Humanities & Social Sciences

Esteemed speakers contributing their insights into human culture, behavior, and societal development

Eleanor Sigel

Eleanor Sigel

Eleanor is a Security Architect at Casco where she hastens the Singularity. She received B.A. degrees in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Southern California in 2025. In her free time, she is a competitive endurance runner and writes about her three special interests: 1) running 2) food 3) herself.

Eleanor is a Security Architect at Casco where she hastens the Singularity. She received B.A. degrees in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Southern California in 2025. In her free time, she is a competitive endurance runner and writes ... Show more

Stefano Iaboni

Stefano Iaboni

Stefano is the founder of Smile Solution LLC, a company dedicated to enhancing workplace creativity, bonding, and well-being through humor-driven experiential training. With over 20 years of international experience in comedy and facilitation, Stefano collaborates with tech companies, startups, and HR leaders to design innovative workshops and presentations, including his signature program, *The Power of Laughter*. He is an advocate for the transformative impact of humor in professional settings and has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences and corporate events worldwide.

Stefano is also a proud member of the applied improvisation and creativity community, bringing a unique perspective to organizations seeking fresh and dynamic approaches to employee engagement and stress reduction.

Stefano is the founder of Smile Solution LLC, a company dedicated to enhancing workplace creativity, bonding, and well-being through humor-driven experiential training. With over 20 years of international experience in comedy and facilitation, Stefan... Show more

Pascal Ogil

Pascal Ogil

De développeur à Architecte à Coach Agile à Coach Pro, je suis passionné par la découverte de ce qui peut permettre d'amener des relations plus sereines dans une transformation.
J'ai découvert la CNV il y a 6 ans, à laquelle je me suis formé, j'ai coeur à rendre le monde meilleur en partageant ce merveilleux outil.

De développeur à Architecte à Coach Agile à Coach Pro, je suis passionné par la découverte de ce qui peut permettre d'amener des relations plus sereines dans une transformation. J'ai découvert la CNV il y a 6 ans, à laquelle je me suis formé, j'ai c... Show more

Almudena Barreiro Carrillo

Almudena Barreiro Carrillo

Almudena Barreiro es cofundadora de Data for Good Madrid, una iniciativa sin ánimo de lucro que ayuda a organizaciones del tercer sector a aprovechar el poder de los datos para generar impacto social. Su trabajo se centra en el uso ético e inclusivo de la inteligencia artificial, con un fuerte compromiso hacia valores como la equidad, la transparencia y la protección de la dignidad humana.

Actualmente es consultora y científica de datos en Next Digital, donde lidera proyectos relacionados con la calidad del dato, analítica predictiva e inteligencia artificial responsable. Combina una sólida formación en matemáticas y estadística con experiencia técnica aplicada y una mirada crítica sobre el impacto de los sistemas algorítmicos en la sociedad.

Además, colabora en Sesgo404, una sección del canal de YouTube Sirviendo Código, donde analiza las implicaciones éticas y sociales de la IA para acercar estos temas complejos a una audiencia más amplia.

Almudena Barreiro es cofundadora de Data for Good Madrid, una iniciativa sin ánimo de lucro que ayuda a organizaciones del tercer sector a aprovechar el poder de los datos para generar impacto social. Su trabajo se centra en el uso ético e inclusivo ... Show more

Niclas Steiner

Niclas Steiner

Niclas Steiner is the founder of the HR consultancy NN HR and author of the specialist book "Die Arbeitswelt in 2030: Ressourcen oder Beziehungen." He specializes in systemic organizational consulting and sustainable leadership cultures. In his keynote speeches, he translates scientifically grounded insights into actionable practices, helping organizations build future-proof relationship systems, psychological safety, and long-term performance.

Niclas Steiner is the founder of the HR consultancy NN HR and author of the specialist book "Die Arbeitswelt in 2030: Ressourcen oder Beziehungen." He specializes in systemic organizational consulting and sustainable leadership cultures. In his keyno... Show more

Joe Azzopardi

Joe Azzopardi

Joe Azzopardi (PhD) is a keynote speaker who helps leaders understand and navigate generational tension in the workplace. He delivers high-impact sessions that unpack why teams misfire across age groups and what leaders can do to strengthen retention, collaboration, and performance. Drawing on cutting-edge generational research and practical frontline insights, Joe equips audiences with actionable tools to lead and communicate effectively across the generations.

Joe Azzopardi (PhD) is a keynote speaker who helps leaders understand and navigate generational tension in the workplace. He delivers high-impact sessions that unpack why teams misfire across age groups and what leaders can do to strengthen retention... Show more

Tiffany Vargo

Tiffany Vargo

Tiffany Vargo, MS, NRP, CP-C, is a dynamic leader in prehospital care, currently serving as the Director of Prehospital Care Operations at Allegheny Health Network. She leads a large team across Canonsburg Ambulance, Prehospital Response, and the AHN EMS Passthrough program. Tiffany's passion for EMS extends beyond traditional roles; she previously served as a MIH supervisor, EMS Supervisor, QA Specialist and board member. She is passionate about provider wellness, education, and quality clinical care. Tiffany holds degrees in Forensic Psychology and Biology and anticipates completing her MBA, reflecting her dedication to advancing prehospital care through a multifaceted approach.

Tiffany Vargo, MS, NRP, CP-C, is a dynamic leader in prehospital care, currently serving as the Director of Prehospital Care Operations at Allegheny Health Network. She leads a large team across Canonsburg Ambulance, Prehospital Response, and the AHN... Show more

Brian Alementi

Brian Alementi

Brian Alementi is an acclaimed Inspirational Keynote Speaker, award-winning leader, and certified Master Trainer renowned for engaging presentations that combine inspiration with practical, actionable insights. With a rich background in guiding and elevating teams, Brian brings his experience as a previous leader within a Fortune 500 company’s Hall of Fame learning and development division, where his dedication to growth and excellence shaped high-performing teams across the organization. His impact reaches far and wide, with numerous features on major television networks and invitations to speak on prominent stages, including TEDx. Brian’s influence continues to expand as he empowers audiences to unlock their full potential and achieve remarkable results.

His sessions blend dynamic energy, expertise, and actionable takeaways, making them impactful and memorable. His MVP Performance Model aligns individual drive with team goals, creating a foundation for extraordinary achievement. With his PG3 Leadership Model, Brian cultivates a culture of resilience, collaboration, and growth within organizations. In addition, his inspirational talk focuses on the importance of unleashing the magic within individuals and teams to elevate a positive growth mindset for success. These frameworks enable companies to positively shape their culture to boost productivity, morale, and performance.

With over three decades of public speaking experience, he has empowered audiences by delivering transformative sessions that provide clear, practical strategies for enhancing productivity and connection. Known for his infectious energy and authentic delivery, Brian resonates across industries, making his sessions both unforgettable and actionable.

A testament to his commitment, Brian’s personal life reflects the drive and resilience he talks to. With the accomplishment of completing several marathons, a strong marriage of over twenty years, and the joy of raising two remarkable children, Brian brings a genuine authenticity to every talk, inspiring audiences to pursue their goals with passion and purpose

Brian Alementi is an acclaimed Inspirational Keynote Speaker, award-winning leader, and certified Master Trainer renowned for engaging presentations that combine inspiration with practical, actionable insights. With a rich background in guiding and e... Show more

Stella Ihenacho

Stella Ihenacho

Stella Ihenacho is an Enterprise AI Delivery Leader, institution builder, and TEDx speaker who works across enterprise transformation, leadership development, and economic mobility.

At Red Hat, Stella leads the Release Train Engineers supporting the Data & AI organization, helping translate strategy into coordinated delivery across teams and initiatives. Her work focuses on AI-enabled operating models, enterprise agility, leadership alignment, and the systems organizations need to deliver value in an era of rapid technological change.

Beyond the enterprise, Stella builds institutions that expand access and advancement. She serves as Chief Operating Officer of the African Immigrant Collective, a global leadership ecosystem helping African immigrants thrive professionally, economically, and civically. She is also Co-Founder and Agile Faculty Lead at NSTAR Technologies, where she helps professionals reposition their experience, develop market-relevant capabilities, and advance into higher-impact careers.

A Nigerian-born, first-generation immigrant, Stella brings a distinctive perspective on leadership, reinvention, and building pathways where none previously existed. Her speaking integrates enterprise AI delivery, the future of work, leadership, career mobility, and the African immigrant experience.

Stella is a 2026 Women in Technology Woman to Watch Honoree, a TEDx speaker, and a contributor to global conversations on Agile leadership and enterprise transformation. Her central message is clear: leadership is not only about finding your place within existing systems—it is also about building better systems that allow others to advance.

Stella Ihenacho is an Enterprise AI Delivery Leader, institution builder, and TEDx speaker who works across enterprise transformation, leadership development, and economic mobility. At Red Hat, Stella leads the Release Train Engineers supporting t... Show more

Ragnhild "Bridget" Sageng

Ragnhild "Bridget" Sageng

Ragnhild “Bridget” Sageng has several years of experience in the IT (Information Technology) industry, working with IT support, network, and managing IT projects before transcending into a career within pen-testing and further into cyber security culture. She considers her IT experience as a strength that aids her in seeing correlations between systems and the people using them. Before her IT career, “Bridget” educated herself within the field of human psychology and healthcare due to her interest in understanding the human mind.

Due to her interest in both the human mind and IT security, "Bridget” specializes in social engineering and Open-source investigation (OSINT). In 2020, she won an international social engineering CTF hosted by Temple University. In 2021, "Bridget” became a Certified Social Engineering Pentest Professional (SEPP) and has since dedicated her focus towards social engineering pen-testing. Her hands-on experience with social engineering pen-testing has prompted her to further research the topics of ethically handling people affected by the tests. She has spoken about this topic at conferences such as Black Hat Europe, SANS, DTX Europe, NDC security and at the Social Engineering community village at DEF CON, hoping to enlighten people and create a discussion on the topic within the industry.

Ragnhild “Bridget” Sageng has several years of experience in the IT (Information Technology) industry, working with IT support, network, and managing IT projects before transcending into a career within pen-testing and further into cyber security cul... Show more

Nyah Macklin

Nyah Macklin

Nyah Macklin is a seasoned researcher and speaker on topics around AI, ML, Ethics, Governance, and Responsibility. Nyah serves as a Senior Developer Advocate for Artificial Intelligence at Neo4j, specializing in context engineering, knowledge graphs, and AI-driven developer tooling where Nyah has built high-impact technical communities and led initiatives that advance a critical understanding of AI and its use cases. They are also the Founder & CTO of Afros in AI, a technical community dedicated to showcasing the multifaceted nature of artificial intelligence. Beyond Nyah's technical expertise, Nyah has a background in government leadership and technology policy, having served as Chief of Staff in the U.S. state government, where they helped shape tech-driven legislative initiatives and equity-driven legislation. When not immersed in their work, Nyah cares about empowering, teaching, and tutoring engineers, live-streaming technical deep dives, and building open-source tools that make software more accessible, explainable, and community-driven.

Nyah Macklin is a seasoned researcher and speaker on topics around AI, ML, Ethics, Governance, and Responsibility. Nyah serves as a Senior Developer Advocate for Artificial Intelligence at Neo4j, specializing in context engineering, knowledge graphs,... Show more

Tara Scott

Tara Scott

Tara Scott is a trainer, public speaker and coach for executive development in the product and HR space. She has worked for over a decade with teams, leaders and organizations of all shapes and sizes. She is passionate about helping individuals collaboratively invest in a psychologically safe culture that allows them to thrive, innovate and pour their authentic selves into the products they create for others.

Tara has vast experience as a product development coach to help build pragmatic agility practices and help others understand the art of progress over process. Tara believes in a “human first” approach to creating software, and has spent years within a variety of industries (Ford, Disney, Target) to help create UX and UI practices that allows organizations to keep the pulse on both users and competitors. She has created UX research programs at organizations such as CH Robinson and Leadpages and has used tools such as the Design Studio Method to build better product experiences. Tara is also a certified Fearless Organization™ practitioner and believes that diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be at the forefront of conversations around building dynamic teams.

Tara Scott is a trainer, public speaker and coach for executive development in the product and HR space. She has worked for over a decade with teams, leaders and organizations of all shapes and sizes. She is passionate about helping individuals colla... Show more

Kris Freedain

Kris Freedain

Kris Freedain (he/him) is the Senior Community Manager for the OpenSearch Project. He has decades of experience in tech, but finds connecting people to be the most fulfilling part of being a community professional.

Kris Freedain (he/him) is the Senior Community Manager for the OpenSearch Project. He has decades of experience in tech, but finds connecting people to be the most fulfilling part of being a community professional. Show more

Ariadne Engelbrecht

Ariadne Engelbrecht

Ariadne's interests stretch across the whole stack, backend to frontend, with a focus on functional programming. She has a love for databases and accessibility. And she enjoys sharing what she learns in talks, workshops, and the community.

Ariadne's interests stretch across the whole stack, backend to frontend, with a focus on functional programming. She has a love for databases and accessibility. And she enjoys sharing what she learns in talks, workshops, and the community. Show more

Israel Olatunji Tijani

Israel Olatunji Tijani

Israel Olatunji Tijani is a Data Scientist, ICT4D specialist, and Head of AI Policy and Research at ChatVE, a civic-technology think tank operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence, internet governance, emerging technologies, and climate change. As a data scientist and AI audit specialist with five years of experience building and deploying custom AI solutions, he works at the intersection of applied AI, public interest technology, research, and African socio-cultural contexts. Tijani bridges high-level ethical frameworks with practical, human-rights-centered technical infrastructure across the Global South. His contribution towards the advancement of transformational AI development in Africa earned him a nomination in the AI for Social Good category during the Ghana AI Summit and Awards in 2025

A 2022 fellow of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Tijani's scholarly contributions are internationally recognized. He presented his landmark research paper, "Who Governs Peace? The Algorithm that Feeds or the Hand that Scrolls," at the Silicon Valley Peace Conference 2026 in California, examining AI’s role in peace tech through proactive conflict de-escalation and social listening. He has also authored IEEE-published work, “Ethics-by-Design for AI: Navigating the Double-Edged Scalpel”, a paper from the International Conference on Data Mining in Washington, D.C., in 2025. Furthermore, his commitment to advancing global information integrity earned him official recognition from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs in January 2025 for co-creating transparent, responsible research tools.

Tijani holds professional credentials spanning Microsoft, Google, Cisco, and EC-Council. He further expanded his command over frontier technologies by earning the BlueDot Impact Future of AI Professional Certification in October 2026, which examines paths toward AGI and their societal implications. Through technical execution, empirical research, and multi-stakeholder policy advocacy, Tijani continues to shape global dialogues on responsible AI deployment, digital sovereignty, climate action, and peacebuilding.

Tijani is an alumnus of Lagos Business School, EDC, Pan-Atlantic University, and the West Africa School on Internet Governance (WASIG).

Israel Olatunji Tijani is a Data Scientist, ICT4D specialist, and Head of AI Policy and Research at ChatVE, a civic-technology think tank operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence, internet governance, emerging technologies, and climat... Show more

Leenu Sugathan

Leenu Sugathan

Leenu Sugathan is a PhD candidate and graduate teaching assistant in the Department of English at George Washington University (GWU). Her doctoral research examines the intersection of literature and human rights, focusing on representations of caste and gender and their entanglements with race. As a Dean’s Graduate Lectureship fellow, she designed and teaches “Literary Imaginaries of Human Rights: Caste, Race, and Gender” at GWU. Sugathan has presented her work at conferences including NeMLA, PAMLA, SALA, and the Race, Ethnicity, and Place Conference, showcasing the interdisciplinary nature of her research.

Leenu Sugathan is a PhD candidate and graduate teaching assistant in the Department of English at George Washington University (GWU). Her doctoral research examines the intersection of literature and human rights, focusing on representations of caste... Show more

Jihan Johnston-McGlotten

Jihan Johnston-McGlotten

Jihan Johnston-McGlotten is a visionary Cultural Technologist, Entrepreneur, and Ph.D.-trained HCI researcher with more than 20 years of experience across emerging tech, entertainment, education, and gaming.

She is Managing Director of Beyond Code Centers at Beyond Code Collective, a national nonprofit that bridges inspiration, training, and employment in tech for learners of every generation. She is also the founder of BeatBotics, where she uses AI, emerging tech, and digital media to build experiences that are innovative and empathetic.

A three-time award-winning keynote speaker, mother, mentor, and proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Jihan is passionate about making technology more humane. Wherever she goes, she is always reimagining the role of play in how we live, learn, and work.

Jihan Johnston-McGlotten is a visionary Cultural Technologist, Entrepreneur, and Ph.D.-trained HCI researcher with more than 20 years of experience across emerging tech, entertainment, education, and gaming. She is Managing Director of Beyond Code... Show more

Amber Vanderburg

Amber Vanderburg

Amber Vanderburg is a multi-award winning businessperson, keynote speaker, author, and founder of the international learning development company, The Pathwayz Group, which has led 800,000+ learners in more than 75 countries in action-focused learning journeys. Amber's history in talent development includes authoring top-reviewed online learning courses for platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Lecturio, and PluralSight, acting as Director of a national education leadership company, and coaching with professional sports team academies in Asia. In 2022, she published her first business adventure book "Uniquely Better" about building higher team performance.

Speaking engagements:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMNcx7Jwk9Sp6WxuvrfOOBqdP9440SKl0

Amber Vanderburg is a multi-award winning businessperson, keynote speaker, author, and founder of the international learning development company, The Pathwayz Group, which has led 800,000+ learners in more than 75 countries in action-focused learning... Show more

Todd Walls

Todd Walls

Dr. Todd Walls, DM, MBA (Human Resource Management & Healthcare Management), MSW, is a Human Resource (HR), learning and development (L&D), privacy, governance, and workforce systems consultant. A former federal Privacy Officer, he holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional - U.S. Government (CIPP/G) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) and brings cross-functional experience spanning HR, L&D, organizational development, privacy, compliance training, employee engagement, accessibility, disability inclusion, workforce data, regulated environments, and prior Air Force information systems/security duties, including service as a Terminal Area Security Officer, Computer Workgroup Manager, and Client Server Administrator.

Todd is a frequent conference and workshop speaker whose experience includes regional HR conferences, national and regional disability inclusion programs, national privacy law compliance training, and invitations to speak internationally on privacy law compliance and information security. He has developed and delivered privacy, compliance, accessibility, reasonable accommodation, and organizational learning content for diverse adult audiences, including large federal training audiences.

He is the President-Elect of the National Rehabilitation Association and a former SHRM chapter leader, national keynote presenter, former IAPP CIPP/G Certification Advisory Board member, and published thought leader in HR Executive, HR.com, Training Industry, and International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), including articles on employee data trust, employee voice, workforce systems, privacy law compliance, incident response, and NoSQL database vulnerabilities.

Dr. Todd Walls, DM, MBA (Human Resource Management & Healthcare Management), MSW, is a Human Resource (HR), learning and development (L&D), privacy, governance, and workforce systems consultant. A former federal Privacy Officer, he holds the Certifie... Show more

Giorgia Gibellini

Giorgia Gibellini

Complex UX Expert, uso l'AI consapevolmente per progettare e progetto esperienze con feature AI-based.

Complex UX Expert, uso l'AI consapevolmente per progettare e progetto esperienze con feature AI-based. Show more

Yaya Xia

Yaya Xia

Xiaoya Xia studies how open-source communities and infrastructure evolve around emerging AI workloads and agent infra. At Ant Group, she uses ecosystem data to connect project activity with changes in AI technology and adoption. Her recent work includes the Agentic AI Landscape and research based on OpenDigger. She is a co-chair of KubeCon China 2026 and served on the Program Committees for Open Source Summit North America and Open Source Summit Japan in 2025.

Xiaoya Xia studies how open-source communities and infrastructure evolve around emerging AI workloads and agent infra. At Ant Group, she uses ecosystem data to connect project activity with changes in AI technology and adoption. Her recent work inclu... Show more

Kevin Wilkie

Kevin Wilkie

Kevin has been wrangling data and dodging dirty reads for over 15 years — back when SQL Server 6.5 was considered "modern" and query tuning meant praying to the optimizer gods.

His journey began as an "Accidental DBA" — one misfired report and suddenly he was deep in sys.objects, pretending sp_who2 was an actual plan. Since then, he's played nearly every role in the SQL Server ecosystem: SQL Developer, BI Associate, Production DBA, and now a Data Architect with a mission.

These days, Kevin spends his time normalizing chaos, denormalizing silos, and preaching the gospel of clean, well-modeled data. He’s been known to pivot on the fly, avoid Cartesian relationships, and bring deadlocks back to life — all while gently reminding teams that SELECT * is a cry for help.

If it involves data, Kevin's in — tuning queries, architecting solutions, or just nerding out about why surrogate keys are misunderstood. He’s not just passionate about data — he’s got a clustered index on it.

Kevin has been wrangling data and dodging dirty reads for over 15 years — back when SQL Server 6.5 was considered "modern" and query tuning meant praying to the optimizer gods. His journey began as an "Accidental DBA" — one misfired report and sud... Show more

Dr Tareq Genedy

Dr Tareq Genedy

Dr. Tareq Genedy is a leadership, governance and organizational excellence expert with more than 25 years of professional experience across executive education, consulting and university teaching. He has delivered leadership, performance, governance, customer experience and artificial intelligence programmes for public- and private-sector organizations across the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.

He has taught MBA and undergraduate learners at several universities in the UAE and combines academic insight with practical organizational experience. His work focuses on building institutional readiness, responsible autonomy, accountability and sustainable performance.

Dr. Tareq is the author of *How Excellence Builds Autonomy*, which explores how governance, trust, capability and organizational maturity enable responsible empowerment. He is also the Founder and CEO of iSkills Consultancy FZE LLC in Dubai.

Dr. Tareq Genedy is a leadership, governance and organizational excellence expert with more than 25 years of professional experience across executive education, consulting and university teaching. He has delivered leadership, performance, governance,... Show more

Joe Hawkins

Joe Hawkins

Joe Hawkins, Ph.D., has worked in the field of student affairs for almost 20 years, with the vast majority of that experience in housing and residence life. His scholarship is grounded in educational philosophy and specifically examines the influence of neoliberal ideology on higher education policy and practice. He seeks to empower value-driven educational interventions by empowering professionals at all levels to think critically and ask bigger, better questions.

Joe Hawkins, Ph.D., has worked in the field of student affairs for almost 20 years, with the vast majority of that experience in housing and residence life. His scholarship is grounded in educational philosophy and specifically examines the influence... Show more

Jennifer Novak

Jennifer Novak

Jennifer Novak is a Senior Manager - AI Adoption & Change at Myriad360, where she supports large-scale Microsoft 365 and AI enablement initiatives. She has partnered with dozens of organizations to drive measurable adoption through readiness assessments, stakeholder engagement, training strategy, and practical change planning that aligns with technical delivery. Jennifer is based in Maryland.

Jennifer Novak is a Senior Manager - AI Adoption & Change at Myriad360, where she supports large-scale Microsoft 365 and AI enablement initiatives. She has partnered with dozens of organizations to drive measurable adoption through readiness assessme... Show more

Lianna Adams

Lianna Adams

Lianna Adams is a Human-Centered AI Strategist, Digital Dignity Advocate, and Cognitive Culture Builder recognised by ForbesWeb3, Animoca Brands, and Open Campus as a 2024 Social Impact & Ethics leader — and named one of the Top 10 Rising Women in Crypto 2023.

She has spoken at the WEF in Davos 2024, COP28, TEDx Youth, NFTNYC (four consecutive years), the World Web3.0 & AI Summit, EmpowHer AI, and Web3 Amsterdam, among others.

Her work centres on one urgent question: what do we preserve of ourselves as artificial intelligence transforms how we think, create, and relate? Through keynotes, workshops, and consulting, she helps organisations and communities build cultures where technology amplifies human capability — without eroding cognitive autonomy, creative identity, or dignity.

She is the creator of the Human-AI Cognitive Toolkit — nine science-backed tools for cognitive wellness in an AI-saturated world — and host of The Human Strata, a podcast and newsletter exploring the human layer in the age of AI. She hosts the Wirex Podcast and has convened 80,000+ community participants across digital events since 2021.

Lianna is also the founder of the Digital Dignity Initiative, leads the annual #16Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, and has served as a Non-Executive Director at Mental Health Spaces Collective.

She is available for keynotes, panels, moderation, fireside chats, and workshops.

Lianna Adams is a Human-Centered AI Strategist, Digital Dignity Advocate, and Cognitive Culture Builder recognised by ForbesWeb3, Animoca Brands, and Open Campus as a 2024 Social Impact & Ethics leader — and named one of the Top 10 Rising Women in Cr... Show more

Riz Vazir

Riz Vazir

Riz Vazir has a deep background in tech and healthcare consulting, most recently as Director of Business Strategy at Microsoft. He founded Scroll By Choice to address a health crisis caused as collateral damage from the unrestricted monetization of human attention using sophisticated technology. His mission is to equip kids & adults to thrive with technology. Without this, employers face diminished human capital, schools will see declining academic performance, and society will experience increased loneliness. Riz is a certified change management professional with an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Riz Vazir has a deep background in tech and healthcare consulting, most recently as Director of Business Strategy at Microsoft. He founded Scroll By Choice to address a health crisis caused as collateral damage from the unrestricted monetization of h... Show more

Ewelina Kurasz

Ewelina Kurasz

Senior Business-Systems Analyst & Product Owner. Speaker at international conferences. I truly believe that communication matters.
When I'm not at work, you can find me at IT conferences, meetup’s, volunteering somewhere, or spot me when enjoying nature in the middle of mountains or forests.
I'm usually the one, who will challenge your idea to make it bulletproof!

Senior Business-Systems Analyst & Product Owner. Speaker at international conferences. I truly believe that communication matters. When I'm not at work, you can find me at IT conferences, meetup’s, volunteering somewhere, or spot me when enjoying n... Show more

Win McCormack

Win McCormack

Win McCormack is an American editor, publisher, author, and political activist who has spent more than forty years contributing to literature, journalism, and public affairs. As the founder and editor-in-chief of Tin House and the owner of The New Republic, he has played an important role in supporting long-form journalism, literary publishing, and political commentary. His career reflects a continuing commitment to editorial independence and the preservation of influential media institutions.

Born as Winthrop Laflin McCormack, he grew up in a family associated with public service, law, and finance. His father served in military intelligence during World War II and later held a senior position at the State Department. His mother's family was connected to the founding of a major financial institution in Chicago. He attended Phillips Academy before studying government at Harvard College. During his educational years, he participated in an American Field Service exchange program in Indonesia, an experience that broadened his perspective. After graduation, he worked in teaching and social services before earning an MFA in creative writing at the University of Oregon.

McCormack's path into publishing began during graduate school. After taking part in a congressional campaign, he invested in Oregon Times magazine and later transformed it into Oregon Magazine. From 1976 to 1988, he served as editor, helping the publication gain recognition for investigative reporting and detailed feature journalism. He also became co-owner and treasurer of MediAmerica, Inc., which published several regional magazines. His early publishing activities included helping launch Mother Jones magazine and contributing to several specialized publications.

In the late 1990s, Win established Tin House, a literary magazine that became known for publishing both emerging and established writers. The creation of Tin House Books in 2005 expanded its presence in the publishing industry. The Tin House Summer Workshop, launched in 2003, offered writers a place to study and collaborate. Although the magazine ceased its quarterly print edition in 2019, the broader organization remains active through books, workshops, and related programs.

In 2016, McCormack acquired The New Republic and became its editor-in-chief. He worked to reinforce the publication's focus on political and cultural analysis while guiding it through a period of transition. He also directed an extensive investigation into the Rajneesh movement in Oregon, which later became the basis for The Rajneesh Chronicles. His published works also include You Don't Know Me: A Citizen's Guide to Republican Family Values.

Beyond publishing, he has remained involved in philanthropy and progressive political causes, including co-founding the Liberty Hill Foundation and serving on the boards of organizations focused on education, public policy, and the humanities. Today, Win McCormack continues to influence publishing and public life through the institutions, projects, and initiatives he has helped shape.

Win McCormack is an American editor, publisher, author, and political activist who has spent more than forty years contributing to literature, journalism, and public affairs. As the founder and editor-in-chief of Tin House and the owner of The New Re... Show more

Nicolas Guillot

Nicolas Guillot

Hi! I’m Nicolas, a developer with over 25 years of experience, now working as a freelance mobile app developer.

My journey has taken me from programming MS-DOS games to building electronic test systems for the oil industry, before transitioning to mobile development in 2017.

Everything changed during an eco-volunteering mission in French Polynesia, where I monitored sea turtles. This experience inspired *“We Spot Turtles!”*, a side project that has since become one of my main activities as a freelancer.

In 2022, an unexpected encounter with an Australian helped propel the project onto the international stage, eventually leading to it being featured by Google in a global campaign.

Today, I build this solution using Flutter, co-organize the Flutter Nantes meetup, and aim to expand the impact of this application dedicated to sea turtle conservation worldwide.

Hi! I’m Nicolas, a developer with over 25 years of experience, now working as a freelance mobile app developer. My journey has taken me from programming MS-DOS games to building electronic test systems for the oil industry, before transitioning to... Show more

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