Deborah is a design strategist, venture advisor, and educator with a penchant for blurring the line between for-profit and purpose-driven organizations. A habitual problem solver and doer with a strong EQ, she helps people and systems innovate, grow, and change.

Approaching 20 years of experience incubating offerings, shaping organizations and culture, and building bridges, her work has ranged from innovation and brand consulting for Fortune 100 companies to establishing new models for business and education. She's had the privilege of advising hundreds of inspiring entrepreneurs and leading the design and development of four purposeful organizations—most recently, as the Founding Managing Director of the Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, an initiative of Pratt Institute focused on supporting ethical design entrepreneurs.

A frequent guest critic and facilitator, she has taught human-centered design and research at IIT Institute of Design, CEDIM in México, and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where she was the Inaugural Chair for the BFA in Visual Communication. She is regularly invited to speak globally including SXSW, TEDx, Icograda World Design Congress, ASODI Congreso Interiorismo, and Tallinn Design Week.

After working at great agencies for 28 years, and being a partner and co-founder of BETC São Paulo, Gal Barradas launched a new company for developing startups technology-based at the segments of Fintech and Education. Gal also part in women's leadership groups, mentoring entrepreneurs. She is a counsellor of the Verdescola Institute NGO, and is also a marketplace columnist at Marie Claire Magazine.

Gal Barradas is the only woman on the list of the advertising professionals most admired by the Advertisers (Scopen 2016/2017), and was also one of the Women to Watch in 2017. She also ranks among the 10 advertising professionals most admired by colleagues.

Gal is a co-author of the Woman Interrupted app that seeks to reduce manterrupting within the corporate environment; this app has been downloaded in over 100 countries.

In 2017, Gal became a speaker on TEDx São Paulo. In 2018, released her first book about the impact of technology on communication entitled “New Questions, Different Answers”.

She graduated in Business Administration in Brazil and then pursued graduate studies in Semiotics, in France.

Richard Bullock has worked as a writer, creative director and advertising agency owner in Sydney, Johannesburg, London, New York and Amsterdam.

For eight years he was executive creative director for agency 180 Amsterdam and had global input on clients such as adidas, Sony, Motorola, BMW, Amnesty, MTV and Omega. The advertising club of New York awarded his -Impossible is Nothing- campaign for adidas as the most memorable marketing moment across its one hundred year history.

Seeking new challenges, Richard began directing commercial films and documentaries in 2009 and is represented by Hungry Man in the US and UK and Revolver/Will O’Rourke in Australia and New Zealand. He has always had a leaning towards not-for-profit stories and has worked with Comic Relief, Amnesty International, Oxfam, Orbis, The Climate Reality Project, Operation Open Heart and Operation Smile. His long form films have been seen on National Geographic channel, Eurosport, SBS and the BBC.

Since returning to Australia in 2011, Richard has also directed film content projects for blue chip clients such as Asics, Mastercard, Lottery West, OPSM, Microsoft, Google, Toyota, IKEA and Qantas.

He has been a speaker and judge at numerous international conferences and award shows. Including the British D&AD, Cannes Lions, and One Show in NYC.

“I believe passionately in trying to do good work, for good people.”

As CEO of iProspect Asia Pacific, Joanna Catalano is responsible for iProspect’s regional business growth strategy with a focus on client leadership, mergers and acquisitions, talent development and future-focused solutions. Based in Singapore, she manages a team of 1,000 digital experts across fourteen markets. Joanna has 16+ years of experience managing sales and marketing teams, building trusted advisor relationships with multinational companies and managing high impact change initiatives. She has in depth travel category expertise having served in senior client-side and advisory roles. Prior to joining iProspect in 2017, Joanna spent five years with Google Asia Pacific in regional client leadership and product go-to-market and monetization roles. She has 12+ years in-depth digital experience, managing complex, global clients in the United States, Western Europe and now Asia, where she has spent the last ten years.

Joanna commenced her career in economic development partnering with the Ukrainian government on media and communications, and micro-lending for female start-ups, as it transitioned to a capitalist economy. This experience peaked a lifelong commitment to diversity and entrepreneurship. Within Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), Joanna serves as executive sponsor for Diversity & Inclusion with responsibility for DAN’s Female Foundry and its expansion across Asia Pacific. In its second year, Female Foundry is an accelerator programme focused on developing and funding female led start-ups in emerging markets that embody innovation, diversity, social sustainability and tech leadership. Outside of work, Joanna spent two years leading Singapore Female Founders, a non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting equality for founders of tech-enabled businesses. To support the industry, she’s served as Vice Chair of the Singapore Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), two years as a judge for the Asia Pacific Effies and is an active mentor and coach within the tech, media and start-up industries. In 2018, Joanna was recognized by The Drum in their Digerati APAC as one of the most influential digital marketers across the region. When not involved in any of the above, she is mom of two, design aficionado, avid traveller, and foodie.

Patrick Chang is an early stage investor at Samsung NEXT Ventures. He primarily focuses on seed to series B enterprise / B2B investing and specializes in security, enterprise/industrial IOT, blockchain, edge computing and more.

Prior to Samsung, Patrick was at Foundation Capital with a focus on SaaS and enterprise software. He has over 13 years of experience investing in enterprise software including IT security, infrastructure, developer tools, business intelligence/analytics and more ranging in various stages from seed to growth equity at Bain Capital Ventures, Investor Growth Capital, New York Angels and Updata.

Patrick is also a recovering tech investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers, where he helped public and venture backed technology companies raise capital and execute M&A transactions.

As a ‘creative’ guy, for years Brent hid the fact he had graduated from one of Canada’s most prestigious business schools. And that he used to be an account guy. And that he won numerous math competitions. Okay, maybe keep that last one on the down-low still. Today as Chief Creative Officer of J. Walter Thompson’s flagship New York office, Brent’s unique left brain/right brain approach has helped them transform creatively. In just his first 18 months, JWT’s work has been featured in publications such as New York Times, Mashable, CNN and even Sesame Street, along with a dozen Cannes Lions and Pencils.

Before arriving in NY, Brent helped two different agencies transform into Canada’s Agency of the Year, two others to runner-up AOY, and his clients being named Brand and twice the Marketer of the Year. In 2013, Brent was the #2 ranked Chief Creative Officer in the World for digital and is one of only 11 worldwide winners of the inaugural Fast Company Innovation by Design Award At home Brent transforms into a proud dad, insane NFL fan, and loving husband. His wife would add “In that order.”

Paco is behind some of the ideas that had a great impact not just on the award shows but, more importantly, in the real world.

A social experiment about beauty conducted by an FBI sketcher and viewed by 180 million people.

The first organ donation card for a soccer team that increased 61% organ donations and saved dozens of lives.

Mothers of hooligans as stewards during the most violent game of the season, reducing the incidents to zero.

A training program to help tattoo artists to detect signs of skin cancer followed by thousands of artists across Brazil.

A series of photos exhibited in the Parliament of the UK, featuring 72 people from the 72 countries where same-sex relations are illegal, sharing a same-sex kiss.

During his career, Paco has been Creative Director at Sra Rushmore Madrid, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy Brazil, Group Creative Director at BBH London, and Executive Creative Director and Partner at Anomaly LA.

Ben is the founder and Managing Director of the innovation design consultancy Tricky Jigsaw, a company within the M&C Saatchi Group that, in September 2017, saw the group take first place in the Australian Financial Review’s ‘Most Innovative Company’ award. Tricky Jigsaw’s methods and product design work for NRMA Fireblanket (an early bushfire detection system), also won ‘Most Innovative Product’ and overall ‘Best Innovation’ categories.

He is responsible for not only the growth and sustainability of Tricky Jigsaw but its positioning as a unique and laterally minded skillset. Through a process of systematic creativity, it offers businesses, organisations and institutions the ability to rethink their impact through product, services and experiences.

In 2017 he was personally recognised amongst the top 20 creatives in Australia by the Adnews Creativity List. He is inspired by what is achievable with passionate, curious people unbound by convention.

He is known for leading M&C’s world-first shark detection system, the 'Optus Clever Buoy' to win seven Cannes Lions and the coveted Titanium, as well as SXSW, SPIKES Grand Prix and a D&AD White Pencil amongst others. The Buoy went on to receive backing in a $16m shark mitigation pledge from the NSW Government and is listed on the ASX (SM8).

Prior to joining M&C Saatchi in 2014, Ben was Head of Digital for The Monkeys; and, before that, had two decades of international experience across London, Zurich and Sydney. In his spare time, he is a co-founder of O Six Hundred, a skin-on-frame kit kayak that in 2015 won Best in Category at the Good Design Awards.

https://www.trickyjigsaw.com/
http://www.osixhundred.com/
https://twitter.com/benhamin

For more than 20 years he’s been delivering world-class work from Buenos Aires most creative agencies. In 2012 he was summoned to become ECD at DAVID. In only 4 years DAVID grew from scratch to become a team of 40 multicultural talented people creating campaigns for the most diverse markets that positioned the shop in the Top#5 agency ranking at Cannes 2016.

His work has been awarded at all major international festivals winning over 35 Lions and 7 pencils. The “Manboobs4boobs” campaign won the United Nations Grand Prix for Good at Cannes 2016, as well as a Grand Clio, a Yellow Pencil and took home the very first D&AD Impact White Pencil for Latin America, making it the most awarded campaign in the history of Argentine advertising. It sparked a global debate around social media censorship and has been spontaneously translated to 10 different languages.

He was a speaker at D&AD 2017, sat twice as jury in Cannes, is currently VP of the Argentine Creative Circle and feels proud to have survived longer than the U-Matic and the mouse in such a cruel, fast changing industry.

Over the past 10 years, Shana Dressler has dedicated her career to empowering entrepreneurs, creative professionals, and social change leaders to launch businesses and projects, build hardware and software products, and transition out of corporate jobs into more fulfilling careers. As the Executive Director of Google's 30 Weeks, Shana ran an incubator for design entrepreneurs that Fast Company named as one of the World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in design.

A deeply committed social entrepreneur, Shana is widely recognized as the first person in New York to organize rigorous educational programming for 21st century entrepreneurial problem-solvers and creatives interested in achieving both financial sustainability and measurable impact. To fill a notable gap in the lack of resources available, Shana co-created the Social Good Guides, a series of guides focused on the essential small-business skills that would-be changemakers need to know and an 8-week workshop called Social Good Startup: Idea to Launch.

Shana is an Aspen Institute Scholar, a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judge for The Webby Awards and a graduate of the THNK School of Creative Leadership. In 2014 she became a Delegate to the United Nations Foundation Global Accelerator which brought together ;100 of the world's top entrepreneurs to work together with policy leaders on global issues. In 2015, Shana was honored by the World CSR Congress as one of the 50 Most Talented Social Innovators. Currently she consults with Fortune 500 companies leading workshops in leadership and innovation training and startups with Series A funding in the scaling phase.

She has given keynote talks and led workshops at conferences including Fast Company's Innovation Festival, Harvard Social Enterprise Conference, HarvardxDesign, A Better World By Design, Adobe's 99u, the Social Good Summit, the Disruptive Innovation Festival, Core77 and many others. She serves on the board of AIGA/NY and the NYC Innovation Collective, a nonprofit she co-founded which convenes and supports 90+ incubators, accelerators and innovation programs throughout New York. In addition to frequent travel to far-flung places, Shana loves all things chocolate and makes her way around New York on a midnight blue Vespa. You can follow her @shanadressler.

Marcus East is an energetic, dynamic technology leader with nearly 25 years’ experience of building innovative technology solutions around the globe...

Half of his career has been spent working for major technology companies IBM and Apple where he learnt how to build world-class technology, and for the other half of his career it has been his privilege to work with a number of major consumer-facing brands helping them to harness the power of IT.

Marcus is EVP & Chief Technology Officer for National Geographic, an organization with a 130-year old history that is transitioning into the digital age and using technology to bring its powerful storytelling and iconic imagery to a new audience. He is responsible for the organization’s digital product and technology teams and has a mission to help re-engineer the organization for the digital age. This includes embracing the power of the cloud as an alternative to traditional applications and systems, and replacing a number of disparate, legacy systems with a new platform called ‘CHIP’, driven by micro-services and the use of serverless computing.

During his time living in Silicon Valley, Marcus developed a deep knowledge of agile and also learned about successful approaches to innovation and digital technology, and his experience at Apple has helped to understand the importance of new technologies and techniques in developing compelling consumer experiences that customers love. Marcus holds a Bachelor’s from London Guildhall where he majored in Management and Information Technology, and a Master’s in Management from the University of Cambridge; he is also a Fellow of the BCS Chartered Institute for IT.

He was born in London and attended the Latymer Grammar School in his native Enfield and also served as Councilor for Enfield Chase ward from 2010-2014.

Abby Fuller is the only female director on the critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated, CHEF'S TABLE, now in its fourth season on Netflix. Her debut feature documentary, DO YOU DREAM IN COLOR? played at twenty festivals nationwide winning several awards and screened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was distributed on PBS and Sundance Now and is currently part of a national screening series to empower disabled youth.

Previously she produced and directed the Emmy award winning series, TRUE LIFE for MTV where she captured the harrowing stories of young people caught in the opioid and heroin epidemic. She has directed, produced and edited documentaries for Ron Howard / Imagine Ent., Sundance Channel, Food Network,Google, and National Geographic. Abby has been the recipient of the Loreen Arbus activist filmmaker award presented by New York Women in Film and the Dr. James Bolotin award presented by the National Federation of the Blind.

In addition to filmmaking, Abby is the co-founder of a 1,500 acre ranch in Northern Virginia dedicated to environmental stewardship, biodiversity and addressing climate change, APD Farm. When she is not on set or in an edit she can be found studying soil and growing healthy food with her fiancé and her dog, Charlotte.

Vincent is VP International Marketing at Hertz, overseeing the centenary brand across 150+ countries where he plays a central role in the full refit of all its digital platforms to re-imagine a new seamless, fully digitised customer journey across all touch points whilst evolving the iconic brand into a mobility 1st world.

Prior to that, Vincent spent 25+ years marketing leading premium brands across Retail, Wine & Spirits, Hospitality & Automotive industries, such as Chanel, LVMH, Six Senses, Starwood, Infiniti. A passionate global marketer, Vincent has lived and worked across Asia, Europe & US.

Vincent has a strong interest for sustainability and particularly water conservation. Whilst he was CMO with Six Senses, a boutique luxury hospitality brand and a pioneer in sustainable tourism and preventative wellness, he launched a series of educational water fundraiser called “Watermen” involving leading marine biologists, world-champion watermen which was the catalyst for the launch of Blue Marine foundation backed conservation in the Maldives.

After wrapping up 19 hearty years with IDEO, 2018 marks the start of Roshi Givechi's independent creative sabbatical - a window for her to explore the intersection of narrative/film + technology + design more deeply. She balances her time working on personal projects, collaborating with others on their initiatives, and consulting. As a designer or most recently a Partner and Executive Design Director at IDEO, Roshi brings inspiration from choreography to dissect the many parts that come together to make a greater whole - whether designing for better cities, products, services, or shaping stories themselves. Having worked across the California, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and New York studios over the years, she has channeled her global exposure to amplify creative solutions, as well as shape internal company culture to inspire designers and clients alike. At the end of the day, Roshi recognizes the power design has to help us all address challenges in elegant and impactful ways, wants to spotlight the resilience and beauty in humanity through simple stories, and gets reenergized when she gets to work "in the field" from time to time.

Roshi has appreciated opportunities to teach (California College of Arts, Stanford University in New York) and learn (MFA Art Center College of Design, SVA NYC, UnionDocs). She was named "one of the top 40 leading design innovators" by I.D. Magazine back in the day, has been a juror for D & AD Awards, the Clio's, the Art Directors Club and is featured in Daniel Coyle's 2018 book, "The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups". She's on the first Advisory Council for the Sundance Institute Theater Group and is a pleased member of NYWIFT which exposes her to a potpourri of stories and filmmakers in this chapter.

Cyrill Gutsch is an award-winning designer and brand and product developer. Originally specialized in both start-ups and in turning struggling companies around, in 2012 Gutsch decided to apply his skills to a client vital to us all: The Oceans. He founded Parley for the Oceans as a collaboration network creators, thinkers, and leaders to create awareness for the beauty and fragility of the oceans and to develop and implement strategies that can end their destruction.

Gutsch has worked as an independent creative concept developer for major international companies for many years. In 1998 he created a method called Cross Intelligence, which brings a culture of collaboration to major organizations, and in 2001 co-founded the CCID Center for Media, Knowledge Cultures, Imagination and Development at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, providing a forum for those from the worlds of science and the arts to come together in creative collaborations. Today, he unites scientists, artists, major brands and environmentalists for the oceans cause, acting as a mediator translating creative energy and environmental expertise into business strategy.

Derek Handley is currently Chief Innovation Officer with New York-based social impact startup studio, Human Ventures. He is also the founder of Aera, a charitable trust investing in causes and companies addressing social issues in imaginative ways. The foundation catalyzed Aera VC, a community of family investors backing for-profit, social-venture startups launched at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where Derek was named 2016 Social Innovator in Residence.

Previously, Derek was Founding CEO of The B Team, co-founded with Sir Richard Branson as a global leadership collective advancing better ways of doing business for people and planet.

One of the first companies to help global brands navigate the mobile world, The Hyperfactory, was founded by Derek six years before the iPhone was invented. It is one of the multiple future-focused digital media and technology companies co-founded by Derek, and was acquired by Time Inc/Meredith Corporation in 2010. Shortly after, Derek was named in the 'Silicon Alley 100' most influential technology people in New York.

Derek is also a director at New Zealand’s largest media company, Sky Television (NZX: SKT); a founding member of the Air New Zealand Sustainability Advisory Panel (NZX:AIR); and a former New Zealand EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year; and an aspiring astronaut with Virgin Galactic, hoping to rocket off to space in the coming years.

Her work as Press Officer/Director of Communications to Triple F1 World Champion Ayrton Senna, is cited & studied in Communication & Media Skills courses in various Universities in Betise Head’s native Brazil. From 1989 till 1994 Senna’s untimely death, Betise travelled with the charismatic driver all over the world as the 1st personal Press Officer in the sport. Fluent in 5 languages she helped to set up not only a series of anecdotal columns in various countries in the World - Brazil, Japan & Germany amongst them - but also an innovative strategy to promote Senna’s world wide image and licensing products.

During this period, Betise also supported and provided strategy to many charities and NGOs linked to Formula 1 and to Senna’s heart, lifting their visibility and improving their credibility through high profile connections and business. This involvement brought her, later on, close to Projects like ABC (Action for Brazil’s Children - http://www.abctrust.org.uk/) and Gol de Letra (https://goldeletra.org.br/) both supporting grassroots community projects and focused in Education. Together they help nearly 20.000 vulnerable children and adolescents every year.

Over 30 years engaged in Sports - one of the first women to do so in Brazil - , Betise has worked in 4 Olympic Games, including London 2012 and Rio 2016 where she was an integral part of the Media Team dealing with the thousands of journalists and broadcasters. Her ‘pet love’ there was the sustainable and environmental legacy work. Betise has been described as “someone who will never be silent when she should speak out; she’ll never turn away when she can help and she’ll never walk when she can run. Her mind is full of thoughts and her heart is full of hope”.

Driven by relentless curiosity and constant upbeat energy, Erin has worked across various fields clarifying the human problem at the heart of any system, working with people, teams and executives to create experiences that change perceptions and outcomes. Her favorite challenges are working with people and teams to help them identify their innate capabilities, existing resources and to better understand the larger business realities—then applying this information to crack any challenge they might face.

Before joining ?What If!, she worked in a range of strategic fields including law, international development, technology, and education. As a strategist at San Francisco-based agile e-commerce agency Avenue Code, she partnered with Fortune 500 companies to reframe how they developed their systems—and even helped the company itself to grow from 15 to 87 people internationally in under a year. Most recently, she helped found and launch the groundbreaking M.F.A. program in Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts and content platform Publet.

Passionate about food, Erin loves home-brewing and hosting Dinners With Ideas NYC, a monthly dinner club where diverse individuals come together for spirited debate and conversation. When not connecting with social innovators and entrepreneurs over food, she can spend countless hours listening to podcasts while doodling in her notebook.

Paul is currently a director leading manufacturing operations at Building 8 and Oculus AR/VR, Facebook’s hardware divisions focused on creating products to build community and make positive impact for the 2 billion humans using the platform ecosystems. He is passionate about helping startups get off the ground and enabling technologies that advance the human condition.

Prior to Facebook, Paul led new product introduction at Apple focused on Asia Pacific operations and high volume manufacturing for iPad, iPhone, Macbook, and Audio product lines. He has worked bringing several hundred million devices into the hands of others to empower and change their lives and has extensive international experience in China, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Vietnam, India, and Europe.

Paul was born in South Africa and has unbridled enthusiasm for both kitesurfing and riding motorcycles. He completed his undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley in Engineering Physics and received his doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jennifer is CMO, managing brand marketing and communications across both GOOD and Upworthy. Previously Lindenauer was SVP Marketing & Communications for the Guardian, where she introduced the brand to the American market and ran the communications team supporting the Guardian’s Pulitzer Prize winning series, The NSA Files, with leaked documents from Edward Snowden. Before the Guardian, Lindenauer worked as SVP at Fenton Communications, the largest global social change communications firm creating social marketing campaigns on behalf of foundations and nonprofits. While at Fenton, she built an advertising network of top-notch creative talent dedicated to progressive change during the 2008 election. Previously, Lindenauer was Communications Director for MoveOn.org where she went toe-to-toe with Karl Rove on several occasions. She got her start in politics working for state, local and national campaigns in Washington state, Colorado, Michigan and Washington DC. Lindenauer lives in Brooklyn with her partner, son and Darwin the Dog.

As Creative Director, Jesse McMillin is responsible for leading the creative vision for the brand as Lyft reinvents how to bring communities together through transportation. Prior to Lyft, Jesse spent seven years as Creative Director at Virgin America, where he was responsible for defining the iconic brand. From the arrival gates at Virgin America’s SFO home base to in-flight details such as beverage cups and headsets, the products of Jesse’s endless inspiration is evident throughout the Virgin America experience — both online and offline. Before joining Virgin America in 2007, Jesse was a Senior Designer at Nike’s European Headquarters in Amsterdam where he worked on sportswear and branding for the EMEA region. His background also includes time as Art Director for Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners West, a stint as a graphic designer for Levi Strauss & Co., and a variety of work in the skateboard industry as a designer and illustrator.

Marsha stepped into the role of Creative Director at Aesop in 2014, and since built up the company’s creative function in New York. Aesop was founded in Melbourne Australia in 1987 and is now a global company with a presence in 20 countries. It is known for its understated, non-conformist approach, avoiding many of the more traditional approaches to reaching its customers. Aesop has a unique company culture and values and remains committed to nurturing intelligent relationships with customers, partners and staff alike. Aesop is part of the Natura & Co group, and moved to triple line reporting in 2018 measuring against financial, environmental and social goals. Marsha is a member of the Partnerships Committee of the Aesop Foundation, a philanthropic entity which aims to support literary and culturally engaged initiatives in neighbourhoods. Prior to Aesop, Marsha and has worked largely in retail agencies in NY, London, Sydney and Cape Town. Her strong retail experience is matched by a passion for using creativity to engage with and serve communities. She has worked with the Bowery Mission in New York, and on the curation of Fabergé Big Egg Hunt, benefitting Studio in a School and The Elephant Foundation.

Named “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, brand strategist and host of the podcast Design Matters. As the founder and host of Design Matters, the first and longest running podcast about design, Millman has interviewed more than 250 design luminaries and cultural commentators, including Massimo Vignelli, Milton Glaser, Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink, Barbara Kruger, Seth Godin and more. In the 11 years since its inception, the show has garnered over a million download per year, a Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and—most recently—iTunes designated it one of the best podcasts of 2015.

Debbie’s written and visual essays have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, Print Magazine, Design Observer and Fast Company. She is the author of two books of illustrated essays: Look Both Ways and Self-Portrait As Your Traitor; the later of which has been awarded a Gold Mobius, a Print Typography Award, and a medal from the Art Directors Club. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Boston Biennale, Chicago Design Museum, Anderson University, School of Visual Arts, Long Island University, The Wolfsonion Museum and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art. She has been artist-in- residence at Cranbrook University, Old Dominion University and Notre Dame University, and has conducted visual storytelling workshops at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, the University of Utah, Hartford University, Albuquerque Academy and the High School of Art and Design in New York. She has designed campaign buttons for Hillary Clinton, wrapping paper and beach towels for One Kings Lane, greeting cards for Mohawk, MOO and Card-To- Art, playing cards for DeckStarter, notebooks for Shutterstock and Baron Fig, and T-shirts for Within The Fold.

Debbie is the author of six books, including two collections of interviews that have extended the ethos and editorial vision of Design Matters to the printed page: How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer and Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits. Both books have been published in over 10 languages. In 2009 Debbie co-founded with Steven Heller the world’s first graduate program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Now in its seventh year, the program has achieved international acclaim. The inaugural class wrote and designed the Rockport book Brand Bible: The Complete Guide to Building, Designing and Sustaining Brands, in 2013 the students created branding for the Museum of Modern Art’s retail program, Destination: New York, the class of 2015 worked to reposition a Kappa Middle School in Harlem and the class of 2016 rebranded Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation.

Debbie was the President of the design group at Sterling Brands for twenty years, where she worked with over 200 of the world’s largest brands, including the redesign of Burger King, merchandising for Star Wars and the positioning and branding of the No More movement. She is also President Emeritus of AIGA, one of five women to hold the position in the organization’s 100-year history and a past board member and treasurer of the New York Chapter. She is a frequent speaker on design and branding and has moderated Design Yatra in India, presented keynote lectures at Rotman School of Management, Princeton University, Michigan Modern, the Hong Kong Design Association, the Melbourne Writers Festival, Design Thinkers in Toronto, the Festival of Art and Design in Barcelona, Webstock in New Zealand, QVED in Munich and many more. She has been a juror for competitions including Cannes Lions, The Clio’s, The Art Directors Club, The Type Directors Club, Fast Company, HOW Magazine, Print Magazine, ID Magazine, AIGA, The Dieline, and more. Currently, Debbie is the Editorial and Creative Director of Print Magazine, the oldest magazine about design in the United States.

Sarah has been with Turner Duckworth for 20 years. Originally starting in our London studio, she left behind the gray skies of England for sunny California, where as Executive Creative Director she oversees the San Francisco and New York studios. Her award-winning brand experience includes: Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Levi Strauss, Metallica, Virgin Atlantic, Waitrose and The Royal Mail. Sarah seeks out opportunity in every challenge, regardless of scale. She has judged and adjudicated many things from One Show, Clios and D&AD to Knobbly Knees and Who Wore it Best.

At 72andSunny, brand citizenship is a practice of creating value for society and building businesses at the same time. Jim believes these aims are mutually beneficial and necessary for a modern business to thrive. He’s passionate about building brand armies and fueling movements that go deeper with fans. His previous gig was at the helm of Surfrider Foundation, the largest group of coastal activists on the planet. When not working, he advances the art of waterproof sculpture, he’s six boards into a side gig as surfboard shaper.

As President, Jennifer Morris provides strategic leadership and is responsible for delivery of the organization’s programs. She previously served as CI’s chief operating officer.

With 20 years of experience in international conservation and economic development, Jennifer has created and implemented cutting-edge initiatives working with diverse partners — from indigenous communities to multinational corporations — to achieve CI’s mission of protecting nature for the well-being of humanity.

This includes oversight and direction for the Global Conservation Fund, which has helped protect more than 80 million hectares (197 million acres) around the world, invested US$ 66 million and generated more than US$ 1 million in wages for local economies, and CI’s Verde Ventures program, whose business partners today employ nearly 60,000 local people in 14 countries and protection and restoration of more than half a million hectares (1.2 million acres) of important lands.

Prior to joining CI in 1997, Jennifer was a business development consultant with a micro-finance institution and has lived and worked in Japan, Namibia and Bolivia. She serves on the boards of several organizations including the SEED Initiative, the Conservation Strategy Fund and the Natural Capital Coalition. She is a frequent presenter at international conferences, corporate events and universities on issues related to conservation finance, corporate engagement and social impact investing.

Jennifer has a master’s degree in international affairs with a focus on business development and micro-finance from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Emory University. She currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and daughter.

PJ Pereira is the Founder and Creative Chairman of Pereira O’Dell and served as the 2017 Jury President for Cannes Lions Entertainment. He is an advertising and entertainment pioneer who believes agencies have to provide return not only on the money brands are investing but also the time consumers are spending with the work. That balance is the ultimate challenge marketing faces today.

In 2016, Pereira O'Dell was behind the rare participation of a brand in the prestigious “Official Selection” of Sundance Film Festival with NETSCOUT and Werner Herzog's "Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World". The film was named in Esquire Magazine’s “Top 10 Best Non-Fiction Films”.

His agency is credited with the creation of the first-ever social film (“The Inside Experience”) for Intel and Toshiba in 2011, which combined Hollywood talent content with social media participation); and surpassed by the triple Cannes Grand Prix winner “The Beauty Inside”, also for Intel and Toshiba, which is now being turned into a major feature film starring Emilia Clarke. “The Beauty Inside” was the first piece of advertising to win an Emmy against regular TV programming.

With strong roots in digital and content, his milestones in the field also include a feature film for Red Bull titled “Unflinching Triumph”, which in 2007 was named by Sports Illustrated as the “Most Amusing Sports Parody of the Year”.

Beyond advertising, Brazilian-born PJ Pereira is also a best-selling novelist. In 2015, his book trilogy "Gods of Both Worlds" spent a month as the #1 novel by a Brazilian author in his native country and was published in 5 other countries. In April 2017, he launched in Brazil his fourth novel "The mother, the daughter and the lady's spirit" (A mãe, a filha e o espírito da santa). He has two kung-fu black belts and is working on a karate one too.

His credentials in content, digital and advertising have made him one of the world's most influential and respected creatives. He was named the Top CCO in ADWEEK’s “Creative 100”, "Creativity 50" and is a Board Member of the Ad Council in the US. Most recently, PJ was included in the 4A’s “100 People Who Make Advertising Great”.

Recognized in The Guardian as a ’50 Women to Watch’ and the #Inspire100 list, Chrysi is a marketing, communications & digital executive with an entrepreneurial approach. Since 2009 she has run digital for (RED) – Bono & Bobby Shriver’s AIDS organization that has raised over $465MM through creative partnerships with the world’s most iconic brands including Apple, Bank of America, Starbucks and Coca-Cola.

Chrysi has helped create digital first marketing moments including Apple’s ‘Apps for (RED)’ and ‘Games for (RED)’ an App Store takeover in 155 markets, Snapchat’s first global filter for good raising $3MM, turning Twitter (RED) – literally and (RED) is the first non-profit with over 1MM on both Facebook and Twitter.

As (RED)’s first Chief Digital Officer her digital mantra – in 140 characters – is: “Dialogue not monologue. Empowering not excluding. Participation not promotion. Inspiring not forcing. Innovating not following.”

Prior to (RED) Chrysi was a founding member and VP Global Marketing & Communications of Espotting, Europe’s first search marketing network that she grew to 250 people across 8 markets before selling for $200MM and she was Managing Director of Steak NY which sold to Dentsu.

She is an investor in Student.com and BeautyCon Media, an advisor to School of Doodle, WIE and Station to Station – a train that crossed America creating art and music from Giorgio Moroder, Beck & more.

Ms. Polansky is a passionate evangelist for excellence in design and love of detail at every consumer touchpoint.

She is a designer grounded in craft, fashion, retail, and cultural trends, all informed by mass and high-end consumer demographics, connecting design to business.

After graduating from the School of Visual Arts NYC, Deklah began her career as a graphic designer at The Arnell-Group, developing print and out-door advertising for Fila Sport. She followed this with 9 years as Design Director at MTV where she built a team for licensing and launched a successful brand extension that was rapidly adopted by teens and young adults from New York to New Delhi.

After a period at Wolff-Olins she joined Coca-Cola Global in early 2007 with a mandate to elevate the design quality of their licensed merchandise and retail experiences. She spent a decade creating new relevancy for one of the world's most iconic brands by linking compelling and innovative design solutions to the growth and profitability of CC Retail Licensing.

From Colette to Disney, Deklah designs holistic environments and products that capture a brand's personality in a way that emotionally connects to both loyalists and younger newcomers.

Sandra is a fintech entrepreneur, blockchain / crypto keynote speaker, hackathon judge, crypto trader, angel investor and advisor, focusing on delivering financial access and products to people and communities using technology to enable next generation market infrastructure and financial products.

Sandra was named to the Innovate Finance, Women in Fintech 2016 Power List and holds directorships / founding memberships on several industry boards as well as advises several emerging tech start-ups. Recently, Sandra joined the US Department of State’s Speakers Bureau as a blockchain technology speaker. Previously, she served as a former Treasurer and founding board director of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) and founding member of the Post Trade Distributed Ledger Group (PTDL), founding member of Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger. Sandra has published numerous articles on blockchain as well as foreign exchange markets and patents across capital markets and digital assets.

She is the former Executive Director, Head of Digitization at CME Group. Sandra founded and was responsible for the firm’s digital assets and blockchain / distributed ledger technology (DLT) initiatives, including CME bitcoin futures and index pricing prices. Previously as Head of Foreign Exchange (FX) and Metals Research and Product Development, she was responsible for the global development of CME Group’s FX and Metals solutions for listed and cleared OTC products.

Prior to joining CME Group’s London office in 2011, Sandra led deals in the EMEA M&A FX and interest rate derivatives, event driven advisory group within Global Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley London and worked at Deutsche Bank London as a FX structurer.

Sandra holds an M.B.A. in Finance from London Business School, studied Computer Science at Columbia University School of Continuing Education, and received a double B.A. degree in History and Studies in the Environment from Yale University.

She was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Board of the Yale Alumni Fund (YAF) in 2015, leads the Technology subcommittee, and is a Chairman’s Award recipient (2015). She advises and supports several women, children, education, animal conservation-focused non-profits in the USA, UK, and sub-Saharan Africa. Her life’s passion is to create a transparent, fairer world using technology.

At Global Blockchain Business Council, Sandra was voted to CEO from founding Board member in March 2018. She serves the GBBC and blockchain community to foster education and build bridges across enterprises, governments, and start-ups to help fulfill the potential of blockchain technology to solve real world problems and help society.

Tiffany Rolfe is a partner and Chief Content Officer at co:collective, leading their content strategy and brand publishing practice, The Pub. The Pub facilitates purposeful partnerships between brands and creators to create content and experiences that build loyal communities.

The Pub clients include YouTube, Pepsi, MoMA, E!, Wateraid, IBM, and the ACLU. The Pub created the highly successful Beacon campaign for YouTube, globally, showcasing today’s new kind of stars, YouTubers such as Michelle Phan, Bethany Mota, Tyler Oakley, Lily Singh, Hank & John Green, Epic Rap Battles, Dude Perfect and dozens more.

Prior to co:collective she was Executive Creative Director/VP at Crispin Porter +Bogusky. During her ten years there, the agency grew from 100 people to 1000 and became one of the most awarded agencies of the decade. There, Tiffany lead and created business-changing work for clients such as MINI Cooper, American Express OPEN, Truth, Virgin Atlantic, VW, Bolthouse Farms Baby Carrots, Ikea, Burger King, Microsoft, Old Navy, and Grey Poupon.

Tiffany’s work has been featured on the cover of the New York Times, in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Advertising Age, Adweek, and more. She has judged and received top awards at every major creative and effectiveness competition in the industry, including Best of show at One Show, a Grand Clio, and the Grand Prix and Titanium Lion at Cannes. Tiffany was featured in Adweek’s “Young Ones,” and she was named one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch.”

Claudia Romo Edelman is an advocate for the inclusion equity and representation. Her mission is to use her voice to build bridges and remind us that we are all human.

She is a Special Adviser for the We Are All Human Foundation; she is also the Co-Host of ‘Global GoalsCast’, a podcast distributed by CBS News Digital, which highlights global progress through the stories of champions making a difference. Claudia is the Editor at Large of Thrive Global and it was recenly announced that she will step into the role of Editor in Chief of Thrive Hispanics. Prior to this, the Mexican-Swiss diplomat was seconded to the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to lead communications and advocacy for the Sustainable Development Goals.

Claudia is the former Chief of Advocacy of UNICEF. While living in Europe for 25 years, she successfully led public relations and brand and marketing for global organizations including the World Economic Forum, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB & Malaria.

A frequent public speaker on development and humanitarian affairs, Claudia holds degrees in Communications, Philosophy and Photography as well as a Masters of Political Communications from the London School of Economics. Claudia is married and has two children. She enjoys sports and speaks six languages.

Janet Scardino is a creative media executive who has grown successful television, mobile and online businesses in the US and internationally. A general manager and accomplished brand marketer, she has launched and operated multi-platform businesses for some of the world's most recognized media brands, including MTV, Disney Channel, AOL, Reuters and American Idol.

Janet loves start-ups and has spearheaded over ten new businesses, including Viggle, the first entertainment marketing and rewards platform, where she was CEO. She is currently launching the non-profit Comic Relief in the US. As their first CEO, she is charged with introducing the British cultural phenomenon Red Nose Day in America.

Janet studied at Emerson College in Boston, where she graduated with honors and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications and Television Production. She was honored by The Girl Scouts, received a Highest Leaf Award by The Women's Venture Fund, and was recognized with an Irma Mann Distinguished Speaker Award. Janet and her husband live in NYC.

Billy has over 20 years of experience creating innovative brand strategies and omni-channel customer experiences for leading brands in the automotive, CPG, financial services, retail, technology, and travel industries.

Prior to joining IBM iX in 2017, Billy worked with Manulife/John Hancock to implement a new internal agency model optimized to deliver better quality work at scale while also managing the day-to-day activities of the global creative team. Prior to that, he served as the Global Head of Design for Citi where he was tasked with building and leading a global network of internal design studios and external agencies. In a short period of time, Billy opened new studios in NYC and Singapore, introduced new methodologies for customer-centric strategy, design thinking, and agile development, and was a founding member of Citi FinTech.

Prior to joining Citi, Billy served as the Global Chief Creative Officer for eBay Enterprise – the consulting and agency services division of eBay Inc. During his time there, he led a diverse team of marketing creatives, customer experience designers, and original content creators to deliver commerce solutions that drove engagement, transaction, and loyalty. He was also a member of the eBay Inc. Design Advisory Board, led by John Maeda, focused on activating Design Thinking principles across the organization.

Before eBay, Billy spent eight years at Digitas where he held the role of SVP, Executive Creative Director for the Atlanta, CT, and NYC offices and Mobile Practice Lead for North America working on a variety of integrated marketing platforms and digital vision assignments.

He spent his formative years learning from the best at DDB, FCBi and NW Ayer. Billy is a digital native who strives to discover the unique intersections between art, science, commerce, and storytelling. He has won numerous awards for his distinctive work and enjoys developing disruptive ideas that have lasting impact. He resides in Connecticut with his wife and two children and works at 51 Astor Place in New York City.

Bill Tai has been funding startups as a VC since 1991, and is a leading figure in the Blockchain segment. He is a Board Director / Strategy Chair of the Board at Bitfury, and Board Chairman of Hut8, North America's largest crypto mining operation. His co-created the annual Blockchain Summit on Necker Island in 2014, holds the title "Yoda" at Airswap, Board Advisor to P2P Energy Company Power Ledger, the first ever Australian company to hold an ICO, and is an investor and advisor to Blockchain based startups including Airswap, Gamma, BlockSeer and fund SparkChain Capital. His interest in cryptocurrency began in 2001 as a contributor to the creation of the currency in SecondLife and accelerated when he lit up his first Bitcoin Miner in 2009.

Originally trained as a chip designer, he joined LSI Logic, a seminal Silicon Valley startup formed by the CEO of Fairchild Semiconductor after earning a BSEE with Honors from University of Illinois. After an MBA at Harvard he was issued Badge #A001 during the formation of TSMC (NYSE:TSM), now among the 20 most valuable technology companies in the world. Currently he is co-founder Chairman of Treasure Data; Board Member of BitFury, Hut8, and Voxer and a lead seed investor in Canva, Color Genomics, Safety Culture, Tweetdeck/Twitter, Wish.com and Zoom Video. He was Founding Chairman & CEO of iAsiaWorks (IPO via Goldman Sachs & Morgan Stanley) and Founding Chairman of IPinfusion (Tokyo:4813) and is Founding Chairman of Treasure Data. He has served as Board Director of 7 publicly listed companies (AWRD EGHT IAWK NPIX TMTA TUNE and IMGO) that grew from startups he funded at their formative stages. He serves on the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneer Committee and is an Adjunct Professor of Innovation at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is co-founder of ACTAI Global a 501(c)3 dedicated to preserving the ocean and its related ecosystems.

Kwame is the Managing Director of the Brand Development team at Chobani, a New York based food focused wellness brand. There he is responsible for architecting, along with the CMO and CCO, a cutting-edge marketing discipline that generates demand and grows the brand through advertising, digital innovation, creative partnerships and experiential.

As a digital native, Kwame uses the creative potential of new and emerging media to engage consumers and create community. Prior to joining Chobani in 2016, Kwame was a partner at advertising agency Sid Lee, where he led key clients including Apple, Facebook, Stella Artois and Adidas on creative production, experiential and technology initiatives globally. Earlier in his career, Kwame led production for Anomaly and Saatchi & Saatchi in New York. He also worked at TBWA\Media Arts Lab on global campaigns for Apple. Notable projects include Apple’s Mac vs. PC campaign; selected as Adweek Campaign of the Decade, and Uniqlo Recipe; selected as one of the Best Apps of 2013 by the App Store. 

Kwame's work with clients has been recognized by leading advertising organizations Cannes, D&AD, One Show, EFFIE, Webbys and CLIO. Kwame is also a Co-Founder at SATURDAY MORNING, an organization that helps promote peace, generates love, raises awareness of injustice and fights for fairness to create change and understanding between all races. 

KoAnn is Founder and Chief Executive of Sustainable Life Media, producers and conveners of the international Sustainable Brands community. Prior to launching Sustainable Life Media in 2004, KoAnn founded and lead a boutique management consultancy called Organizations That Work, focusing on helping enable breakthrough financial performance through purpose-driven leadership and improved organizational alignment.

Prior to that she worked for 18 years in business to business media where she served in positions of increasing responsibility launching and leading media properties including magazines, conferences, trade shows and more for a wide range of markets, starting with natural resources (timber, paper, and mining, and ending with a variety of emerging technology sectors including digital video, computer game development and the web.

During her tenure she garnered extensive experience in launching and growing countless product brands, as well as defining a corporate brand strategy and integrating it with a global product brand portfolio spanning many market sectors. She completed her media tenure as Senior Vice President of a multinational division of United Business Media, overseeing a $50 million division with 150 person team.

Susan joined Meals on Wheels America as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer in June 2013. There she spearheaded a national rebranding effort, the launch and ongoing management of the Ad Council PSA volunteer recruitment campaign (America, Let’s Do Lunch which has earned $54 mil in media and generated 90,000 new volunteers in 1.5 years), the launch and management of the advocacy campaign (#SaveLunch which inspired public messages to 98% of Congress members and supported a FY2018 increase in funding) and the planning and implementation of all public-facing, Hill-facing, donor-facing, industry-facing and member-facing communications.

Previously, Susan served as co-founder and Director of Strategic Services for FORGE Branding, where her clients included the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the National Audubon Society and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Susan also served as the branding columnist for the Washington Post, and Founder and President of SLW Strategic Services, serving clients that included Discovery Networks, CapitalOne, Department of Homeland Security and Verizon. Other positions included Director of Advertising for Northwest Airlines, Senior Marketing Planner heading up national advertising for Walt Disney World, and Assistant Vice President of Marketing for American Security Bank, now part of the Bank of America system.

Susan graduated with a B.A. in Marketing from Michigan State University. She also served as a Senior Fellow for the University of Maryland's James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership and is certified in the implementation of the Barrett Values Centre Cultural Assessment Tools.

Haiyan Zhang is Innovation Director at Microsoft Research, Cambridge, creating cutting-edge technology to enable innovative new experiences in play and wellness. She is also an inventor appearing on the BBC documentary, Big Life Fix.

Haiyan was formerly Innovation Director at Xbox Studios, and Co-Founder & Design Lead for the innovation platform, OpenIDEO. At the design consultancy, IDEO, Haiyan created innovative tech experiences for community building, entertainment and financial services and worked with leading video game makers on research and ideas for new play experiences.

Haiyan’s work is informed by her background as a software engineer and user interface designer creating applications for the biomedical and data-mining industries. As part of a team of software developers from Excel Tech in Canada, she created an electroencephalograph (EEG) visualisation tool for intra-operative monitoring, which is currently being used in hospitals across North America.