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 handwoven 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
I’m a designer and founder based in Los Angeles, originally trained in cognitive science and linguistics at UC Berkeley. My creative journey has always been rooted in the belief that design is a language — one that not only communicates but also empowers. Early in my career, I worked across disciplines, from advanced manufacturing to branding and education, often helping others translate their ideas into tangible experiences. That eventually led me to build Presq, a company pioneering culturally relevant, 3D-printed consumer goods and tools that give communities access to the means of production.
In 2024, I was selected as a fellow in the inaugural cohort of the Steve Jobs Archive Fellowship, which supports creators reimagining the future of tools, storytelling, and human potential. As part of the fellowship, I’ve continued building Presq’s vision — most recently launching our first in-house, modular footwear line, designed and manufactured entirely in under two weeks.
Matty Mo
Matty Mo is an artist, entrepreneur, and real estate developer known for his work as “The Most Famous Artist,” using viral media and public installations to explore themes of internet culture. Most recently, he founded Art City, a sculpture park and glamping site off Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico, aimed at revitalizing the small town through art centered initiatives.
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.
After earning her MBA in International Business and Marketing from Rome Business School, Imani found herself at the crossroads of culture and innovation. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Harry Teague
Harry Teague is a renowned architect and the former director of the International Design Conference in Aspen (IDCA), a pivotal forum founded in 1951 by Walter Paepcke to foster interdisciplinary dialogue among designers, artists, and business leaders. Teague's leadership at the IDCA helped shape its legacy as a platform for exploring the intersection of design, culture, and commerce. His architectural practice, Harry Teague Architects, has significantly influenced the Colorado landscape, with notable projects including the Aspen Community School, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and the Aspen Music Festival and School campus. Teague's work is characterized by a deep respect for the region's natural environment and a commitment to creating spaces that elevate the human spirit.
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.
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.
Jillian Mayer
A Miami-based visual performance artist and filmmaker whose works have been displayed at galleries and museums internationally and film festivals such as SXSW and Sundance.
Moral Turgeman
A multidisciplinary artist and the founder of Raise the Moral (RTM), a creative studio with locations in Los Angeles, New York, and Portugal.
Britt Burtz
An executive, author, and Co Founder of iByond Inc., Founder and CEO at Universal Tutor, and President of the Educate America Foundation.
Josh Crumb
An entrepreneur and exchange, technology, and financial services executive who serves as the CEO of Abaxx Technologies, Inc., CEO of the Abaxx Exchange, and co-creator and board member of Menē Inc.
Patrick Fenton
A partner at the design studio Swayspace, lecturer in the design program at Stanford University, and a resident artist in Palo Alto’s Cubberley Artist Studio Program.
Saad Riaz
A designer and founder of DFSG rethinking the human experience, who teaches undergraduate courses on human values in design and human-computer interaction at Stanford.
Koh Terai
A writer, cinematographer, and Master's student in Design at Stanford University from Tokyo, Japan.
Zio Ziegler
A visual artist known for his paintings and murals which appear in the Mission District of San Francisco, as well as Tokyo, Los Angeles, London, and Italy.
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.