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

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

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

Aydin Quach

Aydin Quach

Aydin Quach (he/they) is a scholar and artist specializing in Asian North American Studies, Performance Studies, Sound Studies, and Nightlife Studies. Their research is concerned with intra-Asian desire in queer nightlife, which has often been derogatorily called “sticky rice” by white gay men who are rejected by Asian North Americans. He examines how “sticky” relationships between Asian Americans reveal about race, sexuality, and Asian American identity when whiteness is no longer the primary point of reference. Aydin’s writing and thoughts have been published in the Journal of Festive Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies, as well as in other op-ed venues such as Huffington Post.

Aydin Quach (he/they) is a scholar and artist specializing in Asian North American Studies, Performance Studies, Sound Studies, and Nightlife Studies. Their research is concerned with intra-Asian desire in queer nightlife, which has often been deroga... Show more

Iwo Plaza

Iwo Plaza

Iwo Plaza is a software engineer & artist, trying to incorporate art into every project he gets his hands on. He's passionate about graphics programming and softening the learning curve for future developers trying to get into it.

He is currently working at Software Mansion on an experimental graphics utility library called TypeGPU that promises advanced TypeScript and WebGPU interoperability.

Iwo Plaza is a software engineer & artist, trying to incorporate art into every project he gets his hands on. He's passionate about graphics programming and softening the learning curve for future developers trying to get into it. He is currently ... Show more

Van Tran Nguyen

Van Tran Nguyen

Van Tran Nguyen (she/her) is a Vietnamese American artist-scholar, practicing filmmaker, curator, and multimedia artist. In 2017, Tran Nguyen earned a master's degree in fine arts from the State University of New York, at Buffalo. Then in 2021, she earned her doctorate in the Philosophy of Electronic Art at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Tran Nguyen’s monograph in progress, Playing With Myself: Repetition as Self Determination reexamines the tools of media-making as diasporic technologies, asserting that the advances and techne of storytelling are recuperated by Asian artists from weapons of subjectification to mediums of liberation. She wrote and co-directed two films: ERIE COUNTY SMILE (2021) available for public access via PBS and THE MOTHERLOAD (2024) which premiered at the Hawaii International Film Festival with support from the Vilcek Foundation’s New American Perspectives. THE MOTHERLOAD is available to watch on Apple TV, Prime TV, and Tubi.

In the fall of 2021, she was appointed the Maya Brin Institute for New Performance and Technology Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an alumni of the Early Career Fellowship at the UCLA Center on Race & Digital Justice (2024-2025). In the fall of 2024, she joined the Department of Performing Arts at Georgetown University as the Assistant Professor of Performance and Film & Media Studies.

Van Tran Nguyen (she/her) is a Vietnamese American artist-scholar, practicing filmmaker, curator, and multimedia artist. In 2017, Tran Nguyen earned a master's degree in fine arts from the State University of New York, at Buffalo. Then in 2021, she e... Show more

Lekë Cërvadiku

Lekë Cërvadiku

Lekë is a offensive security researcher, and multimedia artist based in Pristina. Most of his technical time goes into offensive security. He plays CTFs across crypto, forensics, stego, and misc, and takes on freelance penetration testing work on the side. He's a member of the KSAL Cyber Team and contributes to DEF CON Group Prishtina (DC38338) and FLOSSK.

Outside of security, he's been shooting photography for over six years, directs films, DJs across ambient, electro, minimal, deep house, trance, and drum and bass, and drums in a local Pristina band. Right now he's in production on a film about hacking culture. It's the same instinct as the technical work, just aimed at a different signal.

Lekë is a offensive security researcher, and multimedia artist based in Pristina. Most of his technical time goes into offensive security. He plays CTFs across crypto, forensics, stego, and misc, and takes on freelance penetration testing work on the... Show more

Mohamed Bakuly

Mohamed Bakuly

Mohamed Rashid Khamis Bakuly is a Kenyan graphic and brand designer, UX/UI designer, and AI community builder exploring the intersection of design, technology, and human psychology. He is the Founding Designer at FotoAlly and Lead Designer at Builders Space, where he applies design thinking to build digital experiences, shape brands, and communicate ideas effectively.

He has contributed to technology communities including AWS Pwani and PyCon Africa, helping create visual identities and experiences for developer events. Mohamed is passionate about using AI to accelerate creative work while preserving originality, thoughtful design, and human-centred problem-solving. He is particularly interested in helping designers and developers move beyond generic AI-generated interfaces to create distinctive, functional, and meaningful digital experiences.

As a psychology student and technology enthusiast, he is particularly interested in how people interact with technology, how communities grow around shared ideas, and how emerging AI tools are transforming the way we create, collaborate, and solve problems.

Mohamed Rashid Khamis Bakuly is a Kenyan graphic and brand designer, UX/UI designer, and AI community builder exploring the intersection of design, technology, and human psychology. He is the Founding Designer at FotoAlly and Lead Designer at Builder... Show more

Armen Shaomian

Armen Shaomian

Armen Shaomian, DMA, is a Professor in the David and Nicole Tepper Department of Sport and Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina, where he also serves as Faculty Director of Preston Residential College for Leadership. In this role, he collaborates with student affairs professionals to foster a residential learning community centered on leadership development, student engagement, academic success, and holistic student growth.

Dr. Shaomian brings an interdisciplinary background spanning higher education, leadership, performing arts, and organizational development. His work focuses on creating meaningful learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom through intentional residential programming, faculty engagement, and collaborative partnerships between academic and student affairs.

In addition to his academic work, he maintains an active career as a collaborative pianist and concert artist specializing in contemporary classical music, premiering works by leading contemporary composers. His artistic scholarship includes a book on Swedish National-Romantic music, and his recordings of composer Hugo Alfvén appear on Vax Records' Vaxholm: Ett Dubbelnöje.

Armen Shaomian, DMA, is a Professor in the David and Nicole Tepper Department of Sport and Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina, where he also serves as Faculty Director of Preston Residential College for Leadership. In this r... Show more

Paolo Asnaghi

Paolo Asnaghi

I am a low-code/no-code developer with strong expertise in designing and implementing intelligent agents built with Copilot Studio.
At Cloudia Research Spa, I work within the Innovation team, where I design AI solutions aimed at improving processes, automations, and decision‑making models.
I focus on:

-designing agents in Copilot Studio
-multi‑agent architectures and A2A patterns
-AI‑driven process orchestration
-integration between Copilot Studio, Power Platform, and Microsoft Fabric
-governance, security, and enterprise applications of generative AI

I have presented my projects at the Microsoft AI Conference at Microsoft House (Milan), where I showcased real‑world use cases and practical approaches for responsible and effective AI adoption in organizations.
As a speaker, I deliver highly practical content, including demos, architectures, and ready‑to‑use solutions, with the goal of helping companies embrace a conscious and productive use of Artificial Intelligence.

Besides my passion for technology, I am also a rock musician. Music is a fundamental part of my life and offers me a space to express my creativity.
I love being alone and believe that time spent in solitude is essential for recharging and cultivating new ideas. This allows me to approach each project with renewed enthusiasm and dedication.

I am a low-code/no-code developer with strong expertise in designing and implementing intelligent agents built with Copilot Studio. At Cloudia Research Spa, I work within the Innovation team, where I design AI solutions aimed at improving processes,... Show more

Frank Malaba

Frank Malaba

Frank Malaba is a multidisciplinary artist, storyteller, photographer, and creative facilitator working between Oslo, Norway and Cape Town, South Africa. His work moves fluidly across theatre, performance, poetry, and natural light photography, guided by a central question: How does the body remember, and what stories does it insist on carrying?

Drawing from Southern African oral traditions, queer lived experience, and a deep commitment to dignity and presence, Frank creates narrative spaces where memory becomes a form of knowledge. His solo works, including Stories of My Bones and The Chaos of Belonging, have toured internationally, inviting audiences into intimate encounters with ancestry, identity, and the quiet rituals that shape us.

As a photographer, Frank documents everyday rituals and marginalised lives with tenderness and clarity. His 2025 exhibition Rituals opened in Cape Town to critical acclaim, and his ongoing project I Met a Mermaid explores African water spirituality, homelessness, and the ocean as a site of survival and myth.

He is also the founder and curator of Uncovered: Stories in Oslo (Avdekket: Fortellinger i Oslo), a live storytelling platform centred on true, lived narratives. His facilitation practice blends embodiment, listening, and community building, creating spaces where people can speak from the truth of their lived experience.

Across all mediums, Frank works from the belief that storytelling is not performance, it is presence, witness, and a return to the body as archive.

Frank Malaba is a multidisciplinary artist, storyteller, photographer, and creative facilitator working between Oslo, Norway and Cape Town, South Africa. His work moves fluidly across theatre, performance, poetry, and natural light photography, guide... Show more

Kassandra Gibbons

Kassandra Gibbons

Kassie Gibbons is a usability and design expert with RBA. Trained in user experience and human-centered design, she takes a human-first approach when tackling design challenges. As a former high school educator, she brings unique perspectives from the classroom to create products that are accessible, inclusive, and empowering.

Kassie Gibbons is a usability and design expert with RBA. Trained in user experience and human-centered design, she takes a human-first approach when tackling design challenges. As a former high school educator, she brings unique perspectives from th... Show more

Larissa Barth

Larissa Barth

Larissa Barth ist Künstlerin, Fotografin und Lernenthusiastin. An der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar gestaltet sie in der Universitätsentwicklung Unterstützungsformate rund um Lehren und Lernen, studentische Partizipation, künstliche Intelligenz und wissenschaftliches Schreiben.

Larissa Barth ist Künstlerin, Fotografin und Lernenthusiastin. An der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar gestaltet sie in der Universitätsentwicklung Unterstützungsformate rund um Lehren und Lernen, studentische Partizipation, künstliche Intelligenz und wiss... Show more

Ed Rooth

Ed Rooth

Ed Rooth (aka Hekuli) is a solo developer and visual artist with over 20 years in software. He's the creator of Chromatose, a real-time, shader-based video synthesizer for iOS that he designs, engineers, and ships entirely on his own. A longtime DJ and electronic-music hobbyist, he fell down the real-time-graphics rabbit hole, taught himself Metal, and set out to put a GPU instrument in everyone's pocket.

Ed Rooth (aka Hekuli) is a solo developer and visual artist with over 20 years in software. He's the creator of Chromatose, a real-time, shader-based video synthesizer for iOS that he designs, engineers, and ships entirely on his own. A longtime DJ a... Show more

María Rogles

María Rogles

Senior UI Developer with over a decade of experience bridging the gap between design and development for large-scale digital products.
Currently at Softtek, I am responsible for the development of high-fidelity interfaces, scalable systems, and web animations for Real Madrid F.C.

I offer a hybrid profile backed by a background in Graphic Design and Multimedia, allowing me to act as a strategic bridge for detecting technical risks while prioritizing semantics, accessibility, and a robust CSS architecture.
Throughout my career in advertising agency and IT consulting, I have delivered solutions for global organizations including FIFA, Repsol, Telefónica, Caixabank, BBVA, BMW, El Español, and U.D. Las Palmas.

Senior UI Developer with over a decade of experience bridging the gap between design and development for large-scale digital products. Currently at Softtek, I am responsible for the development of high-fidelity interfaces, scalable systems, and web ... Show more

Jaden Furtado

Jaden Furtado

Security Engineer by day and researcher by night. He has presented or conducted workshops at security conferences, including Nullcon, SINCON, and c0c0n.
He likes maths, plays the keyboard, draws, and yes, is an ardent supporter of Man Utd.

Security Engineer by day and researcher by night. He has presented or conducted workshops at security conferences, including Nullcon, SINCON, and c0c0n. He likes maths, plays the keyboard, draws, and yes, is an ardent supporter of Man Utd. Show more

Aarica Smith

Aarica Smith

Aarica J. Smith is a multi-certified Salesforce Consultant, Board Source Certified Consultant and SCRUM Certified project management and operations professional. Aarica thrives in concept development, using her consulting and management tools to transform ambiguous environments and concepts into actionable plans or implementations. She is highly creative when it comes to developing results-driven solutions, while ensuring alignment with necessary organization leaders of all levels.

Some of the work that she has accomplished with small businesses includes:

- Created company-wide and department-specific operational systems to streamline the business based on systems, not individual team members
- Developed a various company programs, including a diverse supplier program and employee professional development program
- Project managed cross-functional projects, engaging with external and internal key stakeholders to ensure on-time deliverables and successful project metrics
- Led change management initiatives with c-suite executives and department leaders.

In her previous roles of a non-profit professional, she has overseen a multi-million-dollar foundation grant to pilot national arts strategy to over 4K Boys & Girls Clubs globally, managed over $32M in corporate accounts, and grew a local cycling fundraising event from $450K to nearly a $1M event, making it the #4 premiere cycling fundraising event (out of 93 national events) for the organization.

A firm believer in education, Aarica earned her Master of Arts degree in Arts Administration from Savannah College of Art and Design, and her Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with a minor in French from Spelman College. In her spare time, she loves to travel the world with her family, experience amazing food, and volunteer in her community with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Aarica J. Smith is a multi-certified Salesforce Consultant, Board Source Certified Consultant and SCRUM Certified project management and operations professional. Aarica thrives in concept development, using her consulting and management tools to tran... Show more

Please note that Sessionize is not responsible for the accuracy or validity of the data provided by speakers.

Join Speakers Directory

Join our Speakers Directory today and amplify your reach! Showcase your expertise to a global audience hungry for your insights. Let your voice be heard!

Create Profile