Ashley D. Farmer is a well-known historian as well as an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. As a contributor to The Washington Post, The Independent, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Public Books, she is well-versed in making historical issues and concepts accessible to the general public.

For a fresh take on today’s business landscape, paired with creative analysis on hot topics in tech; innovation; the economy; policy, media; and more, look no further than widely respected journalist, broadcaster, and author Roben Farzad. Farzad hosts public radio’s “Full Disclosure,” where he takes listeners on an audio exploration into the business of culture and the culture of business. In an exceptional career spanning more than two decades, Farzad has established himself as one of the most authoritative and influential voices on the matters that are driving industry and society forward in every corner of the globe.

Among the most influential retail industry executives for close to three decades, Jonathan Mayes has been one of the leading voices in elevating diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organizations he has led. Mayes is the former senior vice president and chief diversity & inclusion officer at Albertsons Companies, where he oversaw the organization’s government relations, sustainability, and philanthropy teams, and launched award-winning initiatives designed to position the business for success with DEI and corporate social responsibility at its foundation. He is a visionary who continues to drive the change toward a more representative and equitable workforce and has been recognized as one of the top diversity and inclusion executives in the U.S.

James is a founding member and board chair at Directors Academy, a national not-for-profit organization with the mission of identifying, developing and advancing the next generation of diverse board members and leaders. Previously, he was Chairman, President, and CEO of Jamba Juice, which he transformed from a smoothie shop to a leading global, healthy active lifestyle brand. Prior to joining Jamba Juice, he held senior executive roles at Safeway Stores, the Gillette Company, Nestle-Purina, and Coca-Cola. James currently serves on the boards of leading brands including The Honest Company, Affirm, Medallia, Simply Good Foods, Schnuck Markets, and Bay Club. James is a passionate champion for diversity and inclusion and has been recognized with numerous awards including the American Heart Association Corporate Citizen Award (2014) and Junior Achievement’s Northern California Lifetime Achievement Award (2013). In 2010 the San Francisco Business Times named Mr. White as the Bay Area’s Most Admired CEO.

A NASA astronaut, Joan Higginbotham is a trailblazing electrical engineer who in December 2006, flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to become the third African American woman to travel into space. Over the nearly 13-day mission, she joined the seven-member crew to continue construction of the International Space Station (ISS), embarking on four space walks and operating the station’s robotic arm. Sharing captivating insights from her 20-year distinguished career with NASA, Higginbotham inspires audiences with her personal journey of breaking barriers into space and beyond. Taking groups aboard the International Space Station and sharing her lessons-learned along the way, she highlights the keys to succeeding in her missions – including preparation, perseverance, and never giving up – and how these tactics can be applied to any endeavor.

With more questions than answers in today’s economic landscape, Dana Peterson, chief economist for the Conference Board, has established herself as a visionary, and the go to expert providing insightful analysis and predictions to corporations, associations, and government organizations looking for clarity and foresight into how economic drivers might impact their businesses in the short- and long-term. With over a decade of experience in the field, she serves as the globally recognized think tank’s public face and primary spokesperson on all things related to the economy.

Sandra Taylor is CEO of Sustainable Business International LLC, a consulting business that assists clients at various stages of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility in the food and beverage sectors. Previously Sandra was a senior executive with Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, where she led global responsibility and sustainability in coffee and cocoa supply chains. She is the author of The Business of Sustainable Wine, published in July 2017. Sandra received her BA from Colorado Women’s college, JD from Boston University School of Law and MBA program from the Bordeaux School of Management/Kedge Business School in France.

Anjali Kumar is a former Google executive and the Founding General Counsel and Head of Social Innovation at Warby Parker, a transformative lifestyle brand offering designer eyewear at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School and Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business Administration, where she teaches Law of Innovation, a graduate seminar which follows an original syllabus of her own design.

Sophia Kianni is an Iranian-American environmentalist studying climate science and public policy at Stanford University. She is the founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals, an international nonprofit with 8,000 volunteers in 40+ countries working to translate climate information into over 100 languages. She represents the U.S as the youngest member on the inaugural United Nations Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. Sophia’s work has been featured in news outlets including Forbes, CNN, Business Insider, BBC, NPR, ELLE, TIME Magazine, The Guardian, NBC, and even on the front page of The Washington Post. She was previously a fellow with PBS NewsHour and has written for news outlets such as MTV News, Cosmopolitan, Refinery 29, and Teen Vogue. She is a prolific public speaker and has spoken at universities across the country including Columbia University, UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Cambridge University, and Harvard University. She gave her debut TED Talk as the closing speaker at the inaugural TED Countdown Conference. She has been named VICE Media's youngest Human of the Year, a National Geographic Young Explorer, and one of Teen Vogue's 21 under 21.

Kaihan Krippendorff is an acclaimed business strategist. He has insider knowledge of the world’s most innovative businesses through his popular Fast Company blog and is the best-selling author of Outthink the Competition. With actionable content and tremendous stage presence, he teaches audiences how to think about problems differently and apply those lessons to business. His goal is to help his audience create “fourth options” for themselves – the strategic advantages their competitors don’t see, don’t expect, and cannot (or will not) emulate.

Lauren DeLisa Coleman is part of the new technorati-to-watch. A digi-cultural trend analyst, mobile strategy specialist, author, speaker, and consultant, Lauren is an expert at deciphering and forecasting power trends and public sentiment within the intersection of popular culture and emerging tech and the impact of such on business and governance—with a unique focus on millennials. She helps brands create messaging and content that better resonates with today’s tech-savvy, pop culture millennial consumers by providing innovative communication strategies, as well as forecast, analysis, and insight into cultural trends, attitudes, and behavior as it all intersects with emerging tech usage. A successful innovator, thought leader, and entrepreneur with over 14 years of experience, Lauren has provided digi-culture intelligence and trend consulting to notable clients from Jay-Z and Snoop Dog to Microsoft execs and public policy leaders. She is an on-air commentator for MSNBC, a columnist at Inc. magazine, and a regular contributor to Forbes. She also contributes to other major media outlets, such as Daily Beast, cnbc.com, The Next Web, Business Insider, and Campaigns & Elections.

Fatima Bhutto, born and raised in Pakistan, is an acclaimed poet, writer, columnist, and journalist. With a steep family history in politics, she is also a renowned activist and has undertaken work for women’s rights and humanitarian issues, as well as broader world politics.