Speaker(s): Andrew Russeth

Andrew Russeth, an art critic based in New York, is executive editor of ARTnews. From 2011 to 2014, he edited The New York Observer's GalleristNY, a website that he co-founded about the New York art world. His writing has appeared in W, New York, Bijutsu Techo, Parkett and other publications, as well as catalogs for shows at museums and galleries. His blog about contemporary art, “16 Miles of String,” has been supported by the Creative Capital | Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Program.

Speaker(s): Tayo Rockson

Tayo Rockson is CEO of UYD Management — a strategic leadership and consulting firm that helps corporations improve their bottom line by incorporating diversity, inclusion, hiring, retention and social justice strategies. Raised in Nigeria, Sweden, Burkina Faso, Vietnam and the United States, Rockson is an authority on communicating effectively across cultures.

Rockson is the host of the podcast “As Told by Nomads,” the no. 1 cross-cultural podcast in the world, recently ranked as the no. 2 business podcast in the world by Entrepreneur and CIO. He was recently named a top millennial influencer to watch in 2018 by New Theory Mag and his groundbreaking work on “how to embrace your global identity” was featured in a German school book called ZOOM IN… Globalization. The author of The Ultimate Guide To TCK Living, Rockson is a global guest lecturer at the Design for Social Innovation MFA program at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

He has spoken at TEDx, the World Bank, and the United Nations Foundation, and his work has been featured by NowThis News, Forbes, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Among Worlds Magazine and Global Living Magazine. 

Speaker(s): Barbara Stephenson

An active-duty member of the American Foreign Service for more than 30 years, Barbara Stephenson was elected President of the American Foreign Service Association in 2015.

Previously, Stephenson served as dean of the Leadership and Management School at the Foreign Service Institute where she launched and co-chaired the department-wide Culture of Leadership Initiative. In 2008, she was appointed ambassador to Panama and later became the first female Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in London.

As Deputy Senior Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Coordinator for Iraq (2006-2008), she won the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award for developing and implementing the “civilian surge” that helped improve governance and reduce violence in Iraq’s provinces. Before taking up Iraq duties, Stephenson served as Director for Planning in the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization.

From 2001-2004, as the American Consul General in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she worked on the Northern Ireland Peace Process. From 1998-2001, she served as Consul General and Chief of Mission in Curaçao. Earlier in her career, Stephenson served as special assistant to Under Secretaries for Political Affairs Peter Tarnoff and Tom Pickering, covering European affairs, including the war-torn Balkans. Other assignments have included position in the UK, South Africa, The Hague, San Salvador, and Panama. She is a member of the Advisory Boards for Global Ties, World Affairs Council DC, and the British-American Project. 

Stephenson holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in English literature from the University of Florida. 

Speaker(s): Yo-Yo Ma

Established in 1998 by Yo-Yo Ma, Silkroad is a collective of artists from around the world who create music that engages their many traditions. In addition to performances from Suntory Hall to the Hollywood Bowl, Silkroad collaborates with museums and universities to develop training programs for teachers, musicians, and learners of all ages. Silkroad has commissioned more than 100 new works from composers and arrangers around the globe, and released seven albums, most recently a collection of music recorded for “The Vietnam War,” a documentary film from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.

Silkroad recently announced a new commitment to diversity and inclusion across its board, staff and ensemble, as well as among collaborators and audiences. Over the next year, Silkroad will launch a series of US-based residencies and partnerships to develop artistic and learning programs that explore questions of difference, identity and belonging, building new capacity for connection and understanding.

Speaker(s): Arthur C. Brooks

Arthur C. Brooks has been president of the American Enterprise Institute since Jan. 1, 2009. He is also the Beth and Ravenel Curry Scholar in Free Enterprise at AEI.

Before joining AEI, Brooks was the Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government at Syracuse University, where he taught economics and social entrepreneurship. Before pursuing his work in academia and public policy, he spent 12 years as a classical musician in the United States and Spain.

Brooks is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and the bestselling author of 11 books on topics including the role of government, economic opportunity, happiness, and the morality of free enterprise. His latest book is the New York Times bestseller The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America. Other books include The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise and The Battle: How the Fight Between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America’s Future. He has also published dozens of academic journal articles and the textbook Social Entrepreneurship.

Brooks has a Ph.D. and an M.Phil. in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He also holds an M.A. in economics from Florida Atlantic University and a bachelor’s in economics from Thomas Edison State College.

Speaker(s): Jeremy Bailenson

Jeremy Bailenson is founding director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Thomas More Storke Professor in the Department of Communication, Professor (by courtesy) of Education, Professor (by courtesy) Program in Symbolic Systems, a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, and a Faculty Leader at Stanford’s Center for Longevity. 

Bailenson studies the psychology of Virtual Reality (VR), in particular how virtual experiences lead to changes in perceptions of self and others. His lab builds and studies systems that allow people to meet in virtual space, and explores the changes in the nature of social interaction. His most recent research focuses on how VR can transform education, environmental conservation, empathy, and health.

His work has been consistently funded by the National Science Foundation for more than a decade, and he also receives grants from various Silicon Valley and international corporations. Bailenson has published more than 100 academic papers, and his writing has appeared in numerous publications. In addition to producing three VR documentary experiences, which have been official selections at the Tribeca Film Festival, Bailenson is the co-author of Infinite Reality and author of Experience on Demand: What Virtual Reality Is, How It Works, and What It Can Do.

Bailenson earned a bachelor’s from the University of Michigan and a doctorate in cognitive psychology from Northwestern University.

Speaker(s): Avivah Wittenberg-Cox

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is chief executive officer of 20-first, where she works with the CEOs, executive committees and top management teams of some of the world’s best known companies to identify the business opportunities of gender balance and how best to achieve it. She speaks on leadership, “gender bilingual” marketing and talent management across the globe and lectures at business schools, including INSEAD and HEC Paris. She also serves as an executive coach for CEOs and senior executives.

Wittenberg-Cox has written extensively on gender balance, including three books: Seven Steps to Leading Gender-Balanced Businesses, How Women Mean Business: A Step by Step Guide to Profiting from Gender Balanced Business, and Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of Our Next Economic Revolution, which won the prestigious Manpower Business Book of the Year award. She also writes a blog for Harvard Business Review and is the first female columnist for Der Spiegel’s Manager Magazine.

The founder and honorary president of the European Professional Women’s Network, Wittenberg-Cox has been recognized by ELLE Magazine as one of the TOP 40 Women Leading Change. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and an MBA from INSEAD.

Speaker(s): Cathrael Kazin

One of the nation’s foremost experts in competency-based learning and assessment, Cathrael Kazin serves as managing partner of Volta Learning Group, which designs new learning and credentialing strategies for evolving industries. Much of her work centers on reimagining postsecondary education to prepare all individuals for the future of work. She also recently helped Education Design Lab develop a series of badges for 21st-century workplace skills, such as resilience and creative problem-solving.

As founding Chief Academic Officer of College for America at Southern New Hampshire University, Kazin designed an award-winning competency-based model, which centers around realistic projects rather than exams and papers. CfA’s degree programs have enabled thousands of frontline employees to develop workplace-relevant skills while working full-time. Kazin also served as project director for a $3.93 million federal grant to develop a competency-based alternative to remedial education. Before joining SNHU, Kazin led initiatives to develop next generation assessments for 21st-century skills as Executive Director of the Higher Education Division at ETS. She currently serves as a director for the Competency-Based Education Network Board.

Kazin holds a PhD in English from Cornell University; a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School; and an bachelor’s degree from Smith College.

Speaker(s): Tim Ryan

Tim Ryan, U.S. representative, Ohio’s 13th congressional district

Tim Ryan, representing Ohio’s 13th District, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002. He is currently serving in his eighth term.

Ryan is a member of House Appropriations Committee; he also serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus and is a member of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic. Ryan serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus and is a leading voice fighting to strengthen America’s manufacturing base and reform U.S. trade policies. The Caucus examines and promotes policies to help American manufacturers find trained, educated workers, to lead the world in developing new industrial technologies, to operate on a level playing field with foreign competitors, and to obtain the capital they need to thrive.

He is the author of A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit and The Real Food Revolution: Healthy Eating, Green Groceries, and the Return of the American Family Farm.

Ryan has a law degree from the University Of New Hampshire School Of Law (formerly the Franklin Pierce Law Center). He studied abroad as part of the Dickinson School of Law’s International Law Program. He received a BA in political science from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Speaker(s): Gary Marchant

Gary Marchant, Ph.D., J.D., M.P.P., is Regents’ Professor, Lincoln Professor of Emerging Technologies, Law & Ethics, and Faculty Director of the Center for Law, Science & Innovation, at Arizona State University.  He teaches, researches and speaks on the governance of a wide range of emerging technologies.