Poppy Crum works to bridge the gap between technology and insightful, effective human interaction. As a multi-dimensional advocate of empathetic technology, she builds technologies that best leverage human physiology to enhance our experiences and how we interact with the world. Poppy serves as the Chief Technology Officer at NextSense and is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University in the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, as well as its Symbolic Systems Program. She is formerly the Chief Scientist at Dolby Laboratories. She is dedicated to the development of immersive technologies that leverage human physiology and perceptual realities to enhance our experiences and interactions in the world. She is a frequent speaker on topics related to the intersection of human experience, artificial intelligence, sensory data-science, and immersive technologies.

Lisa Sun, founder and CEO of GRAVITAS, seamlessly blends stories from her data-driven insights from 11 years at McKinsey & Company and from her experience as an entrepreneur launching an innovative retail brand to offer talks that encourage audiences to choose self-confidence, work to harness their “superpower,” and use gravitas to advance personally and professionally. Sun explores why it’s vital to push past your potential, how to transform an idea into a movement, and why you’ve got to bet on yourself every single day. Sun has always had a passion for style, for inclusivity, and for helping people look and feel their best and was named one of Washingtonian Magazine's Best Dressed Women.

Angie Bastian, entrepreneur, co-founder, and namesake of Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP, took a kernel of an idea and popped it into one of the fastest growing brands of natural popcorn. She and husband Dan founded their snack company in their Mankato, MN garage in 2001 as a means of creating a college fund for their children. Their gluten free, non-GMO, whole grain popcorn is proudly sold in natural food, grocery, club and mass retail outlets nationwide with a product presence in Canada, South Korea, Peru, Japan, the Caribbean and Mexico. The company is constantly innovating and is one of the fastest growing and most successful popcorn brands in the market today. Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP is loved by fans as an empowered, spirited brand that represents authentic, real food that delivers on the attributes of clean, transparent labeling and great taste experience.

Dawn Hudson is the former chief marketing officer of the NFL and the former president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America. A veteran marketing and advertising executive, she has more than 20 years of strategic brand-building experience behind some of the world’s best-known brands. Listed as one of Fortune’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business,” Hudson speaks with electricity about marketing for 21st century business needs, innovation, leadership, branding, and more.

After an acting career including a role on The Sopranos (HBO), Chris decided to follow his real passion- using media to bridge intercultural gaps worldwide- so he traveled to East Africa. He now traverses the globe from Tanzania to Abu Dhabi as Host of Bridge the Gap, a new series featured on National PBS television, where he discovers what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes for one day. He is a United Nations Moderator, an International Speaker (TEDx), a Writer for award-winning publications like Lonely Planet, an Eagle Scout and a National Geographic Young Explorers grantee. 1 : Actor/Activist from Brooklyn whose TV career spans MTV to The Sopranos 2 : traveled from Tanzania to Thailand hosting the internationally recognized TV Series Bridge the Gap, broadcast into 45M homes in 80 markets 3 : Published Writer for Huffington Post and Lonely Planet 4 : celebrated Emcee and Guest Speaker for TedX and the United Nations, at Jane Goodall’s National Leadership Retreat, and at events in Qatar, Rio de Janeiro, and Abu Dhabi.

Called "the human embodiment of Twitter" by The New York Times, Adam Sharp has forged a distinctive career of more than twenty years at the intersection of media, technology, and politics. Sharp joined Twitter in November 2010 as its first hire in Washington, DC. From 2010 through 2016, Sharp was Head of News, Government, and Elections at Twitter, advising and driving creative uses of Twitter by journalists and news organizations, government officials and agencies, and political candidates and campaigns worldwide. He led the platform’s approach to the 2012 and 2016 US and more than a dozen international elections during his tenure. He was also director of media partnerships and worked closely with the media, government, and political candidates that wanted to make use of Twitter. Sharp became the longest-serving member of the company’s global media team, and its most visible broadcast spokesperson.

Bill Weir is a veteran anchor, writer, producer, and host who came to CNN in 2013 after a decade of award-winning journalism at ABC News. In 2019, he was named the network's first Chief Climate Correspondent, drawing on his experience creating and hosting the primetime CNN Original Series "The Wonder List with Bill Weir." With his distinctive storytelling style, lush photography and a focus on our connected planet, Weir shot three seasons of his show across 26 countries, highlighting wondrous people, places, cultures, and creatures on the brink of seismic change.

Stephanie is Owner & CEO of Asutra, where we're passionate about helping people take care of themselves on purpose so they can get the most out of life – what we call active self-care. Asutra offers magnesium-powered remedies for pain relief, sleep and mood, so you can care for yourself well. At Asutra, we’re proud to provide good jobs with career pathways at a living wage with benefits. Asutra is women-owned and women-led; 60% of our team are people of color; and 100% of our staff would recommend Asutra as a great place to work. Stephanie is an enthusiastic board member of Hope Chicago, which sends students and their parents to college debt-free; Very Asian Foundation, which amplifies AANHPI stories; and Naturally Chicago, which creates an ecosystem for natural products companies to thrive. Stephanie was honored to be named to Inc.’s Female Founders 200 list in 2023 and Beacon Award Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021. In her spare time, she’s an avid urban gardener who grows everything from tomatoes to lilacs.

Mark Jenkins is a field staff writer for National Geographic Magazine and writer-in-residence at the University of Wyoming. In 2009 he won the National Magazine Award for photojournalism, along with his colleague Brint Stirton, for their National Geographic story “Who Murdered The Mountain Gorillas.” Jenkins was “The Hard Way” columnist for Outside magazine for eight years. He is the author of three books: The Hard Way (Simon and Schuster, 2002), To Timbuktu (William Morrow, 1997), and Off the Map (William Morrow, 1992). He resides in Laramie, Wyoming, with his wife and two daughters.

David Hume Kennerly has been a photographer on the front lines of history for more than 50 years. At 25 he became one of the youngest winners of the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism. He has photographed ten U.S. Presidents, covered thirteen presidential campaigns, served as a contributing editor for Newsweek magazine for ten years, and was a contributing photographer for Time & Life Magazines. American Photo Magazine named Kennerly “One of the 100 Most Important People in Photography.”