Nina Maturu is a futurist and innovation executive. She is currently CEO of Constellation Design Strategy, helping organizations (and people) navigate uncertainty and strategically plan for the now, near, and next.
Prior, she served as a Futurist at NASA, charting potential societal futures for the next 50 years. She also served as a Senior Advisor at ARPA-H (DARPA for health), architecting innovation frameworks for deep tech creation.
Her portfolio includes launching the mobile wallet ecosystem at American Express, reimagining the future of collaboration at 3M, creating an international wine category on Amazon, redesigning transatlantic flight for JetBlue, creating a 10-year consumer health product pipeline at Bayer, and increasing clean cookstove adoption for the United Nations.
Nina’s approach to innovation is shaped by her early career as a community organizer across Japan, India, Tanzania, and New York City, where she learned firsthand the importance of putting human needs at the center of any solution.
She is currently examining what it means to be human at a time of great technological transformation and spent three months in Italy researching the importance of smell for human existence.
Nina holds an MBA and Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan and BA in History from New York University.
Whitney McGuire is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and systems practitioner whose work addresses the climate crisis through collective grief and community-authored futures. Her practice spans participatory archiving, language, and civic infrastructure, grounded in questions of voice, harm, and survival. Her project In the Future (2020) created a large-scale digital archive of Black communities imagining futures beyond crisis. Since 2021, her work has explored grief as climate infrastructure, alongside initiatives supporting artists affected by gentrification and environmental justice communities. Trained as a lawyer, she previously served as General Counsel at MoCADA and Director of Sustainability at the Guggenheim, and is now faculty at Parsons and founder of The McGuire Consulting Group.
Lotfi Aoulad is a curator and programme manager for cultural and educational initiatives at UNESCO. He notably coordinated the report on the fashion industry in Africa, launched at Lagos Fashion Week in 2023, as well as international initiatives such as the Global Skills Academy.
Alongside his institutional work, he develops an independent curatorial practice through Das Relais, exploring diasporic imaginaries and narratives, territories, and the intersections between art, care, and social justice. He is the curator of Diaspora Wonderland (Africa Centre, London, 2025; IFA Gallery, Berlin, 2026), initiated in 2025 a project dedicated to the Museum of Childhoods in collaboration with Ateliers Médicis (France), and co-directs Nejma, a Mediterranean literature magazine based in Morocco.
Certified as a doula in 2024, he is engaged in birth support and develops a transversal research practice connecting artistic creation, care, and childhoods.
He is a member of the committee of the Arab World Fashion Award and serves on the board of the association Rêv’Elles.
Rana’s professional experience is in the field of marketing and brand-building. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and worked for multinational companies in various locations around the world.
She has been involved with the boards of a number of educational and cultural institutions. She currently serves on the Board of BeMA-USA as President (Beirut Museum of Art), on the Women’s Board of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and on the Board of MySchoolPulse (to provide children with life-threatening illnesses in Lebanon support for their education and well-being).
She served in the past as Board member and Vice-President of the French-American School of New York, and as Board member and Treasurer of AWARE-USA (Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions).
Building on her interest in museums and in the arts, she is also a Volunteer Tour Guide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Aurélie Clemente-Ruiz is Director of the Musée de l’Homme since March 2022. She previously served as Head of Permanent and Temporary Exhibitions at the museum (2021–2022). Prior to this, she spent nearly two decades at the Institut du monde arabe, including as Director of the Exhibitions Department (2012–2021) and earlier as Collections and Exhibitions Curator (2002–2012). Since 2019, she has also taught at Université Paris Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, where she leads a course on contemporary issues in temporary exhibitions. Her career reflects sustained leadership in exhibition strategy, project development, and international cultural cooperation.
Alex T. Johnson is Director of the Global Futures Collaborative at the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center, Howard University. An inclusive foreign policy leader and human security expert, he brings over two decades of public service, including roles in the U.S. Congress, the Department of Defense, and at a U.S. embassy abroad. His work focuses on multila teral diplomacy, human rights, and civil society partnerships across North America, Europe, Eurasia, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. He has also managed initiatives within an independent commission advancing global human rights and fundamental freedoms. His expertise includes leadership development, exchange programs, and public-private partnerships addressing equity, global health, and sustainable development.
Elizabeth Merritt is VP Strategic Foresight and Founding Director of the Center for the Future of Museums at the American Alliance of Museums, where she has worked since 1999. She leads the use of foresight tools, such as scenario planning and trend analysis, to guide the sector in navigating long-term change and uncertainty. She previously served as Director of Museum Advancement & Excellence (2001–2008), overseeing accreditation, assessment programs, research, and the development of professional standards and ethics. Earlier in her career, she was Director of Collections and Research at the Cincinnati Museum Center (1996–1999). Her work focuses on strengthening institutional capacity and anticipating the future of museums.
Aviva Rosenthal is Director of the Office of Global Affairs at the Smithsonian Institution, where she leads strategic partnerships with international governments, foundations, NGOs, and U.S. federal agencies, notably the U.S. Department of State.
She brings over 20 years of experience across government and the nonprofit sector, with a focus on public diplomacy and international engagement. Prior to joining the Smithsonian in 2013, she served as Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the State Department and led several nonprofit initiatives promoting civic engagement.
She began her career at the White House, coordinating presidential scheduling, and holds a degree in international relations from the University of California, Davis, with additional studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Mark Anthony Thomas is President & CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee since 2022, where he leads the region’s business and economic development strategy. He has overseen the consolidation of key economic entities to strengthen investment, innovation, and regional coordination. Previously, he held senior leadership roles at the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and the New York City Economic Development Corporation, driving cross-sector growth strategies. His career also includes public sector reform work in Los Angeles and earlier roles in media as publisher and filmmaker. He holds degrees from MIT, Columbia University, and the University of Georgia, and serves on several national boards.
As the Chief AI Officer at the FDA, Jeremy Walsh designs, develops, and delivers leading edge AI solutions for healthcare. With over 20 years of experience in distributed software systems, he has proven ability to transform organizations and implement complex architectures and new technologies for large global clients. Its core competencies include software development, executive management, software architecture, innovation, and product and project management. He is passionate about using AI and cloud to solve real-world problems and improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. He works with a talented team of engineers, scientists, and analysts to create cutting-edge solutions that leverage the latest advances in AI and cloud computing.