Jacobs is a senior NASA spokesperson and serves as Director of History and Information Services for the Office of Communications. A two-time national Emmy award winner and honored strategic communicator, he has been an innovator in the use of emerging technologies to engage the world in NASA's compelling stories of exploration and discovery.

He launched the agency’s social media use in Nov. 2008 and today it is one of the most powerful brands in the world. He also is responsible for the NASA’s primary internet homepage and NASA Television.

Jacobs is a published author and editor of several books, and he has been honored with five NASA medals for exceptional service, outstanding leadership, and the agency’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal.

Jacobs co-led the agency’s involvement with Universal film’s First Man, 20th Century Fox’s Hidden Figures and The Martian, and many other film and documentary projects.

Begüm received her postgraduate Architecture and Urbanism M.Arch degree from Architectural Association School of Architecture, Design Research Laboratory (AADRL). Her focus is on the contemporary use of robotics in architecture and construction as well as new ways of living such as co-living in high performance cities.

She has worked as an architect and computational designer in several international projects including Seoul Robot Science Museum and the Hyperloop system.

Joe began as an animator at Disney and worked his way up to the top of Imagineering. He’s served as creative lead on over $9B in built projects to date including Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland, Toy Story Land, Mystic Point, Grizzly Gulch at Hong Kong Disneyland, and dozens of classic Disney rides, shows, and attractions in the parks and aboard Disney Cruise Ships.

Two-time TEA award winner and recipient of the Disneyana Fan Club’s Disney Legend Award, Joe Lanzisero is a true celebrity in the world of Themed Entertainment. Lanzisero studied at CalArts alongside Tim Burton, John Lasseter, Brad Bird and other luminaries of animation and film before becoming a Disney animator in the early 1980s.

Allié Merrick McGuire is the Co-Founder of Awareness Ties™ (www.awarenessties.us), a platform that raises awareness for causes one story at a time. With their monthly magazine, quarterly broadcast, and social impact campaigns they raise awareness for causes and support for nonprofits. Allié believes that words are the most powerful tools we have and that our voices are the most valuable asset we will ever possess. As a spoken word artist, Allié illustrates the power of words with 'articulation' - the 'art' of speaking.

For the past 20 years Will has been working with talented design teams that have created exceptional work. Prior to founding The Collective Spark, Will was the Co-Founder and Director of The Invisible Spark Design Studio where he oversaw the creative processes and projects, striving to design and deliver unparalleled work. Previous to that, he worked with Apple Inc. in Cupertino and also with San Francisco-based Factor Design. Over his career, he has designed materials for a broad range of clients including Stanford Law School, Nike, Environmental Defense Fund, Apple, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, and Mindful Schools, among others. Will studied at Brown University and RISD where he completed a self-designed major on the creative process, receiving honors following his senior exhibit and thesis presentations. Will lives in Berkeley with his wonderful wife and two inspiring children.

Michael Bernier, founder and lead designer of Bernier Design Group, a full-service Landscape and Exterior Design firm located in Los Angeles, California, is a champion for sustainable design and installation practices. Michael’s 25-year career as an award-winning designer has had stints in fashion and sportswear design, branding, advertising and product design, working with global brands such as Coca-Cola, MTV, Nike, and Paramount Pictures.

Michael’s mission is to connect people back to Nature. “I want to show people that we are intimately connected to our environment, and the simplest way to do that is through the garden. People relax and breathe deeper when sitting peacefully in their tranquil gardens, they can feel their innate connection to Nature. Calm, content people make better choices, and better choices make for a better planet. I really just want to make the world a more beautiful place, while empowering others to discover their own creative genius.”

Erin McPherson oversees the content business across Verizon’s growing number of consumer platforms and services.

Prior to Verizon, Erin served as Chief Content Officer at Maker Studios, the world’s largest network of short-form online video, acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2014. In her role at Maker, Erin oversaw the development and production of hit YouTube programming as well as innovative franchises across Disney. Before joining Maker, Erin was Vice President and Head of Video at Yahoo, where she led the company’s foray into original video and oversaw the award-winning Yahoo Studios.

Amy Peck is the CEO of EndeavorXR, a leading global VR/AR (XR) consulting firm. She is a recognized futurist and speaks globally on XR, the Metaverse and emerging tech. She works with Fortune 500 companies on XR strategy, digital transformation and insights into the Metaverse and the Future of Work.

Amy is an angel investor and Venture Partner at the Capital Region XR Accelerator. She holds multiple Advisory Board roles, and is co-chair of Prospera Women, a global organization supporting female-led startups.

Her own personal mission is to see technology accessible to all - fundamentally improving every aspect of our lives and elevating the way we work, learn, communicate and play.

Marbue Dennis II is the founder and CEO of Topline Global Networks, Inc., an international business solutions firm that advises leadership in the public and private sectors at the highest levels globally.

By working alongside Royal families, sovereign wealth funds, fortune 100's, and global stakeholders, Marbue has had first-hand experience as to how to have a macro-level impact on the planet. According to former Whitehouse officials, Topline Global Networks, Inc. is one of the most effective business development firms for advising and scaling solutions across the planet.

Dell Ambassador, National Geographic Explorer & Adventurer of the Year Mike Libecki has completed more than 85 major expeditions all over the planet, from Afghanistan to Antarctica.

He is a producer, director, videographer, photographer, humanitarian and conservationist.

Mike and his daughter Lilliana founded a nonprofit that focuses on conservation and humanitarian work around the world.

“Dream big and climb those dreams." - Mike Libecki

Billie Carn is the Founder/Chief Maverick at Maverick Wisdom. She is the author and illustrator of Maverick Wisdom, which shares insights and stories from her research on disruptive enterprising maverick innovators who challenge the status quo in their industries.

Billie’s evolution from children’s nurse to explorer of different thinkers to entrepreneur has given her a unique perspective. She combines curiosity, play, data, and novel different thinking to strategize the most innovative ways to challenge convention. Along the way she reinvents how work is done to bring creative problem solving to life, because innovation without execution is just an idea.

Roger L. Firestien, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Center for Applied Imagination at SUNY Buffalo State, as well as a guest lecturer at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine.

As president of Innovation Resources, Inc., he runs Breakthrough Labs, and has created a series of courses for Open Sesame.

He is author of several popular books including Create In A Flash: A Leader's Recipe For Breakthrough Innovation and WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?: Better Ideas & Decision Making At Home And At Work.

Mike leads The Microsoft Garage in New York City (a worldwide innovation program for curiosity-fueled explorations and experiments).

As a Design leader, Mike delivers highly impactful work on the vision, strategy, and execution of this global innovation program. His role involves working at every altitude of Design and across every aspect of Engineering in a quick and decisive manner.

Mike also helped drive Microsoft's official "experimental outlet" program within The Garage, helping small teams of passionate employees from all across the world get their ideas directly into the hands of customers as experiments.

Chrissy Levett - Positive Creative Activist. UK based Designer and Creative Director, who studied at the Royal College of Art in London.

She’s won a number of creative industry awards, is a TEDx speaker, a published author believing creative thinking is vital for us to solve the world’s greatest challenges. Now Founder & CEO for Creative Conscience a global movement set up to empower, reward, train and support creative thinkers to use their talents for social & environmental impact.

Chrissy has an Honorary Doctorate in Design and is passionate about behaviour change and creativity as a force for good.

Marty Zalewski is a new generation of global business leaders who combines Mindfulness with innovative Design Thinking tools to design pathways to attaining Joy. His Six Principles of Mindfulness are the foundation of the Leading with Joy framework to becoming a leader and experiencing Joy at work, home, life.

A pragmatic visionary, Marty made a corporate career out of human interconnectedness putting the Human in the center of design for some of the world’s most loved brands and organizations. Now, he decoded his success into a practical guide, putting Self in the center of personal evolution that creates Joy and inspiration to others.

Bob Chiang is a Mindfulness Coach, Hypnotherapist, and a Tai Chi Instructor. Bob works with people from all walks of life, helping them manage the difficulties they are experiencing by using mindfulness as a way to learn more about themselves.

He runs courses for groups of learners at all levels, has hosted one day Tai Chi events for a more in-depth look at the art, and teaches workshops for corporate clients. The Tai Chi form he teaches is the Yang-style short form. As a hypnotherapist, it has opened up another dimension to working with people. The mind has so much potential and endless creative possibilities.

John is a serial entrepreneur, story teller, futurist, visionary and dreamer. He leads IEEE-USA’s Washington, DC Communications team and is responsible for guiding the strategy for all public relations, website and social media messaging to consistently articulate IEEE-USA’s mission, vision and brand. Prior to joining IEEE, John worked as General Manager of Web Development for Erol’s Internet, which at the time was the 4th largest Internet Service Provider in the country behind AOL, Earthlink and MindSpring serving more than 350,000 customers. While there, he founded INTERCOT.com – one of the Internet’s oldest (23+ years) and largest Walt Disney World vacation planning websites.

Paul is Chairman and CEO of TDG (The Digit Group), a globally renowned and award-winning architect who is one of the world’s most sought after thought leaders, strategists and integrators of process, technology, and business. Paul's current work is as Chairman of TDG Global Ventures, a Smart City real estate development company that provides financing, design-build and innovative technology solutions around the world. Concurrently, Paul is also the co-founder and producer of the critically acclaimed AEC Hackathon that launched at Facebook Headquarters and the co=founder of NextGen Entertainment, Inc., a Hollywood-based, world leading entertainment management company.