Laura-May Abron is a French-US astronomer, science communicator and artist from Paris with a multidisciplinary background in astrophysics, art, and photography. She studied astrophysics at the Paris Observatory (OBSPM) and currently works at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. She is involved in research projects related to asteroids and will be the resident astronomer at the Grand Canyon in late 2025. Beyond her work in astronomy, she is an avid tornado-chaser.
Frances Anderton is a writer, broadcaster, and curator, known for her deep expertise in Los Angeles’ built environment. She is the author of the book Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles and previously spent many years as the host of KCRW’s DnA: Design and Architecture. Anderton is collaborating with Friends of Residential Treasures Los Angeles (FORT: LA) on an installation for the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2025, illustrating the theme PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity. Honors include the Esther McCoy Award, from the USC Architectural Guild, for her work educating the public about architecture and urbanism.
Cantilever Collective was formed out of a desire to use movement as a catalyst for building community. With a contemporary approach that merges dance, music, and performance, the collective channels personal narratives, cultural observations, and emotional landscapes into their work. Dance, for them, is both an act of transformation and celebration—a way to process grief and trauma while also embracing joy, connection, and love.
Their artistic language thrives on interdisciplinary collaboration, blending diverse dance styles with live and experimental music. As a collective of dancers and musicians, their performances often feature live-mixed soundscapes, where scores are sampled, stretched, and mixed in real time, creating an immersive, interactive experience for audiences.
Beyond performance, Cantilever Collective fosters engagement through open community sessions, where movement games and exercises draw from everyday experiences, making dance accessible, low-pressure, and deeply rewarding. Their philosophy emphasizes process over technique, allowing movement to emerge organically from each participant’s unique inner world. Through a fusion of dance, poetry, visual art, and music, Cantilever Collective reimagines movement as a living, evolving art form—one that reflects and reshapes the communities it touches.
Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Richardson Chery is a Los Angeles-based actor, producer, and storyteller committed to sharing Haitian culture through performance and film. He is best known for his recurring role as Etienne Luques Chegal on TNT’s Claws and his appearance on Grey’s Anatomy. Beyond television, Richardson brings stories to life through his deep-rooted passion for Haitian folklore, engaging audiences with the vibrant oral traditions of his heritage. As one of the producers of the game show Krik-Krak which is soon to be released, he celebrates the art of storytelling, connecting communities through shared narratives. With a talent for captivating audiences and an unwavering dedication to cultural representation, Richardson continues to be a vital voice in the Los Angeles Afro-Caribbean creative scene.
Jacquil Constant is a Haitian American independent filmmaker with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Production and a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Pan African Studies and Cinema, Television, and Arts from California State University Northridge (CSUN). In 2006, Jacquil established his own production company, Constant Production, which has various music videos, short films, and commercial productions to its credit. He is also the founder of the first-ever Haiti International Film Festival in Southern California in 2015.
Dr. Yann Descamps is an associate professor of sport history at the Université Marie et Louis Pasteur in Franche-Comté, France. He also has a PhD in American studies from the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3. Calling on various disciplines from cultural history to semiology and media studies, he is working on the representation of the athletic body in relation to issues of race, gender and national identities in the media, art and popular culture.
Pr. Daniel T. Durbin is a professor of communication and director of the Institute of Sports, Media and Society at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. His research focuses on sports, popular culture, rhetoric, media and philosophy. He has appeared as an expert in sports, public discourse and popular culture hundreds of times across a wide variety of news media, and created the African-American Experience in Major League Baseball oral histories project.
Alfred Fraijo Jr. is the founder and CEO of the Somos Group, specializing in innovative urban placemaking projects that combine planning and law expertise. He leads a team that has developed transformative projects across commercial, residential, hospitality, and healthcare sectors. Previously, Alfred was a senior partner at Sheppard Mullin, where he led the Real Estate and Land Use Practice in Los Angeles.
A Los Angeles native, Alfred is a leader in the Latinx and LGBTQ communities and an advocate for underserved communities and equitable development policies. He serves on the boards of the LA LGBT Center, LA Phil, and Homeboy Industries. He also founded Inclusive Action for the City, a nonprofit advocating for equitable development policies. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a J.D. from Loyola Marymount University.
Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall is a scholar of France and Haiti, who earned her PhD in history from Stanford University. Her books include The Abbé Grégoire and the French Revolution (UC Press), Haitian History: New Perspectives (Routledge), and Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games (UPM). She is a professor at California State University San Marcos and the past winner of the statewide award for outstanding faculty teacher in the California State University system.
Ken Gonzales-Day is a renowned American artist and photographer whose work explores themes of identity, race, history, and the intersections of art and social justice. Known for his critically acclaimed series Erased Lynching and Profiled, Gonzales-Day examines how historical narratives and representations have shaped perceptions of race and violence. His work often focuses on marginalized communities, using photography to challenge and deconstruct societal myths and stereotypes. He is also a professor at Scripps College, where he teaches courses on art and visual culture, continuing to influence and inspire new generations of artists and scholars.
Aurélie Jean is a renowned algorithm modeling scientist, entrepreneur and author, who specializes in data science, and computational modeling. Among others, Aurelie co-founded a deep tech startup in AI applied to early detection of breast cancer, INFRA. With a background in mathematics and physics, her work emphasizes the ethical and societal implications of AI, advocating for the development of human-centered technologies that prioritize transparency, accountability, and individual autonomy. Jean critically examines issues such as algorithmic bias, data privacy, and the impact of AI on jobs and economic inequality. Her focus on responsible and equitable use of AI aligns closely with the themes of Counter/Surveillance: Control, Privacy, Agency, which explores the impact of surveillance technologies on personal agency. Both Jean’s work and the exhibition highlight the need for ethical frameworks in technology, encouraging dialogue on the balance between security and privacy in an increasingly monitored world.
Félix Jean-Louis is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine. He was born to Haitian immigrants in Queens, New York. He is a historian of the African diaspora with specialization in Haitian, Caribbean, African Americans, and Afro-Francophone histories. His research delves into the transnational contributions of elite Haitian men in redefining Black identity and combating racial subjugation globally. Jean-Louis’s work emphasizes Haitian and Haiti’s role in global Black consciousness, Pan-African solidarity, and anti-colonial movements. He is currently developing a monograph, Exporting the Revolution: Haitian Internationalism in the Age of Global Blackness, 1890-1944, which examines Haitian influence on global Black solidarity movements.
Dr. Julianna Kirschner is a lecturer of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism of the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on improving communication in multiple contexts. Her PhD dissertation critically assessed social media posts that contributed to trending topics on Twitter, and received multiple awards from the Popular Culture Association, the National Communication Association, and the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender (OSCLG).
Nina Leger is a writer and a professor. In her novels, published in France by the éditions Gallimard, Leger explores environmental issues through the lens of human history. She is interested in telling the stories that are destroyed when we build. Her novel Mémoires sauvées de l’eau (Memories Saved from Water) illustrates this approach. Inspired by her residency in Oroville, California, in 2023, the story revisits the history of the Gold Rush to reflect its lasting impact on contemporary environmental disasters. By weaving together past and present through a diverse cast of characters and voices, Leger retraces the epic journey of a civilization built at the expense of its environment.
Damien Leloup is a French explorer, environmentalist, maritime archaeologist, and ROV pilot. He began his career as one of the youngest crew members aboard Jacques Cousteau’s vessels, Calypso. For almost a decade, Leloup has managed and curated the Liaoning Fossil and Geology Park in China, the country’s first green museum, and led its sustainable goals. In 2015, he co-founded the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology at UCSD, alongside his friend and mentor, oceanographer Walter Munk. He went on to become a Research Associate at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, focusing on how climate change influenced ancient civilizations. Damien is currently working on a film-documentary called ‘Humanatee’.
Rebeca Méndez is an artist, designer, and professor at UCLA’s Design Media Arts department, where she directs the Counterforce Lab, a research studio addressing environmental crises through art and design. Her work spans photography, video, and immersive installations, exploring themes of ecology, post-humanism, and environmental justice. She has exhibited at institutions such as LACMA, SFMOMA, and the Hammer Museum. Méndez received the 2012 National Design Award and the 2017 AIGA Medal. She has also worked as a creative director in major design firms. Born in Mexico City, she has been a faculty member at UCLA since 2003.
Yogan Muller is a photographer, researcher, and educator whose work engages with the ecological crisis and its impact on landscapes and communities. He has taught at UCLA Design Media Arts and the Penumbra Foundation, where he introduced classes focused on ecological arts and the impact of exponential technology on photography. Muller is a Researcher with the UCLA Counterforce Lab. He was recently featured in the UCLA SOAA Faculty Spotlight (Spring 2024) and received the UCLA Unit-18 Professional Development Award in 2024.
Dr. Joes Segal is Chief Curator and Director of Programming at the Wende Museum in Culver City, where he has organized more than 30 exhibitions. He has published widely on German cultural history, Cold War culture, and art and politics in a global perspective. At the Wende, he oversees exhibitions and public programs that engage with both historical and contemporary issues.
Béchir Sylvain Haitian-American Actor, Writer, Director, and Producer Béchir Sylvain, a first-generation Haitian American who grew up in Haiti until age 13, is a prominent figure in the entertainment industry. He founded Moun Lakay LA, a social group that celebrates Haitian culture in Los Angeles. Béchir is dedicated to promoting Haitian heritage through storytelling and serves as an ambassador for the Haitian International Film Festival, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2025. Following the loss of his wife to colon cancer, he actively raises awareness about the disease, collaborating with organizations like the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Black Health. Béchir is recognized for his roles as Glock in Starz’s BMF (Season 3) and Roman in BET+’s Diarra from Detroit, as well as appearing in the upcoming Jurassic World: Rebirth. His diverse talents and commitment make him a significant influence in both the film industry and his community.
Christopher Torres is an award-winning landscape architect and urban designer passionate about creating equitable, resilient and vibrant cities. He founded Agency Artifact (MBE) as a civic design studio, creating ambitious placemaking experiences. Chris is a Co-Founder of the Festival Trail a 28-mile cultural network celebrating the next LA. He is leading transformative projects internationally including the 10,000 unit Fairplex Master Plan, 2000 acre Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan and creating bespoke experiences for major cultural clients including Hermès and MASS MoCA. Chris serves on multiple boards for art, culture and design organizations and was appointed as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles.
Cécile Wajsbrot is a French novelist, essayist, and translator whose work explores themes of memory, exile, and cultural identity. Born in Paris, she has authored numerous novels, including Mémorial and Nevermore, as well as essays on literature and history. Her writing often reflects on the impact of historical trauma and the passage of time, weaving lyrical and introspective narratives. In addition to her own literary work, Wajsbrot is a renowned translator of English and German literature, bridging linguistic and cultural divides. Her contributions to contemporary literature have been widely recognized in France and beyond.
Christiane Wolf is a mindfulness and compassion teacher, physician, and author specializing in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and mindful self-compassion. She teaches meditation retreats and teacher trainings internationally, blending modern neuroscience with traditional contemplative wisdom. Wolf is the co-author of A Clinician’s Guide to Teaching Mindfulness and the author of Outsmart Your Pain. Her work focuses on cultivating resilience, emotional balance, and compassion in everyday life.