Arts

Talented creative individuals working in the field of visual, auditory and performance arts

Rahul Bhattacharya

Rahul Bhattacharya

Rahul Bhattacharya is a design educator, writer and curator working across visual culture, pedagogy, and technology. His practice spans design, writing, and curation, with a sustained engagement in art history, semiotics, and the politics of form. He writes across academic research, editorial platforms, and long-form reflections on visual culture, performance, and emerging technologies, while his curatorial work extends into public space through exhibitions, workshops, and performance platforms. He is a co-founder of the Kolkata International Performance Art Festival and Nine Schools of Art, both grounded in collective learning and co-creation.

As Assistant Dean, Communication Design, at UID Gandhinagar, he leads curriculum design and academic strategy, building transdisciplinary frameworks that connect design, culture, and critical thinking. His work with AI through dotai develops systems that act as analytical and ethical companions, foregrounding interpretation, memory, and cultural specificity. Through teaching, tool-building, and collaborative labs, his practice focuses on how designers think, decide, and work within evolving technological conditions

Rahul Bhattacharya is a design educator, writer and curator working across visual culture, pedagogy, and technology. His practice spans design, writing, and curation, with a sustained engagement in art history, semiotics, and the politics of form. He... Show more

Corey Jocko

Corey Jocko

Multidisciplinary Creator & NFT.NYC Alumni Corey Jocko is a Mohawk visionary artist, musician, filmmaker, and founder of Core Arts & Entertainment. VIP Speaker on the first Indigenous panel (2023), solo talk on the power of NFTs, and AI sessions with art showcases and music performances. Featured in Netflix’s Yintah.

Now building the future of agentic AI artists: developing Blake Brody (@blakebrodymusic) and Meta Malone (@metamalonemusic) through AI Artist School, complete with identity, music, visuals, and on-chain NFT mints for autonomous creators. Blending human soul, Indigenous roots, and blockchain for tokenized creativity, live digital performances, and community-owned IP.

Explore his work at coreartsent.com and legacy vault Jayohcee.com. Upcoming: Agentic AI artist NFTs and expanded metaverse/live experiences.

Multidisciplinary Creator & NFT.NYC Alumni Corey Jocko is a Mohawk visionary artist, musician, filmmaker, and founder of Core Arts & Entertainment. VIP Speaker on the first Indigenous panel (2023), solo talk on the power of NFTs, and AI sessions with... Show more

Rex Rainey

Rex Rainey

Rex Rainey is a creative director, designer, and illustrator based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He specializes in branding, UX design, and illustration. Since 2005, he's combined these skills to develop creative solutions that are engaging, exciting, and effective.

Rex Rainey is a creative director, designer, and illustrator based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He specializes in branding, UX design, and illustration. Since 2005, he's combined these skills to develop creative solutions that are engaging, exciting, a... Show more

Julie Valentine

Julie Valentine

Julie E. Gordon (Valentine) is a British educator, communication specialist, vocalist and founder of TheVocalPod™. Based in the UAE, she has spent over three years supporting students through voice, communication and creative development programmes across international school settings.

As creator of Voice Lab™, Julie works at the intersection of communication, confidence building, performing arts and youth development. Her work has supported students through LAMDA, RSL qualifications, GCSE performance pathways, school productions and artist development initiatives.

Julie is also the creator of THEGENSHIFT™, an intergenerational dialogue platform exploring communication, culture and youth identity, and the author of Beyond Being Heard.

Her work focuses on helping young people develop authentic self-expression, confidence and future-ready communication skills that extend beyond the classroom and into life, leadership and employment.

Julie E. Gordon (Valentine) is a British educator, communication specialist, vocalist and founder of TheVocalPod™. Based in the UAE, she has spent over three years supporting students through voice, communication and creative development programmes a... Show more

Abena Camara

Abena Camara

Safiyatou “Abena” Camara

Executive Director & President, WONTANARA Inc
Co-Founder • Cultural Arts Master • Business Consultant • Youth Development Specialist

Abena Camara is a business consultant, cultural arts leader, and third-generation cultural bearer with nearly a decade of experience helping creatives and community-driven organizations build sustainable, funded work. She serves as Executive Director and President of WONTANARA Inc, where she leads arts education, community programming, and organizational strategy rooted in West African cultural traditions.

Immersed in cultural arts since age three, Abena brings over 20 years of professional artistry, 15 years of intensive West African cultural training, and deep lineage-based knowledge passed down through master teachers, historians, griots, and elders. Her grandfather founded the first performing company in Guinea, West Africa, and helped introduce West African master artists to the United States—a legacy Abena continues through WONTANARA’s programs and global partnerships. Her multidisciplinary training spans West African dance, ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, and music composition and production, allowing her to bridge tradition and innovation with integrity.

Alongside her artistic leadership, Abena brings strong business and funding expertise. While pursuing a degree in Business Administration at Georgia State University, she served as an executive intern for a popular men’s grooming company, helping generate $1.1 million in revenue within its first year. That experience launched her career as a consultant, where she has spent nearly nine years advising organizations on operations, funding strategy, and growth.

Through WONTANARA Inc and her consulting work, Abena has secured over $200,000 in grants and sponsorships, including support for WONTANARA Percussions, the world’s first Black-owned instrument factory based in Africa. She has also led the development of WONTANARA Festival, securing city-wide sponsorship and building a thriving cultural platform. Her consulting practice maintains a 92% client retention rate, and she has helped more than 10 clients secure government funding within their first year of business.

Abena’s work sits at the intersection of creativity, community, and capital. She is passionate about demystifying funding systems and empowering creatives and community leaders to move from passion projects to sustainable, paid impact—without compromising their values.

Safiyatou “Abena” Camara Executive Director & President, WONTANARA Inc Co-Founder • Cultural Arts Master • Business Consultant • Youth Development Specialist Abena Camara is a business consultant, cultural arts leader, and third-generation cul... Show more

Richard Plantt

Richard Plantt

With a passion for innovative design and a keen eye for detail, I specialize in transforming complex ideas into beautifully simple visuals and seamless digital experiences. My work bridges the worlds of creative design and digital workplace strategy, helping brands not only tell compelling stories but also collaborate and communicate more effectively across platforms.

As a certified Registered Graphic Designer (RGD), I bring a dual focus to my professional services: visual storytelling and digital transformation. On the creative side, I lead content development, oversee brand management, and ensure cross-platform consistency across digital and print media. On the consulting side, I help organizations unlock the full potential of Microsoft 365, leveraging tools like SharePoint, Viva, Copilot and Teams to build connected, collaborative, and user-centered digital workplaces.

Whether I’m designing a brand identity or architecting a SharePoint intranet, my goal is the same: to create experiences that resonate, engage, and drive results. I thrive on collaboration with cross-functional teams, integrating diverse perspectives to deliver solutions that are as strategic as they are visually impactful.

What I love most is the opportunity to blend creativity with functionality. Crafting designs and digital environments that not only look great but also empower people to work smarter and communicate better.

With a passion for innovative design and a keen eye for detail, I specialize in transforming complex ideas into beautifully simple visuals and seamless digital experiences. My work bridges the worlds of creative design and digital workplace strategy,... Show more

Richard Essangabasi

Richard Essangabasi

Richard Essangabasi Israel, also known as The Content Chef, is a 23 year old Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker, and Business developer from Nigeria. He works at the intersection of storytelling, technology, and business growth, and his work is driven by a simple belief: if it can be told, it can be sold. At 23, he has founded or co-founded nine ventures, each born from real problems he experienced himself like bad campus food, unreliable internet, lack of access and lack of funding for student founders. He is the Founder and CEO of The Shard Group LTD, a conglomerate that houses other subsidiary companies including Shard Network, a satellite powered campus ISP for African campuses, Shard Media Production, and Shard Builders Residency. His other ventures include Offar, a DeFi toolkit for African businesses and developers, The Messangs, a silent luxury menswear brand, Orex Prime, an Content/Media production company, and Campus Pitch Africa, a pan-African Shark Tank style pitch competition that funds student entrepreneurs. He serves as the lead investor for Campus Pitch Africa and is currently building MAI Fund, a venture capital firm focused on pre-seed and seed investments in African SMEs. He is also developing Stable Pesa, a fintech company that aims to help people across Africa achieve financial peace of mind, though it is still in development.

As a creative director and filmmaker, Richard has spent over five years mastering visual storytelling. He is the co-founder of Orex Prime, where he uses blockchain technology to help African filmmakers create and fund high quality movies. He has successfully raised over $10,000 for film projects from global partners including The Sandbox DAO, Uglycash and Base. His work has earned international awards and has been screened at major film festivals in the United Kingdom, New York, and Nigeria. He also hosts The Founders Archive, an ambitious project to film and document the stories of one million business owners around the world. He travels to different cities to record the struggles and wins of entrepreneurs, saving their lessons in a digital library for others to learn from.

As a public speaker, Richard does not deliver motivational fluff. He shares practical and honest insights drawn from five years of experience across media, Web3, entrepreneurship, and African innovation. He has spoken on global stages hosted by Google, Solana, Figma, SheFi and Ethereum at events including Figma Config, Eth Enugu, Web3 Lagos Conference, Solana Allstars Meetup, GDG EKET, ENB Onchain Summer Lagos, Devconnect Base Demo Day in Argentina, SheFi Nigeria,, Borderless 2.0/3.0 and NACOS Week 25. His speaking style is straightforward and focused on what actually works rather than what sounds good.

In business development, marketing, and sales, Richard brings over three years of hands on experience. He currently serves as the Marketing Lead and Growth Strategist at Bitsave Protocol, a decentralized savings platform focused on providing secure financial solutions and advancing DeFi adoption for global users. He helps small and medium sized businesses grow by building partnerships, revenue systems, and operational structures that actually scale. Before Bitsave, he led marketing for iLabs Nigeria, an AI Engineering Startup advancing AI chatbot adoption for SMEs founded by Alumni’s of the AI Class of 2023 at the European Business University of Luxembourg. He also served as Director of Socials for the Nigeria Association of Computing Students at Akwa Ibom State University, where he managed student engagement and organized high profile events including the NACOS Week 25 Conference. He was the campus lead for Cowrywise in 2024 and also served as a co-campus lead for Solana Allstars. He served as Regional Lead and Visual Creative Director for For The Love of DeFi, leading community growth, regional expansion, and Web3 adoption while helping organize the Innovate 25 Conference as Visual/Creative Director.

Richard studied filmmaking under a Mastercard Foundation Scholarship at the Kunle Afolayan Film and Television Academy. He has also worked as a festival curator for the Uyo International Theatre and Film Festival and as co-lead for GDGoc Aksu. His mission is simple and consistent: to support the people who take real risks to build meaningful businesses, and to help young Africans share their stories and succeed on a global stage.

Richard Essangabasi Israel, also known as The Content Chef, is a 23 year old Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker, and Business developer from Nigeria. He works at the intersection of storytelling, technology, and business growth, and his work is driven b... Show more

Andrew Ecker

Andrew Ecker

Andrew Ecker is an author, certified peer support specialist, White Bison recovery coach, and nationally recognized speaker specializing in mental health, recovery, community wellness, and the transformative power of rhythm and sound. As the co-founder of Drumming Sounds, Andrew has helped facilitate more than 5,000 wellness-based events for healthcare organizations, tribal communities, treatment centers, schools, corporations, and conferences across the United States.

Drawing from over two decades of recovery and lived experience overcoming generational substance use disorder, incarceration, trauma, and mental health challenges, Andrew brings a unique blend of evidence-based practices, Indigenous-informed perspectives, and practical wisdom to his presentations. His work explores the intersections of neuroscience, recovery, identity, community connection, and experiential wellness.

Andrew is the creator of the Drumming Sounds Protocol, an evidence-based group drumming intervention designed to support mental health, stress reduction, team cohesion, and social connection. He has presented for healthcare systems, behavioral health organizations, universities, tribal nations, government agencies, and national conferences, and has been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and nationally syndicated television.

Born from the Apache and born to the Irish, Andrew's work is deeply influenced by his exploration of Indigenous identity, ceremonial introduction, and community-centered healing. He is the author of The Sacred Seven, a contemporary framework for self-identity, belonging, and personal transformation.

Whether speaking to clinicians, educators, leaders, recovery professionals, or community members, Andrew combines compelling storytelling, research-informed insights, humor, and experiential learning to create presentations that inspire meaningful personal and organizational change.

Andrew Ecker is an author, certified peer support specialist, White Bison recovery coach, and nationally recognized speaker specializing in mental health, recovery, community wellness, and the transformative power of rhythm and sound. As the co-found... Show more

Helen Millar

Helen Millar

Helen Millar is a speaker, emotional intelligence consultant and transformation coach helping leaders, founders and organisations build the inner capacity to thrive in the age of AI.

With nearly two decades of international coaching experience, an award-winning acting career and a profound personal healing journey, Helen brings rare depth to conversations about leadership, change, resilience and human potential. Her work sits at the intersection of emotional fitness, conscious leadership, communication, psychology, money, faith and strategy.

Helen is a regular speaker at Oxford, Cambridge and London Business Schools, has been featured on the Discovery Channel across three continents, and is the founder of Helen Millar, Hearty.Company and Heart Healer®. Through Hearty, her consultancy brand, she works with organisations and executive teams on emotional intelligence, leadership presence and the human skills AI cannot replace.

Her signature keynote, Emotional Fitness is the Leadership Edge in the Age of AI, explores why the future will not belong to the most intelligent machines alone, but to the most emotionally intelligent leaders. As technology accelerates, leaders need more than strategy, systems and skills. They need nervous system capacity, discernment, authenticity, relational intelligence and the ability to meet uncertainty without collapse or control.

Helen also speaks powerfully on healing your relationship with money, self-worth and change, particularly for female founders, creatives and high-achieving professionals whose external success has outpaced their internal stability. Having transformed her own life from self-sabotage, ill health and financial scarcity into a thriving portfolio of meaningful work, property, investment and global impact, Helen does not speak about transformation as theory. She has lived it.

Her approach combines emotional intelligence, psychological insight, spiritual wisdom and grounded business acumen through her Head to Heart Living and Head to Heart Leadership frameworks. The result is work that is intelligent, human, practical and deeply transformational.

Helen’s talks are ideal for organisations, leadership events, women’s leadership programmes, founder communities, wellbeing conferences and future-of-work conversations seeking a speaker who can bring emotional depth, commercial relevance and a powerful human perspective to the age of AI.

Helen Millar is a speaker, emotional intelligence consultant and transformation coach helping leaders, founders and organisations build the inner capacity to thrive in the age of AI. With nearly two decades of international coaching experience, an... Show more

Gabriel Boscan

Gabriel Boscan

I’m Gabriel Boscán, born in Maracaibo, Venezuela,
and based in Buenos Aires since 2009.

Over the years, I’ve developed a way of working that values clarity, intention, and balance. I’m passionate about shaping brands with consistency, where every detail has a purpose and every decision supports a bigger vision.

WHAM Studio is my personal platform—a space where I combine the best of two cultures to create work that is both structured and expressive.

I’m Gabriel Boscán, born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and based in Buenos Aires since 2009. Over the years, I’ve developed a way of working that values clarity, intention, and balance. I’m passionate about shaping brands with consistency, where every... Show more

Margarita Kokovina

Margarita Kokovina

📌Professional Fashion and Prints Designer with Russian and Italian education
📌Member of Botanical Art Society
📌Curator of fashion events and exhibitions
📌Scientific researcher in fashion and Arts, Master of Fashion design
📌Ambassador of Fashion Education

📌Professional Fashion and Prints Designer with Russian and Italian education 📌Member of Botanical Art Society 📌Curator of fashion events and exhibitions 📌Scientific researcher in fashion and Arts, Master of Fashion design 📌Ambassador of Fas... Show more

William Smith

William Smith

William A. “Bill” Smith is a playwright, theatre maker, author, and founder of Upstart Raven, LLC. A retired attorney, Navy veteran, and alumnus of The University of Houston and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Bill brings more than four decades of experience in writing, acting, directing, producing, law, and building practical resources for theatre educators.

He is the creator of The Drama Desk and author of The Drama Teacher’s Desk, a practical method for helping drama teachers manage the full life of a school theatre program: productions, students, auditions, calendars, permissions, budgets, safety notes, parent communication, student leadership, archives, and program continuity.

Bill’s central message is simple: school theatre teachers are not “just directing a show.” They are running a living educational program, often with professional-level responsibilities but school-level time, budget, staffing, and support. His sessions help theatre educators move critical work out of one exhausted adult’s head and into shared, repeatable practices that protect the art, the students, and the teacher.

Bill’s play Lox and Loaded was named Overall Winner of the 2023 International Playwriting Competition in Carlow, Ireland. His work blends practical theatre experience, clear organizational thinking, and a deep respect for the strange, funny, human work that happens behind the curtain.

William A. “Bill” Smith is a playwright, theatre maker, author, and founder of Upstart Raven, LLC. A retired attorney, Navy veteran, and alumnus of The University of Houston and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Bill brings more than four decade... Show more

Marie Zakalata

Marie Zakalata

Zakalata Marie
Artist and architect, NFT creator, Exhibited:
- London 2022 TheHolyArt
- Dubai 2022
- NFT Bali 2024
- Miami 2024 ZAO-CHELA
- New York NFT.NYC 2025
- Miami 2025 Art week during Art Basel
- Moscow 2026 personal exhibition art sapace Munk
Speak English, French, Rusian.
To contact us, please call
+79163206203
- WhatsApp +79163206203,
- Telegram @Marie_Zakalata,
- Twitter: https://x.com/ZakalataMarie,
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zakalatamarie/

Zakalata Marie Artist and architect, NFT creator, Exhibited: - London 2022 TheHolyArt - Dubai 2022 - NFT Bali 2024 - Miami 2024 ZAO-CHELA - New York NFT.NYC 2025 - Miami 2025 Art week during Art Basel - Moscow 2026 personal exhibition art ... Show more

Roel Heremans

Roel Heremans

Roel Heremans is a Brussels-based keynote speaker and transdigital artist
working with sound, videogames, neurotechnology and AI.

His talks help audiences understand how emerging technologies are
changing perception, attention, imagination and mental privacy.

Grounded in interactive installations such as The NeuroRight Arcades,
he connects artistic practice with concrete questions around
human-AI interaction, neuroethics and the future of embodied technology.

Recent work and talks have been presented in contexts including
Ars Electronica, Sónar+D, Science Gallery Monterrey, K11 Wuhan,
Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Elmos Group and Privacy Salon Gent.

Roel Heremans is a Brussels-based keynote speaker and transdigital artist working with sound, videogames, neurotechnology and AI. His talks help audiences understand how emerging technologies are changing perception, attention, imagination and... Show more

Alberto Lucas Lopez

Alberto Lucas Lopez

Alberto Lucas López is a Spanish-born journalist who, since 2016, has served as Senior Artist – New Narratives at National Geographic Magazine. In this role, he specializes in the development of innovative approaches to visual storytelling and graphic journalism. His individual work has been honored with more than 200 international awards from Webby, SPD, WAN-IFRA, IIBA, DJA Global Editors Network, SND and CaGIS, among other organizations. It is worth highlighting he has been awarded with the Best of Show Malofiej—that distinguishes the best infographic in the world published of the year—, two Human Rights Award Malofiej, the Best Map of the World Miguel Urabayen Award, and the Impressive Individual Award from Information Is Beautiful Awards. Occasionally, he serves as a jury in journalistic contests such as the Premio GABO, WAN-IFRA World Media Awards or the Society of Publishers in Asia Awards, and leads talks and workshops internationally on visual storytelling.

Prior to joining National Geographic, he was Graphics Director at Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Society for News Design and, in recent years, has devoted a significant portion of his time to doctoral research in Arts and Education. He also regularly delivers international lectures and leads workshops on visual storytelling.

Alberto Lucas López is a Spanish-born journalist who, since 2016, has served as Senior Artist – New Narratives at National Geographic Magazine. In this role, he specializes in the development of innovative approaches to visual storytelling and graphi... Show more

Angie Dortch

Angie Dortch

Angie is a multidisciplinary educator, director, and wellness innovator whose work brings together neuroscience, awareness, and the performing arts through Learning HOW to Age™. This curriculum-based program integrates research on brain health with experiential practices from acting, voice, and movement, offering engaging, skill-based approaches to lifelong vitality and presence.

She serves as administrator for the Expressive Avenues Wellness YouTube channel, where she shares lessons designed to support active, independent aging. Angie holds an MFA from the University of Louisville and brings decades of experience in education, performing, directing, and media production. Angie leads experiential breakout sessions at aging conferences like the National Council on Aging, sharing results from a two-year implementation of Learning HOW to Age™ with independent living adults averaging 81 years old. She will present “Learning HOW to Age™: An Experiential, Intergenerational Program—Skills for Every Generation” for the first time at the Mid-Atlantic Intergenerational Conference, expanding the curriculum into an actionable intergenerational model across the lifespan.

A survivor of a catastrophic car accident, Angie chronicles her journey through coma and back into consciousness in her memoir Emerging: From Coma to Presence. With honesty, humor, and candor, she reflects on what she encountered in that liminal space and later with a numinous bearded iris—offering a deeply human perspective on resilience, awareness, and what it means to truly be present.

Angie is a multidisciplinary educator, director, and wellness innovator whose work brings together neuroscience, awareness, and the performing arts through Learning HOW to Age™. This curriculum-based program integrates research on brain health with e... Show more

Bhavya Desai

Bhavya Desai

Bhavya Desai is a Madras (Chennai)-based illustrator with over a decade of experience creating culturally rooted visual narratives. Through his studio, Bhavya Desai Illustrations, he has worked with leading brands to bring stories to life by drawing from the everyday moments, people and places that define contemporary India.

Bhavya Desai is a Madras (Chennai)-based illustrator with over a decade of experience creating culturally rooted visual narratives. Through his studio, Bhavya Desai Illustrations, he has worked with leading brands to bring stories to life by drawing ... Show more

Ivan Mazi Markov

Ivan Mazi Markov

I published a book:
NFT School For Artists
An Artist’s Guide To Creating And Selling Non-Fungible Tokens, Building A Community, And Making A Living With Digital Royalties Even if You Have No Experience

The book helps artists understand and use NFT technology in their lives and work. I also do one-on-one consulting on this topic.
I love talking to artists and helping them to get into space.

Three things I believe in are:
- Telling your story
- Personal Branding
- Building a Community

This is the only true way you will ever be able to live off your art.

In 2023, I spoke at a conference - https://web3tales.io/ - NFT minting workshop.
In 2024, I spoke at the NFT NYC - https://bit.ly/4aQnu2K - on the topic of Ai, Art, and NFTs.
In 2025, I spoke at the NFT NYC - My topic was selected - An Artist's Guide on Building Community and Success.

I collect digital art as NFTs.

Looking forward to more opportunities to share my knowledge and vision :)

I published a book: NFT School For Artists An Artist’s Guide To Creating And Selling Non-Fungible Tokens, Building A Community, And Making A Living With Digital Royalties Even if You Have No Experience The book helps artists understand and use N... Show more

Marisa Burn

Marisa Burn

Marisa Burn is a entrepreneur, and creative professional based in Zürich, Switzerland. She is the Co-Lead of Digital Learning Cultures at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), where she develops innovative digital learning strategies and leads the CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies) in Digital Learning and Teaching Cultures. In this role, she explores the future of education, shaping teaching methods to meet the needs of a new generation of learners.

As the Co-Founder and Head of Innovation & Process at House of Change Burn Pichler, Marisa helps organizations navigate digital transformation and creative processes. She is also the Co-Founder of the holistic design agency Burninglights, where she specializes in creating holistic experiences, fostering collaboration, and designing authentic branding and mindful lifestyle solutions.

Marisa holds a degree in Postindustrial Design with a focus on Process Design and Interaction Leading from HyperWerk FHNW. Her artistic pursuits span multiple disciplines, including music, performance art, painting, and sculpture. As an interdisciplinary artist and activist, she co-founded the Peace Club, an initiative that organizes events fostering genuine human connections and promoting a more intentional way of living.

With over 20 years of experience as an independent entrepreneur, Marisa brings a unique blend of creativity, strategy, and mindfulness to everything she does, driving forward-thinking approaches in both business and education.

Marisa Burn is a entrepreneur, and creative professional based in Zürich, Switzerland. She is the Co-Lead of Digital Learning Cultures at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), where she develops innovative digital learning strategies and leads the CA... Show more

Michael Collett

Michael Collett

Michael Collett is a San Francisco born-and-based career designer with nearly two decades of experience in graphic, print, brand, web and generalized two-dimensional design. He has also taught, designed, developed and built exhibitions and public programs, while operating as a sole practitioner and team member at studios, start-ups and institutions.

He is currently the Design Director and a co-founder at Àrokò Cooperative, a worker-owned design studio and publishing concern.

Michael Collett is a San Francisco born-and-based career designer with nearly two decades of experience in graphic, print, brand, web and generalized two-dimensional design. He has also taught, designed, developed and built exhibitions and public pro... Show more

Dominic Ojeda

Dominic Ojeda

Digital Artist and Game Dev currently working on Dino Mayhem, a destructive retro pixel platformer where you play as legendary dinosaurs to devour enemies, demolish buildings, and wield high-tech weapons.

Digital Artist and Game Dev currently working on Dino Mayhem, a destructive retro pixel platformer where you play as legendary dinosaurs to devour enemies, demolish buildings, and wield high-tech weapons. Show more

Eduard Koekkoek

Eduard Koekkoek

Chronically data-enthusiast, engineer and consultant on the Microsoft-stack (Azure, Fabric & Power Platform) and all things SQL or Spark, with some expertise on other data-solutions as well like TimeXtender, and Qlikview. I like sharing my stories on adoption strategies, and ideas for implementation on Fabric-Adoption on the road to data maturity.

With the aim of improving organisations, processes and people I am data-experienced in the Benelux-geography since 2004 with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol/Royal Schiphol Group, Royal Heijmans (building contractor), Nabuurs Supply Chain Solutions, Micromedia Benelux (wholesale), Provelu (data-consulting), Danone Nutrition-products and Heart for Arts (agency and ICT-consultancy for NGO's). I am the proud holder of degrees in Logistics, and Business Economics, and Microsoft-certificates.

My motto's are: Be yourself, try the best you can, take some time to become aware of the situation, make contact with others, help others, imagine, create, learn, and last, but not least, adapt. I live for tech, the tech- and performing arts- community and helping people. I am an event organizer, speaker, and volunteer as well in data-usergroups, and performing arts.

Demolished my first IBM AT-model with 80286 Intel in 1988. Created my first database with gameplays of Civilization in 1991. Build my first hardware components and drivers for model railways in 1993. Hooked on Excel and VBA since 1995 in secundary education. From Access, Excel and Filemaker dba’s via Qlikview and since 2015 on Azure, Power BI and Fabric.. I love music and theatre production, hence I find NGO’s are great at helping others so I help them as well!

Chronically data-enthusiast, engineer and consultant on the Microsoft-stack (Azure, Fabric & Power Platform) and all things SQL or Spark, with some expertise on other data-solutions as well like TimeXtender, and Qlikview. I like sharing my stories on... Show more

Sanja Srbljinović Čuček

Sanja Srbljinović Čuček

Origami autor i dugogodišnji popularizator origamija u znanosti, umjetnosti i obrazovanju, Sanja Srbljinović Čuček redoviti je gost na Festivalu znanosti, Danu Japana, i SFeraKonu. Njezino IEEE predavanje Važnost origamija i njegova primjena u obrazovanju možete pogledati na YouTube kanalu. Na Sanjinom blogu Origami Art Novosti naći ćete origami rječnik, mnoštvo origami događanja i zanimljivosti, čak i kataloge origami art izložbi. Desetak godina vodila je Hrvatsko origami društvo, član je britanskog i američkog origami društva te Community for Creators of Origami. Već četvrtu godinu vodi Origami grupu u XV. gimnaziji. Više na [https://www.linkedin.com/in/poetryinpaper].

Origami author and promotor of origami in science, art and education in Croatia, Sanja Srbljinović Čuček is a regular at the Science Festival, Japan Day and SFeraKon. You can watch her IEEE presentation ”The Importance of Origami and Its Application in Education” on YouTube. On Sanja's blog Origami Art Novosti you will find an origami dictionary, many origami events and interesting facts, even catalogs of origami art exhibitions. For about ten years she led the Croatian Origami Society and is a member of the British and American Origami Societies and the Community for Creators of Origami. She has been leading the Origami group at the XV. Gymnasium for four years. More on [https://www.linkedin.com/in/poetryinpaper].

Origami autor i dugogodišnji popularizator origamija u znanosti, umjetnosti i obrazovanju, Sanja Srbljinović Čuček redoviti je gost na Festivalu znanosti, Danu Japana, i SFeraKonu. Njezino IEEE predavanje Važnost origamija i njegova primjena u obrazo... Show more

Margaret Juhae Lee

Margaret Juhae Lee

Margaret Juhae Lee is the author of the award-winning Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History (Melville House), which was named a best book of 2024 by the San Francisco Chronicle and other outlets. A former literary editor at The Nation, she received a Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies Fellowship from Harvard University and a Korean Studies Fellowship from the Korea Foundation. Her articles have been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, Writer's Digest and The Rumpus. A seasoned public speaker, she has lectured and taught workshops at universities, libraries and community organizations on searching for family history and how to talked to loved ones about the past, She lives in Oakland, California, with her family.

Margaret Juhae Lee is the author of the award-winning Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History (Melville House), which was named a best book of 2024 by the San Francisco Chronicle and other outlets. A former literary editor at The Nation, she received ... Show more

Howard Podeswa

Howard Podeswa

Howard Podeswa is a thought leader in the intersection of agile and business analysis, and a widely requested speaker at international BA and agile events, including BA & Beyond (2025, 2023), BA Istanbul 2021 (Keynote), BA World Boston 2024, PMI Silicon Valley 2023, European BA World (Frankfurt) and Norway Developers Conference (NDC). For over twenty years, he has been helping large organizations optimize their BA and product ownership practices for agile software development. He is a widely-read author whose books have become staple references, most recently: The Agile Guide to Business Analysis and Planning From Strategic Plan to Continuous Value Delivery (Addison-Wesley, 2021). Other works include UML for the IT Business Analyst, and The Business Analyst’s Handbook.

Through his company, Noble Inc., he has served clients worldwide, including ISO, Moody’s, the Mayo Clinic, TELUS, REI, LabCorp and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He has been an adviser to professional-association initiatives, including PMI’s Guide to Business Analysis, the BABOK and IIBA’s Nimble program, and has recently been collaborating with Ivar Jacobson International on The Story Mapping Gameboard - a new resource hosted on a free version of Essence Workbench.

Alongside his work in software development, Podeswa is also a practicing, professional artist whose work has been shown extensively in commercial and public galleries, and featured in leading art journals including Art Forum, MOMUS and International Architecture and Design. Podeswa’s work often begins with personal history as a catalyst for meditations on art historical legacy, physics, theories of perception and the state of the world. His paintings are held in numerous private and public collections including BMO Financial Group (Canada), Luciano Benetton Collection (Italy) and Ciba-Geigy AG (Basel).

Contacts/Links
• To contact Howard for speaking engagements, training and coaching services, please email howardpodeswa@nobleinc.ca or message him on LinkedIn @howardpodeswa
• Courses and Webinars: www.nobleinc.ca
• Art and BA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mvBLDeHnSw

Art links:

• Art home page: https://www.howardpodeswa.com
• Art Forum review: https://www.artforum.com/events/howard-podeswa-251083/
• Public exhibition - A Brief History: https://www.kofflerarts.org/whatson/exhibitions/exhibition/a-brief-history

Howard Podeswa is a thought leader in the intersection of agile and business analysis, and a widely requested speaker at international BA and agile events, including BA & Beyond (2025, 2023), BA Istanbul 2021 (Keynote), BA World Boston 2024, PMI Sili... Show more

Marshmallow / Tyler

Marshmallow / Tyler

I'm a comic artist from Toronto who draws a lot of gay positive comics, and self publish my work! I'm also the suiter of MarshmallowMaw!

I'm a comic artist from Toronto who draws a lot of gay positive comics, and self publish my work! I'm also the suiter of MarshmallowMaw! Show more

Sarah Peters

Sarah Peters

Sarah Peters is a web developer at Georgetown University, building and maintaining web solutions for the Office of Advancement. She began her development career at Crema, a digital product agency in Kansas City, where she worked as an Application Developer. A graduate of Prime Digital Academy, Sarah brings a unique perspective to software development, drawing from her previous career as a professional violinist.

Before transitioning to tech, Sarah performed with orchestras such as the Kansas City Symphony and New World Symphony; she currently plays with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra (when time permits!). She has been featured as a chamber musician on Kansas Public Radio Live and has appeared at festivals including the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Lakes Area Music Festival. She received her Bachelor of Music and Graduate Diploma in Violin Performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston.

Her experience in both the arts and technology informs her approach to problem-solving, collaboration, and continuous learning. Sarah currently lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, a member of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, and their two children.

Sarah Peters is a web developer at Georgetown University, building and maintaining web solutions for the Office of Advancement. She began her development career at Crema, a digital product agency in Kansas City, where she worked as an Application Dev... Show more

Kent Kim

Kent Kim

Kent Kim is an independent developer and founder of Deother Co., Ltd., a one-person studio in Seoul. He studied economics, lived in New York until 2005, and has written 23 books — none of them about software. Between March and August 2026 he designed, built and shipped 49 products alone — 16 games and 33 applications — using AI as his primary development environment and teaching himself each stack as he needed it, from Unreal Engine and C++ to on-device inference. Thirty-four remain live, including one shipping in 25 languages and another serving 195 countries in 15. His flight delay assistant AIDA, built on Incheon International Airport's live public data feeds, won the airport's Grand Prize against funded teams. He has no doctorate and has never had a QA engineer.

Kent Kim is an independent developer and founder of Deother Co., Ltd., a one-person studio in Seoul. He studied economics, lived in New York until 2005, and has written 23 books — none of them about software. Between March and August 2026 he designed... Show more

Tutaleni Ilonga

Tutaleni Ilonga

Tutaleni, is the driving force behind the growth of Game Development in Namibia and in Africa as a whole, as well as the bridge between South America and Africa when it comes to the Game Development space. After successfully completing the Enter Africa game development program Mr, Ilonga created his own game studio/company called TL Entertainment whereby he created games and was successfully able to import Global Game Jam and Game Jam +, whereby together with the partnership between TL Entertainment and Game Jam+ there was a bridge built between Namibia and Brazil.

With the games that where created not proving to be profitable, Mr Ilonga would take part in a CEP program whereby he would like up with Vaughan, Veronica and Ndamono and together they would form Edu-Game Namibia to create an innovation hub around gaming to ensure that the market because sustainable around gaming and ensure future Namibian generations will be able to profit from it.

With 7 Years’ experience in Gaming Mr Ilonga has won a few awards and also became the flag career for Gaming especially at the Forbes where he and Vaughan would help Edu-Game Namibia make it to the top 3 pitch battle final. Currently Mr Ilonga together with Edu-Game are working on a curriculum to gamify the education system.

List of Achievements
Forbes 30 Under 30 Top 3 Pitch Battle Finalist 2024
Boost Up Pitch Winner 2023
Xbox Games Camp Alumni 2023
Sanlam Bridge Beneficiary 2023
CEP WINNER 2022
Game Industry Africa Awards Winner 2022
Class of 2022 Game Developers Conference SCHOLARS:

Events/Interviews I have Spoken At
Xbox Games Camp - Topic - Why Africa Is The Best Place To Invest When It Comes To Gaming
Africa Partnership For Growth Symposium - Topic - Why Investing In Gaming is Profitable
PathfindinGS -Topic - Gamifying the Namibian Education System
Africa Comicade Topic -Getting Local Businesses to Invest in Game Development
Game Jam Plus Topic -Importance of Game Jam In The Local Ecosystem
African Creative Meeting Topic -E-Sports In Africa
ESQUENTA Topic - Importance of GJ + For the Local Ecosystem
BBC World Service TV Topic - CES 2020: What’s in it for Africa?

Tutaleni, is the driving force behind the growth of Game Development in Namibia and in Africa as a whole, as well as the bridge between South America and Africa when it comes to the Game Development space. After successfully completing the Enter Afri... Show more

Lada Bogović Božić

Lada Bogović Božić

I have an MA in cultural studies, but I work as a kindergarten teacher. Tolkien was/is my first love, and I haven't cared much for Marvel until I met my Thor.
I love reading, boardgames, quizzes, arts & crafts and karaoke (try me at your own peril) and have two beautiful children (I promise pics only on request).

I have an MA in cultural studies, but I work as a kindergarten teacher. Tolkien was/is my first love, and I haven't cared much for Marvel until I met my Thor. I love reading, boardgames, quizzes, arts & crafts and karaoke (try me at your own peril)... Show more

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