speaks about interpersonal dynamics, difficult conversations, feedback, effective communication, and gender at work. Gallo is the best-selling author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict. Getting Along was a finalist for the Next Big Idea Club, long-listed for several nonfiction book prizes, and named a Book of the Month by the Financial Times. She has written hundreds of articles for Harvard Business Review, where she is a contributing editor. Her writing has been collected in numerous books on feedback, emotional intelligence, and managing others. For six years, Amy co-hosted HBR’s award-winning Women at Work podcast, which examined the struggles and successes of women in the workplace. Gallo has delivered keynotes and workshops at hundreds of companies and conferences. Plus, she is frequently sought out by media outlets for her perspective on workplace dynamics, conflict, and difficult conversations. Her advice has been featured in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Fast Company, Marketplace, Bloomberg Business, and NPR. She has been a guest on numerous podcasts and radio shows including Ten Percent Happier, HBR’s Ideacast, Hello Monday, WNYC, the BBC, and ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). She has taught at Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of both Brown and Yale University.

Rhea Seehorn currently stars as the lead of the Vince Gilligan and Apple TV series “Pluribus” in which she has received a Critics Choice and Golden Globe award for her performance. “Pluribus” is the most watched show ever on the Apple TV platform and currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Seehorn previously starred as ‘Kim Wexler’ in AMC’s Emmy nominated series “Better Call Saul.” Seehorn’s portrayal of Kim earned her two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and three Critics' Choice Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Seehorn also earned herself an Emmy nomination for her role in AMC’s Short Form Comedy “Cooper’s Bar,” in which she is also a producer. Seehorn can be seen in HBO’s series “Veep,” Hulu’s miniseries “The Act,” and the CBS All Access series “The Twilight Zone.” Other television credits include; ABC’s “I’m With Her,” FOX’s “Head Cases,” NBC’s “Whitney,” TNT’s “Franklin & Bash,” “Trust Me,” “Dollhouse,” “Burn Notice,” “The Closer,” “Starter Wife,” and “House of Lies.” Seehorn’s film credits include Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Linoleum, Inside Man: Most Wanted, I Hate Kids, and The Shaggy Dog and Netflix’s Things Heard and Seen.  

Vince Gilligan is the creator of the television drama Breaking Bad and co-creator of its prequel series, Better Call Saul. The intertwined shows were included as “TV Programs of the Year” ten times by the American Film Institute and garnered four Peabody Awards and sixteen Emmy® Awards. Both series were filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as was Pluribus, his new science fiction series starring Rhea Seehorn on Apple TV. Gilligan was born in Richmond, Virginia and raised in Farmville (the real place, not the video game) and Chesterfield County. He received the Virginia Governor’s Screenwriting Award in 1989 — which he remembers very fondly, as it gave him his start in the business. As a writer and producer on The X-Files, Gilligan shared Golden Globe® Awards in 1997 and 1998 for Best Drama Series. He lives in New Mexico with his longtime partner, Holly Rice. Vince Gilligan Credits - TV: Pluribus, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen; Features: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Hancock, Wilder Napalm, Home Fries

Dave Porter is a Los Angeles based composer for film and television. He began his classical musical training at the piano at age five, but it was his interest in electronic music as a teen that led him to start composing his own music. He studied both classical and electronic music composition at Sarah Lawrence College under John Yannelli and started his professional career as an assistant in Philip Glass’ recording studio in New York City. Dave is perhaps best known for his enduring creative relationship with one of Hollywood’s most respected figures – Vince Gilligan. Since the remarkable pilot episode of Breaking Bad in 2007, Dave has written the original music for all of Gilligan’s projects. He scored all 62 episodes of that groundbreaking series and created its iconic opening theme. Actor/ Producer Bryan Cranston stated: “With his music, Dave Porter has created another character for Breaking Bad. Evocative and meaningful, Dave’s work is an essential part of the storytelling.” Since then, Dave has also been behind all of the original music for Breaking Bad’s equally acclaimed spin-off Better Call Saul, helped bring the Breaking Bad universe to the big screen with his original score to Gilligan’s feature film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, and has recently completed work on the blockbuster new series Pluribus which premiered at the end of 2025. 2024 saw Dave’s first collaboration with Marvel Studios on the limited series Echo. The first project to be released under the new Marvel Spotlight banner, it was the first Marvel series with a TV-MA rating. “The Marvel team made me feel at home right away and have created a series full of all of the hallmarks that inspire me in a series — real stakes, emotions, consequences, and a world in which all of the characters are always learning and evolving.” Other credits in recent years include working with James Franco on his masterful film The Disaster Artist and collaborating with documentary visionary RJ Cutler on Murf The Surf, a 4 part series produced by Brian Glazer and Ron Howard. He also worked with creator/showrunner Rebecca Cutter on her groundbreaking Starz series Hightown, as well as AMC’s boundary-defying series Preacher – produced by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin. Dave also recently wrapped up a decade long run as composer for the James Spader crime thriller series The Blacklist, one of the most successful television dramas of all time spanning more than 200 episodes. Dave has twice been awarded ASCAP’s Composer’s Choice Award for Best Television Composer — at the inaugural event for the award in 2013, and once again in 2017. He was also bestowed the 2019 Citation Award by his alma mater Sarah Lawrence College for his creative achievements.  

Katherine Pope was named President of Sony Pictures Television in August 2022. Pope oversees the studio’s scripted production business, which currently produces over 30 series across all platforms. Under her leadership, the studio has delivered numerous critically acclaimed hits, including Pluribus, Vince Gilligan’s latest series for Apple TV, which set the record for Apple TV's biggest drama series debut ever and received numerous award nominations, as well as Golden Globe® and Critics Choice® Award wins for Rhea Seehorn; the fourth season of Prime Video’s The Boys from Eric Kripke, with its fifth and final season premiering in April of 2026; HBO’s The Last of Us and Peacock’s Twisted Metal, both based on PlayStation video games and both renewed for a third season; Outlander and its prequel Outlander: Blood of my Blood on Starz; Doc on FOX, starring Emmy® Award-nominated actress Molly Parker; and Netflix’s The Night Agent, returning for its third season in February 2026. The studio’s robust portfolio also includes new projects for Prime Video such as The Boys spin-off Vought Rising starring Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash, God of War from executive producer Ronald D. Moore, and Spider-Noir, starring Academy Award-winner Nicolas Cage. Other anticipated titles in the upcoming slate include American Hostage on MGM+ starring Jon Hamm; Channel 4’s Up To No Good starring Glenn Close; and Apple TV+’s For All Mankind season five with the spin-off Star City, both premiering this Spring. Most recently, Pope received Emmy® and Golden Globes® nominations for serving as executive producer on the FX limited series Dying For Sex, starring Michelle Williams and reuniting with writer Liz Meriwether. The duo previously executive produced the Critics’ Choice-winning Hulu limited series The Dropout and also the Emmy®-nominated series New Girl, shortly after Pope launched the television division at Peter Chernin’s Chernin Entertainment. Prior to joining Sony Pictures Television, Pope was Head of Original Content at Charter Communications, where she created and launched the Spectrum Originals platform. There, she curated, developed and produced their slate of premium series including Beacon 23, George & Tammy, L.A.’s Finest, and Joe Pickett. Earlier in her career, Pope spent 10 years at NBC/NBC Universal Television Studios where she held several leadership roles including Executive Vice President of the Network and President of the Studio. During her time, Pope developed hit shows like Heroes, Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, and The Office. Before NBC, she produced documentaries and specials at CBS and ABC News.

Greek-American producer TRINA SIOPY has always been a performer. Growing up in Williamsport, Siopy trained for many years as a competitive gymnast and dancer before pursuing an acting career in New Mexico, where the film industry was just beginning to heat up. After joining Breaking Bad as Assistant Propmaster in Season 2, Siopy continued to work with creator Vince Gilligan on El Camino and Better Call Saul. Her perspective on all aspects of production and her no-job-too-small attitude led to her moving up to the role of Co-Producer in Better Call Saul’s fifth season, and Supervising Producer in its final season. Once Better Call Saul wrapped, Siopy traveled to the United Kingdom to serve as a Co-Executive Producer on the second season of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, House of The Dragon, before returning to the Land of Enchantment to oversee production as a Co-Executive Producer on Gilligan’s new science-fiction series for AppleTV+, Pluribus.

An accomplished editor with more than 20 years of media experience, Betsy joined the Guardian in September 2022 after serving as editor-in-chief at The Intercept for seven years. During her tenure, the organization developed a reputation for agenda-setting investigative journalism, winning several prestigious awards, including a Polk Award, and for successfully establishing a journalism-driven membership program. Under Betsy's leadership, the Guardian US has embarked on a significant expansion, adding more than 30 journalists as well as new coverage areas, including investigations, US soccer, and wellness. Prior to joining The Intercept, Betsy was executive editor of The Nation, where she led the magazine’s investigative coverage while also editing and writing political commentary.

Mahmoud Khalil is a Palestinian graduate of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He has previously worked in development and international affairs with the United Nations, the British government, as well as other non-profit organizations in the Middle East. Khalil played a key role in Columbia’s student movement opposing Israel’s war on Gaza. In March 2025, the Trump administration unlawfully arrested Khalil, transported him thousands of miles away to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, and attempted to deport him — all in retaliation for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. After 104 days in detention, a federal court ordered his release.

As the Legal Director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, Baher Azmy directs all civil and human rights litigation including in areas such as rights of Guantanamo detainees and torture victims, challenging discriminatory policing and abusive prison policies, the suppression of dissent and support for Palestinian human rights. He has been involved in dozens of landmark national cases, including in the Supreme Court and courts of appeal, in these areas, has appeared in hundreds of major print and television outlets, and has published legal scholarship in leading law journals on questions related to access to justice. He was formerly a professor of Constitutional Law at Seton Hall Law School and now regularly teaches Civil Rights Law at NYU and Yale Law Schools. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and NYU School of Law.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, award-winning New York Times journalist, co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box, and founder of DealBook—reaching over 1 million subscribers daily—is author of the best-sellers 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History—and How It Shattered a Nation and Too Big to Fail and co-creator of Showtime’s Billions.

Jack Conte is CEO and co-founder of Patreon, a media and community platform where creators give their biggest fans access to exclusive works and experiences. He founded Patreon in 2013 with Sam Yam (CTO), driven by the belief that creators should be paid for the value they provide to the world. Jack leads the team on their mission to build tools that give Patreon’s 300,000+ creators freedom, independence and ownership over their work and the communities they build. Since launching, Patreon has sent over $10 billion to creators. As a filmmaker and touring musician in the bands Pomplamoose and Scary Pockets, Jack has a deep understanding of and appreciation for creators. That passion is the driving force in the work Patreon is doing to usher in a new creative economy that puts the power back in creators’ hands.

Kim Gallagher is the Executive Director of Marketing & Customer Success at Nuuly. She helped conceive and launch the Nuuly rental business in 2019, lending her marketing expertise to developing and fostering Nuuly’s brand identity. Kim currently oversees Marketing, Creative, Analytics, Customer Success, and Strategy. Previously, Kim held a variety of roles within Nuuly’s parent company, Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN), including Director of Digital Strategy & Advanced Analytics across the Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Anthropologie brands, and Director of Customer Engagement at Anthropologie. Kim has been with URBN since joining as an MBA intern in 2011. Prior to business school, Kim gained experience in public relations, digital marketing, and CRM at two agencies. Kim received her BA in American Studies from Georgetown University and her MBA in marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Kim lives in South Philadelphia with her husband and 3 sons. Her favorite founding father is Benjamin Franklin, and her hobby is cheering on the Philadelphia Phillies.

Gabby is a social and influencer marketing strategist with over a decade of experience shaping how brands show up online. She currently leads social and influencer at Graza, where she’s helped scale the brand’s influencer and social presence, driving growth and cultural relevance in a crowded CPG space. Before Graza, she spent six years on the social team at Away helping build the brands digital strategy and one of the most recognizable social presences in the industry today.

Rachel Karten is a social media consultant and author of the industry newsletter Link in Bio. She has worked in social media for over 10 years and previously led the social media team at Bon Appétit and Epicurious. With Karten at the helm the social team garnered much praise and won both a social Webby Award and a prestigious National Magazine Award for best social. Since leaving Condé Nast in 2020, Karten has been consulting on social media strategies for brands like CAVA, Google, and many more. Her newsletter Link in Bio has over 100,000 subscribers and is a top Business newsletter on Substack.

Casey Lewis is a Brooklyn-based trend expert, writer, and the founder of After School. With a keen eye for youth-driven shifts in consumer behavior, Lewis has built a reputation as a go-to voice for decoding the trends shaping the next generation. Before launching After School, she co-founded Clover Letter, a daily newsletter for teen girls that grew to 200,000 subscribers and was acquired by AwesomenessTV. She has also studied youth trends extensively, working at Ypulse and The Intelligence Group, where she helped brands navigate the evolving preferences of young consumers. Previously, Lewis worked as a journalist and editor at Teen Vogue and New York Magazine.

Palfrey is a well-respected educator, author, legal scholar, and innovator with expertise in how new technologies are changing learning and education. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a commitment to rigorous thinking, disruption, and creative solutions often made possible by technology, accessibility of information, and diversity and inclusion. Actual short bio: John Palfrey is the President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Palfrey is a well-respected educator, author, legal scholar, and innovator with expertise in how new media is changing learning and education. Prior to joining MacArthur, he served as Head of School at Phillips Academy, Andover. Palfrey is the board chair of the United States Impact Investing Alliance; co-chairs the Disability and Inclusion Forum’s Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy; and serves on the board of the Fidelity Non-Profit Management Foundation. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and serves on the governance council. And he is the former board chair of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Palfrey holds a JD from Harvard Law School, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an AB from Harvard College. Palfrey is an accomplished author; his most recent book is Wired Wisdom: How to Age Better Online, which he co-authored with Eszter Hargittai. His other books include Safe Spaces, Brave Spaces: Diversity and Free Expression in Education and Born Digital: How Children Grow Up in a Digital Age, co-authored with Urs Gasser.

Hao is the NYT bestselling author of Empire of AI and an award-winning journalist covering the intersections of AI & society. She writes for publications including The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center's AI Spotlight Series, a program training thousands of journalists around the world on how to cover AI. She was previously a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, covering China's science and technology industry. Prior to that, she was a senior editor at MIT Technology Review, where she wrote about the latest research and social impacts of artificial intelligence. Her work won an American Humanist Media Award in 2024 and an American National Magazine Award in 2022 for “outstanding achievement for magazine journalists under the age of 30.”

Dr. Timnit Gebru is a reputable AI expert who was formerly co-lead of the Ethical AI research team at Google. She also co-founded Black in AI, a nonprofit that works to increase the presence, inclusion, visibility and health of Black people in the field of AI, and is on the board of AddisCoder, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching algorithms and computer programming to Ethiopian and Jamaican high school students. She has received a number of accolades including Nature’s Ten people who helped shape science and TIME 100’s most influential people. She is currently writing The View from Somewhere, a memoir + manifesto arguing for a technological future that serves our communities instead of one that is used for surveillance, warfare, and the centralization of power by Silicon Valley.

One of few creators to work inside both YouTube and Instagram, Jon Youshaei has been featured in Business Insider, Time, and Inc Magazine, and is known as "The Creators' Creator." During five years at YouTube, Jon was head of creator product marketing where he worked with YouTube's top creators and brands to grow their audience and their incomes. During three years at Instagram, Jon helped build their creator team to empower even more creators to grow and monetize. Now a full-time creator himself, Jon has garnered 1M+ followers and interviewed MrBeast, Will Smith, MKBHD, Steph Curry, and more. He's also been recognized by NPR as one of the best commencement speakers since 1774 and LinkedIn named him one of their "Top Voices."

Considered one of the top voices in Artificial Intelligence and the future of work, Ian helps companies prepare for a future powered by people and enabled by AI. Ian brings cutting-edge technologies to life so audiences can understand the future of work in ways they can immediately act on. As a technologist and strategist, Ian led innovation projects for companies like Nike, Samsung, Intel, Nintendo, and Microsoft. As the CEO of Signal and Cipher, Ian and his team reinvent ways of working for companies like Boston Consulting Group, Universal Pictures, Publicis Groupe, and more. He’s known as a Gonzo Futurist, actively experimenting with new and emerging technologies before they leave the research lab to understand the implications and applications for the future of work and society.

Evan Smith is managing director of events at The Atlantic, overseeing live journalism and other public programming produced by the award-winning 169-year-old magazine. He’s also a senior advisor at Emerson Collective, working closely with journalists and funders around the country to support local news. Previously he spent more than thirteen years at The Texas Tribune, which he co-founded and led as CEO, and nearly eighteen years at Texas Monthly, including nine years as editor in chief and a year as president. Evan is a professor of practice at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches a graduate-level course on the politics and issues of the moment, and is the host of “Overheard with Evan Smith,” a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations from coast to coast.

Paula A. Kerger is president and chief executive officer of PBS, the nation’s largest non-commercial media organization representing more than 330 member stations throughout the country. She is the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history. Over 19 years, Kerger has led the transformation of PBS from a broadcaster to a multiplatform digital media organization which delivers on public television’s essential mission of education, inspiration and service to the American public. Each year, 58% of U.S. television households watch PBS, and each month, PBS reaches over 36 million adults on linear primetime television, more than 15 million users on PBS-owned streaming platforms, and garners nearly 43 million impressions on social media. Programs on PBS are consistently recognized with the industry's most prestigious honors, including Peabody, Emmy and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards. Under Kerger’s leadership, PBS has deepened its impact, from providing universal access to early learning resources through the PBS KIDS broadcast and streaming channels, to empowering educators with digital resources through PBS LearningMedia. In the 2023-24 school year, 17 million users visited PBS LearningMedia – averaging 1.7 million users per month. Kerger also serves as president of the PBS Foundation, which provides a significant source of revenue for projects that benefit the entire public television system.

An inventor-turned-investor, and now futurist and professor, Mike Bechtel has spent more than two decades turning emerging ideas into business breakthroughs. From 2019–2025, he served as Chief Futurist for Deloitte Consulting, founding and directing NExT, a 30-person research studio advising boards, C-suites, and technology teams at 750+ organizations across 38 countries. He also directed and co-authored Deloitte Tech Trends, the professional-services industry’s most-cited annual technology report. Previously, Mike was Accenture’s first Global Innovation Director (earning 12 U.S. patents), CTO at Start Early, a national nonprofit committed to equitable early-education, and a co-founder of Ringleader Ventures, a venture capital firm backing early-stage startups building simple solutions to complex corporate problems. Today, Mike is an author, global keynote speaker, and Adjunct Professor of corporate innovation at the University of Notre Dame, where his “edu-taining” course ranks among the university’s highest-rated. He delivers about 100 keynotes each year to business, government, and academic audiences, and his writing and commentary have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Wired, NPR, Bloomberg, and the World Economic Forum. Mike holds a double major in anthropology and political science, with minors in economics and philosophy, from Notre Dame.

Jason Kim serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Firefly Aerospace. Jason has 25 years of experience in executive management of satellites, rockets, ground systems, and autonomous systems and has supported hundreds of missions for national security, NASA, and commercial customers. Prior to joining Firefly, Jason served as CEO of Millennium Space Systems, where he led the company through a period of significant expansion and technology advancements. His extensive career also includes leadership roles at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, and the U.S. Air Force. Jason also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Air Force Academy Foundation and a member of the Executive Committee for Space Workforce 2030. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He also received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.

As Vice President of Engineering at Firefly Aerospace, Brigette Oakes leads the engineering department across Firefly’s launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles with a focus on agility, optimization, and vertical integration between the teams. Prior to her current role, Brigette was formerly the Director of Propulsion at Firefly, overseeing the development and scalability of Firefly’s five propulsion systems. Brigette has more than 15 years of experience in the industry from both legacy and new space companies, including SpaceX, Relativity, and Lockheed Martin. Her robust experience spans propulsion design, modeling, and test in addition to guidance, navigation and control (GNC) software, performance analysis, and ground support equipment. Brigette has a Ph.D. in engineering physics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Stanford University, a master’s degree in physics from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Loren Grush is a space reporter for Bloomberg, where she covers everything from NASA, human spaceflight, and the booming commercial space industry to distant stars and planets. The daughter of two NASA engineers, she grew up surrounded by space shuttles and rocket scientists—literally. She is also the author of The Six, The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts. Prior to joining Bloomberg, she was a senior science reporter for The Verge, where she covered space and hosted her own online video series called Space Craft, a show the examined what it takes to send people into the cosmos. Loren has also published stories in Popular Science, The New York Times, Nautilus Magazine, Digital Trends, Fox News, and ABC News.

Lucy Blakiston is a dynamic storyteller and changemaker from Marlborough, best known as the Founder and CEO of Shit You Should Care About (SYSCA) – one of the world’s most influential youth-led media platforms. What began as a small passion project in her bedroom has become a trusted news and commentary source for millions of young people globally. With over three million Instagram followers and a fast-growing daily newsletter, Lucy’s work empowers her audience to engage with current issues in an accessible, informed, and empathetic way. Beyond digital media, Lucy has co-authored Make It Make Sense, a guidebook helping young people navigate the complexities of modern life.

An accomplished editor with more than 20 years of media experience, Betsy joined the Guardian in September 2022 after serving as editor-in-chief at The Intercept for seven years. During her tenure, the organization developed a reputation for agenda-setting investigative journalism, winning several prestigious awards, including a Polk Award, and for successfully establishing a journalism-driven membership program. Under Betsy's leadership, the Guardian US has embarked on a significant expansion, adding more than 30 journalists as well as new coverage areas, including investigations, US soccer, and wellness. Prior to joining The Intercept, Betsy was executive editor of The Nation, where she led the magazine’s investigative coverage while also editing and writing political commentary.

Jennifer H. Cunningham is the Editor-in-Chief of Newsweek, recognized as an award-winning investigative journalist and accomplished newsroom leader with more than two decades of experience. She previously served as Editor-in-Chief of Business Insider’s News Division, where she led teams across multiple continents. Known for her innovative approach to content strategy and team leadership, Jennifer is celebrated for attracting diverse talent and setting new industry standards using data and analytics. She began her career as a local reporter in New Jersey and actively volunteers with the Newswomen’s Club of New York, where she is the immediate past president.

Rebecca Grossman-Cohen is the chief of staff to Meredith Kopit Levien, C.E.O. of The New York Times. She has been at The Times since 2014 as a leader across various departments, helping to build and accelerate the success of our business. As chief of staff she runs the office of the C.E.O., enterprise operations, and leads relationships and strategic partnerships with large tech partners. Prior to her current role, Rebecca led digital subscriptions growth. Rebecca is the co-chair of the Black@NYT ERG, and previously served as the chair of the Women’s Network E.R.G. at The Times. She serves on the executive boards of Digital Content Next and the News/Media Alliance, two media trade associations. Previous to The Times, Rebecca was a vice president in various roles at News Corp and executive director of marketing at The New Republic. She has also worked in strategy and fundraising roles for The Associated Press and NPR. Rebecca has an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She lives with her husband and their two daughters in Brooklyn.

Sam heads Future Today Strategy Group’s Technology & Computing practice, where she leads research on the future of human-AI interaction, digital ecosystems, next-generation form factors, and the computational infrastructure that will power tomorrow’s experiences. As a senior foresight manager, she turns those insights into actionable strategies for clients across industries – from finance and CPG to health care and space-tech. Sam previously co-founded TrovBase, a secure data discovery and analysis sharing platform. Before her role at TrovBase, Sam worked at IBM, where she helped large enterprises in the retail and distribution sector modernize their IT stack. Her expertise centered around mainframes, assisting with the integration of new software and modern methodologies to legacy systems. A Kansas native, Sam holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and an undergraduate degree in economics and data analysis from George Mason University. She is an in-demand speaker on strategic foresight and industry futures, and she currently serves as a guest lecturer and advisor in the strategic foresight class offered at NYU Stern. In her spare time, Sam regularly trains in judo at the Oishi Dojo in Manhattan.

Mallun Yen is an investor, founder, operator, and category creator who has devoted the past 20 years to changing the status quo and shifting industry norms. She founded Operator Collective, the early-stage B2B venture firm that connects founders to world-class enterprise operators, in 2019 and serves as CEO and Partner. Before OpCo, Mallun built up three other category-creating companies, including venture-backed RPX, SaaStr, and ChIPsNetwork.org, and was the VP of Worldwide IP at Cisco. She is also a member of Pure Storage Board of Directors and the US Patent & Trademark Office’s Council for Inclusive Innovation (CI2).

Andreea Gleeson is the Chief Executive Officer of TuneCore, and a leading innovator in the music industry. After years as an eCommerce pioneer, she joined TuneCore in 2015 as a member of the senior leadership team, rose to CEO in 2021, and has helped build TuneCore into one of the most dynamic and innovative companies in the music industry. Her support of independent artists has driven the implementation of leading-edge product & technology solutions and artist development programs, establishing TuneCore as the premier development platform for self-releasing artists. Since 2021, Andreea has been included in multiple Billboard Power Lists and, under her guidance as CEO, TuneCore was included in Fast Company’s list of the Most Innovative Companies in the music industry from 2023-2025.

Multi-platinum artist, producer, and author Russ has amassed over 24 billion streams and over 35 million singles sold to date. He has released multiple Billboard charting albums, with 2017’s There’s Really A Wolf spending 84 weeks on the Billboard 200 and going certified 2x platinum with singles “What They Want” and “Losin Control.” In 2019, he was included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and released “IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD,” a best-selling inspirational book reminding us that success starts with you and belief in yourself. He recently became a New York Times best-selling author with the release of his second book “it was you all along.” In 2024, Russ featured in M. Night Shyamalan’s TRAP and will star in Maclain Nelson’s upcoming Don’t Move, written by James “Murr” Murray and Darren Wearmouth.

AI is the most transformative technology of our generation. This session explores the promise and perils of AI, sharing concrete examples of how AI is being applied with impact by businesses, creators and others to drive operational efficiency, enhance customer experiences, increase revenues and augment creativity. The audience will also learn about the risks associated with AI including some novel intellectual property issues (IP) posed, and how to weigh opportunities with risks. The insights shared are from a speaker who has built AI solutions and been at the top levels of technology, law, business and government and boardroom, all of which perspectives are critical to the successful AI applications.

Named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in both 2012 and 2018, and awarded the 2015 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama, Chef José Andrés is an internationally-recognized humanitarian, culinary innovator, and educator. In 2010, Andrés founded World Central Kitchen (WCK), a nonprofit organization that provides fresh meals in response to crises across the globe. Shortly after settling in Washington, D.C., and introducing the city to Spanish Tapas, Andrés began volunteering at DC Central Kitchen, where he started to think big about philanthropy. Over the course of his career as a chef and restaurateur, he saw the role of cooks – and the power of food – to change the world. This path inspired Andrés to found WCK with the support of his wife Patricia, as well as his business partner Rob Wilder and his wife Robin. Since its founding, Andrés and the WCK team have served over 250 million nourishing meals. In 2022, Andrés and his team arrived at the Poland-Ukraine border within 24 hours of the Russian invasion, and through this effort, have delivered meals to Ukrainians across eight countries, including 1,100 cities and towns in Ukraine alone.

Charly Clive is a British actress best known for her starring role as ‘Marnie’ in the HBO Max and Channel 4 (UK) comedy series “Pure.” Clive also starred opposite Paapa Essiedu in both series of Sky Max's “The Lazarus Project” written by Joe Barton, which received critical and commercial acclaim. Clive co- stars opposite Steve Carell in the upcoming HBO original comedy series “Rooster,” premiering in March. The show follows Steve Carell who portrays an author navigating a complicated relationship with his daughter (played by Charly) while they both work on the same college campus.

Award winning actor and producer of film, television and theatre.

Matt Tarses is an Emmy nominated and two-time Humanitas Award-winning writer and producer. He created and executive produced WORST WEEK and MAD LOVE for CBS, ALEX, INC. for ABC and TEACHERS for NBC. He has been a writer/producer on SCRUBS, SPORTS NIGHT, THE GOLDBERGS, ATYPICAL, and THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR. He’s currently an executive producer/showrunner on the Apple TV+ series BAD MONKEY as well as the HBO series ROOSTER starring Steve Carell.

Danielle Deadwyler is an acclaimed American actress and multidisciplinary artist known for her emotionally fearless performances across film, television, and theater. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, she brings intellectual depth and profound humanity to each role she inhabits. Deadwyler holds a B.A. in History and African American Studies from Spelman College, an M.A. in American Studies from Columbia University, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Ashland University. She began her career on the Atlanta stage, earning multiple theater awards before transitioning to screen. She received international acclaim for her portrayal of Mamie Till-Mobley in Till (2022), earning nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, among numerous critics’ honors. Her performance was widely cited as one of the year’s most powerful. Her recent work includes The Piano Lesson (2024), for which she received Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice, and multiple film critics’ nominations for Best Supporting Actress, as well as film and television roles in The Harder They Fall, Station Eleven, From Scratch, and Watchmen. Up next she will star in "Rooster" and the latest season of "Euphoria, both on HBO. In 2025, TIME named Deadwyler one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, cementing her status as one of today’s most vital and respected artists.

Bill Lawrence is an award-winning television writer, producer and director. Through his production company Doozer Productions, Bill has a number of shows in various stages of production at Warner Bros. Television: Shrinking, season 3 begins streaming on Apple TV January 2026; Rooster, HBO comedy starring Steve Carell which will launch in March 2026; and Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn, also for Apple TV, which is in production with its second season which will stream in 2026. Additionally, Bill is a co-creator/executive producer of Ted Lasso, the two-time Emmy Award-winner for Outstanding Comedy Series, which is set to return for season 4 on Apple TV. He is executive producing the Scrubs reboot for ABC from 20th Television which launches in February 2026. Bill previously created and executive-produced Scrubs and co-created Cougar Town, Ground Floor, Spin City, and Clone High. Scrubs, which was twice nominated for an Emmy Award, was also named a Future Classic by the TV Land cable network and was the winner of both a Humanitas Award and an Imagen Award. Bill also executive-produced/supervised numerous shows under his Doozer banner including Whiskey Cavalier, Undateable, Nobody’s Watching, Surviving Jack, Head of the Class, and the Clone High reboot for HBO Max.

DAVA NEWMAN is the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Harvard–MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology faculty member. She is the former director of the MIT Media Lab and the MIT Technology and Policy Program. She served as NASA Deputy Administrator (2015-17), the first female engineer in this role, and was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Newman’s research expertise is in multidisciplinary aerospace biomedical engineering investigating human performance across the spectrum of gravity. Newman is a leader in advanced space suit design, dynamics and control of astronaut motion, leadership development, innovation and space policy. Newman was the PI on 6 experiments that flew on the Space Shuttle, MIR, and ISS spaceflight missions STS-42, STS-62, MIR (1996-1998), ISS (2015, 2017, 2023) to measure astronaut mental workload and fine motor control, quantify astronaut loads and movement control, and demonstrate advanced suit technology for astronaut exercise and health. Her second skin planetary EVA BioSuit™ spacesuit inventions are now being applied to “soft suits/exoskeletons” to study and enhance locomotion on Earth. Her Earth systems research implements satellite data to accelerate solutions for the dual challenge of energy and climate using machine learning with physics informed neural networks, immersive visualizations, and story-telling. She is a co-founder of EarthDNA. Newman is the author of Interactive Aerospace Engineering and Design and has published more than 350 papers in journals and refereed conferences. She has circumnavigated the world sailing over 50,000 nm. Select honors include: Hon. Doctorates from Dartmouth, the Royal College of Art, and University of Minho, Seneca’s 100 Women, Society of Women’s 35 World’s Most Influential Women Engineers, Robert Fletcher Award, Lowell Thomas Award, AIAA Fellow, AIAA Jeffries Aerospace Medicine and Life Sciences Research Award, and Women in Aerospace Leadership Award. Newman received her PhD in aerospace biomedical engineering and Masters degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Technology and Policy from MIT and a BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Newman is a member of the Aerospace Corporation Board of Trustees, the SETI Institute Board of Directors, and co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Space Technologies.

Greg Greenberg has spent nearly 14 years creating iconic work for Apple at Media Arts Lab. Since joining as a Senior Copywriter in 2012, he’s led major campaigns, including iPhone’s “Hollywood in Your Pocket,” AirPods’ “Stroll,” “Bounce,” and “Quiet the Noise,” and privacy spots like “Data Auction”, “Waiting Room”, and most recently award-winning "Flock". Named to Adweek’s Creative 100 in 2020, his recent work includes “Flock,” “Submerged” for Vision Pro, the iPhone 16 Pro launch, The Weeknd’s “Dancing in the Flames,” and the heartfelt Holiday film “Heartstrings.” A proud mentor, Greg has helped shape a new wave of creative leaders at MAL and continues to guide students from his alma mater, the University of Georgia.

Mark Roberge is an entrepreneur, investor, and educator dedicated to helping startups and growth-stage companies scale with precision. As the fourth employee and Founding Chief Revenue Officer at HubSpot, he built and scaled the go-to-market organization from zero revenue to a successful IPO, pioneering a data-driven, buyer-centric sales model that has since influenced go-to-market teams worldwide. After HubSpot’s IPO, Mark joined the full-time teaching faculty at Harvard Business School, where he designed and taught courses on sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship, mentoring hundreds of student entrepreneurs and immersing himself in the challenges of early-stage growth. More recently, Mark co-founded Stage 2 Capital, the first venture fund backed by over 1,000 elite sales and marketing executives. Stage 2 has invested in over 100 startups, connecting founders with proven revenue growth frameworks and seasoned go-to-market leaders to accelerate their scaling journey. A sought-after speaker, Mark has shared his insights at major conferences including SaaStr, South by Southwest, Inbound, and the World Business Forum, and guest lectured at leading institutions such as MIT, Stanford, and Harvard. Mark holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and an undergraduate engineering degree from Lehigh University. He is also the author of the bestselling book The Sales Acceleration Formula and now The Science of Scaling, which distills decades of experience into a practical, data-driven roadmap for founders, executives, and investors striving to achieve sustainable, scalable growth.

Jillian Turecki is a renowned relationship expert, New YorkTimes bestselling author, and host of the Podcast, Jillian On Love. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity about what makes a relationship thrive, Jillian has helped millions over the last 20 years through her teachings, courses, social media, and writing to revolutionize their relationship with themselves so that they transform their romantic relationships. Jillian is sought out for her compassionate, direct, and very authentic style of coaching, teaching and writing.

Casekenny.com Case Kenny is a mindfulness expert, author, and podcast host who has been teaching people how to live more optimistic, mindful, and authentic lives for the past 10 years. His podcast New Mindset, Who Dis? has resonated with millions of listeners, and his viral writing on Instagram reaches hundreds of millions more. His work has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Forbes, NBC, ABC, and on countless other media outlets. He regularly leads “Language of Optimism” keynotes around the world, reminding people that no matter where they are in life, they have the power to rewrite their story and trust that the best is yet to come.

Diego Perez is a #1 New York Times bestselling author who is widely known by his pen name, Yung Pueblo. He has sold nearly 2 million books worldwide that have been translated into over 25 languages. Online he has an audience of over 4.5 million people and was named one of the Time100 Creators of 2025. His writing focuses on the power of self-healing, creating healthy relationships, and the wisdom that comes when we truly work on knowing ourselves. Much of Diego’s inspiration comes from the many silent meditation courses he has sat in the last 13 years. Diego’s new book, How to Love Better, was an instant New York Times bestseller. Additionally, Diego cofounded Wisdom Ventures, an investment fund focused on scaling compassion, and is the founder of Ready, a relationship app that centers personal growth.

As one of the country’s foremost authorities on Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, Sandy Carter has been a notable expert working with AI since 2013 and with Blockchain since 2019. She has had a distinguished career holding leadership positions as a Chief Operations Officer, Chief Product Officer, and Chief Sales Officer working for Amazon Web Services and IBM. She is a pioneer and at the forefront of AI and other leading-edge technology driving innovation, product development, and capturing new sales markets. Sandy has led the business development efforts at Fortune 100 companies that changed the business landscape and resulted in adding billions of dollars to her employers’ bottom line.

David Pogue is a seven-time Emmy Award winner for his stories on “CBS Sunday Morning,” a five-time TED speaker, host of 20 “NOVA” specials on PBS, and a New York Times bestselling author. He’s written about Apple for his entire career, including 13 years as a Macworld columnist, 13 more as the New York Times tech columnist, and 20 years as the #1 bestselling author of books about Macs and iPhones. He lives with his family in New York.

Join Carl Pei for a wide-ranging conversation about where the tech industry is heading in 2026 - and why Nothing is on a mission to make tech for the next generation. In this session, Carl will reflect on how the consumer tech industry became closed and predictable, and why the next era will require a different mindset. He will share his perspective on some of the biggest shifts facing the industry, including the rise of AI-native hardware, and how AI is becoming a core part of the product experience. The conversation will also touch on Nothing’s own next chapter - from its continued push into audio to the brand’s growing physical footprint with new store openings planned across New York City, Tokyo, London, and India this year. Join Carl for a conversation about rebuilding belief in consumer technology, not by constant product launches, but thoughtful design, cultural relevance and products that people genuinely want to live with.

Allison Stransky is CMO of Samsung Electronics America, where she leads U.S. marketing and communications with a focus on AI-powered brand building and cultural relevance. She champions Samsung’s “AI for All” vision—delivering personalized, predictive, and privacy-centric experiences across devices and generations. A dynamic voice in engaging Gen Z and Gen Alpha, Allison blends creativity, technology, and purpose to build brand love, drive innovation, and ensure inclusive access to the future of smart living. She also oversees breakthrough campaigns that shift from product-first messaging to storytelling that resonates emotionally—bringing AI-enabled experiences to life in ways that are human-centered and deeply relevant.

Eleanor Hawkins is a communications strategist and writer at Axios. She authors Axios Communicators — a weekly newsletter that examines how leaders, businesses, brands and employers communicate — and runs Mixing Board powered by Axios, a membership organization with over 1,000 of the top communications, marketing and corporate affairs professionals.

Brian Irving has more than two decades of technology and leadership experience across technology companies and household consumer brands. He has served as the CMO of Lyft since March 2024, while also leading iconic global brands including Meta, Eventbrite, Apple, Google, and Airbnb. He also previously served as co-CMO and VP of global digital marketing for Levi Strauss & Co. As CMO at Lyft, Brian leads all marketing, creative, and communications for the brand. This includes developing the strategy for and executing on all product marketing; brand and integrated marketing; marketing sciences; the creative studio; brand social media; and corporate, policy, brand, and product communications. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in international relations from Michigan State University.

André Zdanow is the President of FirstBuild and the Executive Director of the Small Appliances division of GE Appliances. Prior to GE Appliances, Zdanow served as the Vice President of eCommerce at Gemaire Distributors, a division of Watsco and one of the world’s largest independent distributors of heating, air conditioning, refrigeration equipment, parts and supplies. Before that, he served as the Director at Watsco Ventures, where he oversaw the evaluation of all hardware and Internet of Things investments and distribution opportunities. He has additionally held senior positions at Mophie, StadiumRed Group, and the invention company Quirky, where he was also an early investor in the companies. Zdanow began his career as an entrepreneur operating his own bagel shop, and today is a father of two, the co-executive sponsor of the LouNet Affinity Group, and serves on the Board of Directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kentuckiana.

Mohnish is the Founder and Managing Partner of Pabrai Investment Funds and the Portfolio Manager of the Pabrai Wagons Fund. Mohnish manages approx. $1 billion in assets. Mohnish is an ardent disciple of Warren Buffett and closely follows his principles of value investing and capital allocation. Mohnish was the Founder/CEO of TransTech, Inc., an IT Consulting and Systems Integration company. Founded in his home in 1990, Pabrai bootstrapped the company to over $20 million in revenue when it was sold in 2000. He is the author of two books on value investing, The Dhandho Investor and Mosaic: Perspectives on Investing. The Dhandho Investor has been translated into multiple languages, including German, Mandarin, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, and Spanish. Mohnish is also the Founder and Chairman of The Dakshana Foundation (dakshana.org), a 501(c)(3) US public charity. Dakshana focuses on poverty alleviation in India by identifying brilliant but impoverished teenagers and providing them with intensive coaching to pass the entrance exams to engineering and medical universities. Mohnish loves playing duplicate bridge and blackjack and received his first lifetime ban in 2019 for playing blackjack at a Las Vegas Casino. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Marcus Luttrell is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL, Navy Cross and Purple Heart recipient, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lone Survivor.. Marcus is also the host of the Team Never Quit podcast and a nationally respected speaker on service, resilience, and leadership. He and his wife, Melanie, have been married for 15 years and are proud parents of three children.

Dr. Gül Dölen is a Professor and the Renee and Bob Parsons Endowed Chair in the Department of Neuroscience and the Department of Psychology, the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, and the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics at the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, Dr. Dölen maintains an adjunct professorship in Neuroscience and Neurology at Johns Hopkins University and is the Director of the PHATHOM project (Psychedelic Healing: Adjunct Therapy Harnessing Opened Malleability). Dr. Dölen earned her M.D., Ph.D. at Brown University and MIT and completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University. Dr. Dölen is a pioneer and world leader of psychedelics research. Based on a series of breakthrough discoveries she has formulated the hypothesis psychedelics may be the long sought “master key” for unlocking critical periods across the brain. Importantly, understanding psychedelics through this framework dramatically expands the scope of disorders that might benefit from adjunct therapy with psychedelics. Dr. Dölen is the recipient of the Joukowsky Family Foundation Award, the Conquer Fragile X Rising Star Award, the Angus MacDonald Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Society for Social Neuroscience Early Career Award, the Searle Scholars Award, and the Johns Hopkins University President’s Frontier Award.

Bryan Hubbard is the Chief Executive Officer of Americans for Ibogaine (AFI), a nonprofit advancing education and awareness about ibogaine as a potential breakthrough treatment for substance use disorders, brain injuries, and mental health conditions. A nationally recognized policy leader, Bryan previously served as Chairman and Executive Director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, where he helped shape one of the nation’s most ambitious state-level responses to the opioid crisis. His career spans law, public policy, and healthcare reform, with leadership roles addressing disability policy, Medicaid, child support enforcement, and judicial responses to mental health and substance use challenges. Raised in Virginia’s coalfields, Bryan brings both personal heritage and professional expertise to his mission of building equitable solutions for communities devastated by addiction and trauma.

Rick Perry served as the fourteenth United States Secretary of Energy from March 2017 to December 2019. As Secretary, he was responsible for successfully executing President Donald J. Trump’s energy agenda and the expansive mission of the Department of Energy (DOE), including maintaining the safety and security of the nation’s nuclear arsenal, protecting the electric grid from cyber threats, ensuring access to reliable and affordable energy, overseeing scientific research and development, and promoting the development and export of American technology and energy all over the world. Under his leadership, the nation ushered in a historic energy era, becoming the number one producer of oil and gas in the world, a world leader in the production and generation of renewable energy, and the dominant global force in Supercomputing, Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence. Prior to joining the Trump Administration, Perry served as the 47th Governor of Texas from 2000-2015. As the longest serving governor of the Lone Star State, he championed conservative pro-growth principles that made Texas the world’s 12th largest economy and the economic envy of America. During his time in Austin, Governor Perry also implemented transformative reforms in the areas of security, criminal justice reform, energy, education, healthcare and the economy. As Chief Executive both as Governor of Texas and Secretary of Energy, Perry understood that the success of government is only as strong as its partnerships with the private sector. He advocated for smart regulatory reforms and strong public-private partnerships, empowering industry rather that creating more bureaucratic barriers. He started the Texas Enterprise Fund which lured hundreds of millions of dollars in private sector business and jobs to Texas. At DOE, he appointed the first ever Chief Commercialization Officer who was tasked with bridging the gap between the world-class R&D at the Department’s 17 National Laboratories and commercialization in the private sector. Rick Perry is a veteran of the United States Air Force, where he flew a C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout his career, he has been deeply involved in supporting both the active duty and veteran community, most recently as an advocate for using the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver precision health care to warriors suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and other conditions. Perry earned distinction early in his life as an Eagle Scout. He was one of the first in his family to go to college, earning a degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University, where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets and a Yell Leader. He is a lifetime member of both the NRA and American Legion Post #75. Perry married his childhood sweetheart, Anita, in 1982. They have two children, two beautiful granddaughters, and two handsome grandsons.

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Cheryl Miller Houser works with brands and organizations to create connection, engagement and positive action through storytelling. She directs and writes documentaries, commercials, branded content and all forms of human-centered storytelling that shift people's attitudes and behavior and shape culture. Cheryl also gives inspirational keynotes and workshops globally on how to use the craft and science of storytelling to move people deeply and coaches high level execs to help them shape their stories. Some of Cheryl's credits include feature documentary GENERATION STARTUP following 6 young people launching startups in Detroit, TRUTH TO TRANSFORMATION about the overhaul of the foster care system in NJ, web series, commercials and launch videos.