Jeff Kite
Jeff Kite is a music producer, composer and musician. He is the keyboardist in The Voidz (an experimental rock band fronted by Julian Casablancas of The Strokes) and Cigarettes After Sex (who he records and periodically performs with). Jeff has collaborated with such artists as: Daft Punk, Mac Demarco, and members of The Killers and Muse. Jeff also works as a film composer and songwriter.
Luam Melake
Luam Melake creates sculptures and furniture using innovative material combinations that reference her interdisciplinary interests in craft, industrial design, fine art and architecture as well as research in the fields of anthropology and psychology. Exploiting the psychological impacts of objects is the central focus of her work. She investigates the potential for furniture to facilitate meaningful social interactions in order to address the ongoing crisis of alienation in the digital era.
Melake received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley in Interdisciplinary Field Studies majoring in Architecture. She has exhibited internationally at galleries including R & Company, Parker Gallery, Addis Fine Art and Fondation Blachere. She is a Senior Researcher at Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
Adam Saleh
Adam Saleh is a designer and founder based in Los Angeles, originally trained in cognitive science and linguistics at UC Berkeley. His work is grounded in the belief that design is a language — one that communicates and empowers. Early in his career, Adam moved fluidly across disciplines, from advanced manufacturing to branding and education, helping others turn their ideas into tangible experiences. This trajectory led him to create Presq, a company pioneering culturally relevant, 3D-printed consumer goods and tools that give communities access to the means of production.
In 2023, Adam was named a fellow in the inaugural cohort of the Steve Jobs Archive Fellowship, which supports creators reimagining the future of tools, storytelling, and human potential. Through the fellowship, he has continued to advance Presq’s mission — most recently launching the company’s first in-house, modular footwear line, designed and manufactured entirely in under two weeks.
Austin Kerr
Austin Kerr is a specialist in the restoration of collectible design furniture and sculpture, with over 25 years of hands-on experience across wood, metal, stone, ceramic, and mixed media. He serves as the official restorer for Design Miami and collaborates with many of the world’s leading galleries as both a restorer and consultant. He is also the creator of Materials in Design, a self-paced Online masterclass that empowers artists, designers, and trade professionals to better understand materials through technical insight and real-world applications.
Austin’s creative path began in his family’s furniture manufacturing business, where he completed his first antique finish at age six. Today, he is especially passionate about restoring twentieth-century works by female designers, preserving their voices and ensuring their relevance endures. His approach centers on cultural stewardship—protecting the material’s history, its patina, and the traces of time that give it meaning.
Matty Mo
Matty Mo is an artist, entrepreneur, and real estate developer best known as the creator of The Most Famous Artist, a viral art brand that merges internet culture, public installations, and media strategy. He has launched headline-grabbing projects that have attracted hundreds of thousands of followers across platforms, sold over $1M in art direct-to-consumer, and became a top-earning NFT artist. Matty’s work has engaged with major brands like Ford and Gucci, and his creative ventures span from experiential design to Web3 innovation.
A Stanford wrestling scholarship recipient turned serial entrepreneur, Matty co-founded multiple startups, including Sharethrough, a pioneer in native advertising acquired in 2021. He’s invested in high-profile tech exits, built apps with millions of users, and served as interim CMO for MedMen. Most recently, he founded Art City, a sculpture park and glamping site in Tucumcari, New Mexico, focused on small-town revitalization through art. From Lisbon to LA, Matty’s life and work sit at the intersection of creativity, community, and cultural disruption.
Imani Jones
Imani Jones is a New York-born, Italy-based strategist, event producer, and marketing consultant with a passion for connecting worlds—be it through fashion, music, or technology. With roots in Queens and a spirit that’s taken her to 34 countries across four continents, Imani brings a truly global lens to everything she creates.
After earning her MBA in International Business and Marketing from Rome Business School, Imani found herself at the crossroads of culture and innovation. As a digital native with a deep curiosity for the future of tech, she became an advocate of blockchain and decentralized systems—eventually founding CryptoMondays Rome, the Eternal City’s first recurring community for crypto & Web3 networking, education, and collaboration.
Her career spans the world of media, having worked as a broadcast journalist for Le Fonti TV in Milan, and the world of big ideas, through roles with industry leaders such as Ogilvy & Mather NY, MM Productions (Rome), International House Milan, and The City University of New York.
Now the creative force behind experiences & organizations such as her 501(c)(3) Xchange Fashion Festival, PYNK NYC, and The Intersextion: Art & Fashion Pop-Up, Imani curates immersive events that champion emerging designers, celebrity chefs, and bold, culture-forward brands.
She is also the founder of FYID NYC, a global creative agency that connects trendsetters with transformative experiences—from runway shows to global tech meetups.
Her portfolio of past collaborations includes:
Montblanc, Mercedes-Maybach, Tiffany & Co., Dapper Dan / Gucci, Redbull, Nike, Fila, Jacquemus, Anthony Rubio (Canine Couture), Fat Fowl New York, Showfields, Thailand Fashion Week, and more—across iconic events like New York Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, and immersive activations from Brooklyn to Capri.
Saad Riaz
Saad Riaz is a designer working at the intersection of computer science, design, and architecture to rethink how we live, learn, and work. He believes designers have a responsibility to understand the systems shaping our world and to use design as a tool for shared understanding and lasting impact. His work focuses on advancing social mobility and expanding access to education.
Saad is the founder of DFSG, a global design school and studio helping people reach their full potential while tackling complex global challenges. He teaches courses on human values and human-computer interaction at Stanford’s d.school and has led design initiatives across the public and private sectors, including healthcare, patent law, edtech, and consumer systems.
Dawn Laguens
Dawn Laguens is the Chief Officer, Global Strategy and Innovation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America / Interim Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Global. She previously served as Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s (PPFA) Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer. Dawn’s wealth of expertise includes Strategy Development, Results-Driven Management, Board Governance, and Resource Mobilization.
For more than a decade, Dawn has been strengthening the connections between the domestic and global movements. In her prior role as PPFA Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer, Dawn represented PPFA and Planned Parenthood Global at Women Deliver conferences and participated in global consultations to counter the worldwide sexual and reproductive health and rights opposition. Under her leadership in that role, PPFA leveraged its influence to advocate that the Obama Administration prioritize sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and worked with champions in Congress to expand abortion access for Peace Corps volunteers, as well as to protect international family planning funding amidst deep Congressional opposition.
Dawn is also a co-founder of the Billion Girls CoLab in Nairobi, Kenya, a girl-led sexual health and rights research and development lab in partnership with IDEO.org.
William Host
William Host is an entrepreneur and explorer driven by a deep connection to the natural world. Born and raised in the mountains of Colorado and later shaped by his time on the Pacific coast while attending UC Santa Barbara, Will draws lasting inspiration from both rugged landscapes and open horizons. His passion for forging new paths led him to co-found Ascend Group, a national community empowering students to step outside conventional career tracks and experience entrepreneurship firsthand. Through strategic partnerships with leading venture-backed startups, Ascend helps shape the next generation of innovators, brand builders, and business leaders.
Aya Ibrahim
Aya Ibrahim is a Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy, continuing her work at the intersection of technology, economy, and national security. Aya served as Senior Advisor on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, in the White House Office of Science Technology Policy and the National Economic Council, where she led on the President’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and Digital Assets Executive Order. She previously served as Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s senior economic advisor, managing her banking, tech, and civil liberties agenda. She was most recently a Visiting Fellow at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Aya holds a B.A. in political science and religion from Swarthmore College.
Mike Jones
Mike Jones is a General Partner of Science Inc., a venture fund and studio focused on building the next generation of companies shaping the future. Mike sources deals, recruits talent, and advises founders so that they can scale highly profitable and successful businesses. Founded in 2011, Science has achieved $1.3 billion in exits, including Dollar Shave Club. It built networks like FameBit and HelloSociety. Today, its portfolio includes Liquid Death, PlayVS, Pray.com, Final Boss Sour, and more. He serves on the boards of Liquid Death, Mammoth Media, Pray.com, and Mindset Care. Mike's collective angel investments, including Scopely (acquired by Savvy Games for $4.9B), House Party (acquired by Epic), Maker Studios (acquired by Disney), and GoodReads (acquired by Amazon), have sold for a combined value over $6B.
An experienced Internet executive and long-time entrepreneur, Mike founded Userplane, an early pioneer of social software, which was acquired by AOL. He became the youngest SVP at AOL at the time, overseeing the company’s strategic positioning as a platform provider to the online community marketplace. He later became the CEO of MySpace, overseeing global strategy and operations.
Mike holds a BS in Marketing and International Business from the University of Oregon.
Ann Mullins
Ann is a designer interested in creating plans, spaces, and policies that impact landscapes as well as local communities. This has manifested in many ways over the course of her professional life.
After completing a B.S. in Mathematics and a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from Utah State University, she worked as a landscape architect for firms throughout the country (including co-founding her own) on diverse projects over the past forty-plus years. Then relocating to Aspen where she shifted gears to a marathon two-term (8 year) position on Aspen City Council. Previous to that Ann served on the Aspen Historic Preservation Commission for seven years. During her tenure on both boards, Ann was deeply involved in local and regional politics, advocating for environmentally sound land use, transportation, historic preservation, and energy policies.
She has always believed that manmade landscapes are a cultural inscription, that can be read to better understand who we are, and what we are doing. This deep insight continues to impact her work as she takes on passion projects that continue to leverage her creative talent.
Growing up in the Midwest, she has always maintained a strong sense of family. Her two sons have taught her the importance of empathy for every person on the planet as well as the need for celebration of simple joys of life. She is daring, honest and perpetually punctual.
Moral Turgeman
Moral Turgeman is a multidisciplinary sensory artist blending art, architecture, and design to create transformative experiences that connect people to their environments. As the founder of Raise the Moral (RTM), an international studio established in 2019, she leads a practice specializing in bespoke design, custom furniture, and interactive installations that seamlessly merge human craftsmanship with advanced technology. RTM operates globally, creating immersive works that redefine form and function.
Turgeman’s innovative and sensory-focused approach has earned global recognition, including the prestigious Curio Best of Show award at Design Miami. Her Blind Portrait project—a traveling art experience spanning 40+ cities—has drawn thousands of personal portraits, fostering connection and self-reflection through its intuitive and interactive nature.
Turgeman redefines the boundaries of sensory art, transforming perspectives and lives through immersive, emotionally resonant works.
Matthew Kochmann
@matthewkochmann
Matthew Kochmann builds systems that reconnect people to nature, each other, and what matters most. Trained in landscape architecture and entrepreneurship at Cornell, his path has long woven together systems and soul. From launching Uber in NYC as one of its first employees to helping reimagine a decommissioned San Francisco power plant into a thriving waterfront neighborhood, his projects often ask: what could this become, if we honored both place and people?
That question led him to create Tree Burial™ — a new form of regenerative deathcare that turns bodies into trees and cemeteries into forests. It’s a process rooted in biology but designed to spark cultural and emotional shifts: away from fear, toward legacy; away from carbon, toward connection. Through this work, and through his framework for impact investing via the Catalytic Pledge, Matthew continues to explore ways we can steward capital, land, and loss into something enduringly alive.
Luana Seu
Luana Seu is a Romanian photographer whose work seamlessly blends fine art craftsmanship with cinematic storytelling. Her practice is dedicated to creating “worlds” rooted in allegorical themes, where each image is meticulously crafted to reflect a diverse range of subjects, cultural narratives, and human experiences. Combining technical precision with emotional depth, Luana approaches her photography as both an art form and a collaborative process, working closely with clients to bring their unique stories to life.
Luana's commitment to fine art extends beyond the camera, with every detail—lighting, composition, and post-production—carefully considered to evoke a sense of timelessness and emotional resonance.
Jillian Mayer
Jillian Mayer (b. 1984 Miami) is a Cuban-American internationally recognized artist and filmmaker whose work explores how technology affects our identities, lives, and experiences via mediums such as videos, sculptures, online experiences, photography, and performances.
Mayer’s research has led her to post-future thoughts, how survivalists prepare for a disaster, and how the methods they pursue betray universal anxieties and fantasies around an unstable and exciting future.
Mayer’s work has been featured in Artforum, Art Papers, Art in America, ArtNews, The Huffington Post, and The New York Times with numerous showings and screenings at institutions such as MoMa PS1, MoMA, Pérez Art Museum, Kunsthall Aarhus, and Sundance Film Festival. She holds several fellowships and has work in numerous collections. Mayer has a new sculpture from her Slumpies series on view at MASS MoCA, opening in Fall 2025.
Patrick Fenton
Patrick Fenton is a multidisciplinary designer, educator, and artist based in the Bay Area. As a partner at the design studio Swayspace, he leads the West Coast practice, creating research-driven products, experiences, and brands. His work spans digital banking, data visualization, and narrative design, rooted in a thoughtful, iterative process that bridges history and innovation — a sensibility shaped by Swayspace’s Brooklyn-based letterpress studio.
Patrick teaches product design and visual communication at Stanford University, and his creative practice explores themes of identity, transition, and place through printmaking, typography, and mixed media. A former faculty member at Pratt Institute for over a decade, he continues to champion design as a tool for both personal expression and public impact.
Britt Burtz
Britt Burtz is the co-founder and CEO of Universal Tutor Inc., an ed-tech platform that leverages generative AI and game-based learning to support social-emotional development and mental health in K–12 students. With a focus on “Positive AI,” her work emphasizes data autonomy, critical thinking, and real-world impact through personalized, ethical technology.
Before founding Universal Tutor, Britt led high-performing sales teams in the nutraceutical industry, generating over $800 million in revenue. She holds certifications in NLP, Timeline Therapy, and Holistic Nutrition, and is a member of the International Executive Council. A passionate educator and thought leader, she regularly shares insights on AI, child development, and mental health across writing, speaking engagements, and digital platforms.
Zio Ziegler
Zio Ziegler is an American visual artist and designer known for his large-scale murals and intricate paintings, which have appeared in cities around the world, from San Francisco to Tokyo, London, and Milan. His intuitive and meditative process blends symbolic complexity with raw expression, exploring themes of identity, vulnerability, and the subconscious. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Ziegler’s work is held in major museum collections including the Rubell Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Contemporary Art Foundation (Tokyo), and Colección Solo (Madrid).
In addition to his fine art practice, Ziegler has created design projects for companies like Lyft, Google, and Mercedes-Benz, and was commissioned by the United Nations for a 70th-anniversary commemorative mural. He has exhibited internationally, with recent solo shows at Almine Rech in Brussels and New York, and Museo Picasso Málaga. Since 2019, he has taught design history and theory at Stanford University.
Josh Crumb
Josh Crumb is an entrepreneur and philanthropist specializing in financial technology, commodities, and early-stage global ventures. He is the CEO of Abaxx Technologies and Abaxx Exchange, and co-founder of Menē Inc., a company redefining jewelry as a store of enduring value.
Previously, the Senior Metals Strategist at Goldman Sachs, Josh also held leadership roles within the Lundin Group of companies. He serves on multiple public company boards and supports a range of philanthropic initiatives. He holds a Master’s in Mineral Economics, a Graduate Certificate in International Political Economy, and a Bachelor’s in Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
Hailey Brewer
Hailey is the Executive Director of Partnerships and Programs for IDEO.org’s U.S.-based work to design for health, wealth, and care with and for communities impacted by structural racism and discrimination.
She has led relationships with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bezos Family Foundation to apply design to the questions of shifting power and narratives as we reimagine and build ecosystems of care around families, children, and caregivers. Prior to IDEO.org, Hailey co-led the Public Sector practice at IDEO, where she advised federal government agencies on building cultures of innovation and designing human-centered public services. Hailey’s early career internships with women’s labor and reproductive rights organizations in Chile and Nicaragua inspired her interest in design as a way to bridge insight to action for social change.
Hailey is an Aspen Institute First Movers Fellowship alum. She holds a B.A. in International Relations with a minor in Latin American history and cultures from Tufts University and Universidad de Chile. As a parent to two young children, she’s humbly learning new things every day about how to be in right relationship with each other.
Jamie Kripke
Jamie Kripke is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and second-generation clockmaker. Spanning three decades, his work interweaves photography, creative direction, video, printmaking, and product design. His practice is rooted in observations from the edges of the human environment—from high alpine zones and coastal areas to dense urban spaces—and explores our innate resonance with color, form, and composition. He lives and works between Boulder, Colorado and Tokyo, Japan.
Diane D'Costa
As a Partnerships Lead at IDEO.org, Diane works to design a more just and inclusive world. Her work involves building relationships across designers, partners, and community members to co-create programs, products, and services that can create systemic change for communities across the U.S.
Prior to joining IDEO.org, Diane served as a classroom educator in Washington, D.C. and Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has taught at the high school and middle school levels, and has a passion for youth leadership and organizing. Diane also worked in local government and policy, most recently as the Director of Advocacy and Community Partnerships at the Prince George’s County Council. In this role she collaborated with community members and elected officials to design and implement programs to improve the quality of life of constituents including free community college, transitional housing and workforce development programs for returning citizens, and youth engagement programs for young people to advise elected officials on legislation.
Diane is an artist and community organizer working across disciplines for healing, liberation, and social justice. She graduated from the University of Virginia with degrees in Leadership & Public Policy and Youth & Social Innovation.
Koh Terai
Koh Terai is a multidisciplinary creator working at the intersection of art, design, technology, and storytelling. Currently pursuing an MS in Design at Stanford’s d.school, his work blends filmmaking, ethnographic research, generative AI, and tangible interaction to craft engaging human experiences. His cinematography credits include Mosaic (2017), The Monarch Mimes (2018), and The Fly Room (2014).
His project Flowing Light combines projection, motion, and spatial interaction to create immersive aesthetic environments. From service design in rural Cambodia to experimental installations at Stanford, Terai brings a human-centered and exploratory approach to his work, aiming to transform thought into form and create moments of beauty, joy, and connection.
Lara Whitley
Named “a sculptor to watch” by Aspen Sojourner magazine, Lara Whitley earned a Bachelor of Arts at UC Berkeley and has studied at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and Colorado Mountain College. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including 2023 City of Aspen Cultural Vibrancy Fellowship, 2021 Aspen Art Museum Artistic Fellowship, and the 2019 People’s Choice Award at Art of the State, Colorado’s triennial juried show. Her residencies include Aspen Community School, Red Brick Center for the Arts and the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts. Whitley’s work has been featured in public spaces, solo shows and galleries. A native of California, Lara moved to Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley in 1998, where she lives with her family.
Installation artist Lara Whitley finds joy in the materials encountered. She reclaims objects that society no longer wants — discarded, decommissioned or destined for the landfill — and reimagines them in new narratives. Whitley has rescued old bar bottles, dinner plates, work boots, window panes and camping tents; she has reshaped them into contemplative spaces — a meditation temple, a forest shrine, a film festival portal — and much more. She is interested in the renewal and healing that are available to all when we put broken things back together in new ways.
Travis Fulton
From an early age I spent summers in our father’s machine shop, building parts for his air/sea rescue inventions, welding, operating lathes and Bridgeport milling machines.
In 1963 I took a gap year from college and worked for Franz Berko in Aspen, taking pictures on the mountain and developing them in the darkroom; then as a carpenter in the summer.
Moving to Aspen in 1969, I helped Paul Soldner and Brad Reed start The Anderson Ranch Arts Center, where I taught drawing and sculpture for the next two years, while also building a bronze foundry.
In 1980, Nick DeWolf and I designed and built the world’s first computerized fountain for the Aspen Mall. Using controlled rectifiers to make the water jets dance, it will not repeat the same 20 minute pattern for 75,000 years. Peter Hutter redrew the fountain’s infrastructure in the 1980’s and again in 2015.
Flying, from the time I could reach the pedals of my father’s 1936 Stinson Reliant, has been as integral part of my life. Exploring the Americas and East Africa by bush plane, I have immersed myself in the continuum of life as my source of inspiration.
Carmen Chadwick
Carmen Chadwick began her teaching career at Rowlett High School in 2010 before becoming a Raider. Chadwick joined the Raider Family in December 2017, serving as an instructional coach. When not supporting students and teachers with strong instructional strategies, Chadwick enjoys reading a good book and spending time with her family. Chadwick shares, “I love the teachers in this building! Their willingness to overcome any challenge presented to them to push the success of students forward is second to none!”
Lissa Ballinger
Lissa Ballinger is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies. A longtime Aspen-based curator and champion of the Bauhaus and modernism’s local footprint, Ballinger has been a caretaker of the Aspen Institute’s artworks long before it established a world-class museum in honor of legendary artist and designer Herbert Bayer.
Ballinger is dedicated to the Bayer Center’s educational and curatorial mission to the public, both in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. Lissa represents the Center in interactions with local, regional, and national communities and leads efforts to partner with other museums and cultural institutions.
Chris Erickson
Chris Erickson is an artist recognized for his captivating use of color through contemporary works that blur the line between sculpture and painting. His art encourages the examination of color as expression and its relationship to human behavior.
Born in Denver, Chris became inspired through city skate culture iconography and the concrete canvas. Yet, finding home in the mountains guided him into an applied art practice—one imbedded in sense of place. His bodies of work are informed through these experiences and expose his ties to graphic design, graffiti art, and fine art techniques. Erickson’s art is often translated through the mediums of spray paint, acrylic, canvas, and panel; although, often merging industrial design and fabrication into his creative process.
Chris continues to execute in a multidisciplinary fashion, which is evident through his recognized “Melting Gondola” sculpture set atop Aspen’s Ajax Mountain. He remains inspired to utilize art as a platform for conversation.
SuperULTRAmega is an interpretation of distilling the distracting noise of the modern technological world into a tenacious display of energy. His mole©ules are a series of character like icons that represent the magnification of various groups and beliefs, often speaking to systemic issues.
Ashley Flores
Ashley Flores is a Senior Director at the Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL), a nonprofit organization committed to cutting child poverty in Dallas in half within 20 years. In her role, Ashley is focused on housing as it relates to poverty and is intent on ensuring that all families have access to housing that is healthy and safe, affordable, stable, and in a thriving community. Prior to CPAL, Ashley was as an education strategist at global architecture firm HKS where she worked to elevate the impact of the built environment for K-12 district and higher education clients. She also served as the Director of Planning and Special Projects at the Dallas Independent School District, championing and operationalizing the district’s work in innovative school design and personalized learning as well as low-performing school turnaround. Ashley earned degrees in business administration and liberal arts from The University of Texas at Austin and in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Mark Joseph
Mark Joseph
Mark’s career began in Berkeley CA when he designed the first backpacking tent with curved poles in the mid 70’s. He went on to design a wide array of outdoor products for Trek Bicycle, the North Face, Leki, Footjoy, and others. This led him to found several companies in the lighting and orthopedic industry and obtain 25 patents.
Exos Medical revolutionized orthopedic casting and bracing. Xtremity Prosthetics allows amputees to get a socket in a few hours instead of weeks. Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers received them allowing a quick return to duty. He now develops surgical implants and tools. One is a device to quickly process human bone and cartilage into paste for immediate reintroduction into the body to heal cartilage defects.
Mark was a past board member of the International Design Conference in Aspen where he has lived for 45 years.
Maya Crowe
Maya Crowne is the Co-Founder and CEO of Alkemis Paint, a pioneering brand at the forefront of wellness-driven design. With a career that began on Wall Street and evolved through the tech and beauty industries, Maya brings a multidimensional perspective to the future of sustainable innovation.
Under her leadership, Alkemis has quickly become a disruptor in the $160 billion paint industry, earning collaborations with global cultural leaders such as RISD, LACMA, Design Miami, Tata Harper, and COS. Her work champions a new design ethos—one where environmental integrity, human health, and elevated aesthetics coexist seamlessly.
Beyond her entrepreneurial endeavors, Maya is a passionate advocate for the arts and social impact. She has contributed to initiatives including Women’s Initiative for a Sustainable Earth, the Women’s Venture Fund, and youth rehabilitation programs through Covenant House. She also led aid efforts for Beirut in the aftermath of the 2020 explosion, reflecting her commitment to community and global citizenship.
As a thought leader at the intersection of wellness, design, and sustainability, Maya brings a perspective that is as strategic as it is soulful—inviting conversations that challenge, inspire, and elevate the way we think about the spaces we inhabit.
Noz Nozawa
Noz Nozawa is a San Francisco-based interior designer celebrated for her fearless, artful approach to creating deeply personal and joyful spaces. With a commitment to helping clients access love and happiness through the design process, she has earned national recognition and industry accolades. Noz is also dedicated to fostering a workplace culture centered on kindness, pride in craftsmanship, and a human-first philosophy.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2014, she founded Noz Design, a full-service firm known for crafting narrative-driven, eclectic interiors that reflect clients’ lifestyles while balancing functionality and budget, serving projects across the Bay Area, New York, and beyond.
Gary Lauder
Gary Lauder is the Managing Director of Lauder Partners LLC, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm investing in various realms of the technology field. He has been a venture capitalist since 1985, investing in over 170 private companies, and is an observer or member of about 7 of their boards. He currently serves on several non-profit governing or advisory boards. He served on the Transportation Committee of his home town of Atherton for 8 years, including serving as chairman. In the 1980's, he worked at 2 VC’s in NYC. He holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania; a BS in Economics from the Wharton School; and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is the co-creator of the Aspen Institute's Socrates Society with Laura, his wife, and is a member of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute's Henry Crown Fellowship Program. From time to time, he publicly advocates on subjects that are important, but misunderstood, primarily: 1) preserving and improving our patent system for the benefit of tech entrepreneurs who innovate in fields where patent protection matters, and 2) improving decision-making on transportation to alleviate traffic congestion. He is co-inventor of 17 patents, has spoken at over 150 industry forums, and, since 1992, has published several articles about the future of telecommunications and computing that mostly come true.