speakers

Confirmed speakers for our Sep 23rd event “Imagine” in Manhattan, New York, include:

Scott Belsky

Scott is the founder and CEO of Behance, a company that develops products and services for creative industries. Behance’s premier service is the  Behance Network, the world’s leading online platform for creative professionals. Over the years, Behance has developed a series of projects to help organize and empower the careers of creative professionals. These include The 99%, Behance’s think tank and annual conference devoted to execution in the creative world;  Action Method , a popular online/mobile productivity application and line of organizational paper products; and the Creative’s Outfitter which distributes a selection of products that help organize creative people and teams. Scott is also the author of the national bestselling book  Making Ideas Happen (Portfolio Imprint, Penguin Books, April, 2010).

Marc Goodman

Marc Goodman is a global thinker, writer and consultant focused on the profound change technology is having on crime security, business and international affairs. Over the past 20 years, he has built his expertise in cyber crime, cyber terrorism and critical infrastructure protection working with organizations such as INTERPOL, the United Nations and NATO. Marc frequently consults with global policy makers, security executives and industry leaders on technology-related security threats and has operated in nearly seventy countries around the world. Marc founded the Future Crimes Institute and serves as the faculty advisor for security at Silicon Valley’s Singularity University, a NASA and Google sponsored venture dedicated to using advanced science and technology to address humanity’s grand challenges.

Reshma Saujani

Reshma Saujani is Deputy Advocate for Special Initiatives at the New York City Office of the Public Advocate. In her role, Reshma promotes civic engagement and government accountability while spearheading public projects that focus on spurring citywide job and economic growth including via social/technology innovations. Prior to her Deputy Advocate appointment, she ran for Congress in New York’s 14th Congressional District. Reshma was one of the creators of “Hillaryspeaksforme.com” and served on the National Finance Board for the Hillary for President Campaign. She was also the founder of South Asians for Kerry, a group that organized Senator John Kerry’s outreach to the South Asian American community for his 2004 Presidential campaign. South Asians for Kerry raised over $1.4 million for Kerry/Edwards 2004 Presidential Campaign.

Peter Hopkins

Peter is the co-founder and President of Big Think, an online multimedia portal committed to developing the growing conversation about where we are and where we are headed. In that role, Peter has lead the strategic development of Big Think’s multi-platform content initiatives, which include partnerships with outlets such as The Washington Post and MSNBC, among others. From time to time, he has also served as one of Big Think’s staff interviewers, which has given him the opportunity to speak with luminaries ranging from Supreme Court justices to Nobel Laureates. Peter has appeared in The New York Times, Daily Telegraph, Inc., Fast Company, The Los Angeles Times, as well as on NPR, CNN, Fox News and the Colbert Report, among others.

Robert Torres

A former teacher and school principal, Robert J. Torres, Ph.D, is a Senior Program Officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation helping to lead their digital media and college readiness work. Until recently he served at the Chief Research Officer at Institute of Play where he co-founded Quest to Learn, a games-based school in New York City. His research at Quest to Learn and on Gamestar Mechanic, a video game designed to support kids development of basic game skills, has focused on the potential game design and games-based environments have in supporting cognitive development. Robert works within social-cognitive and social-cultural research traditions, and as such is especially concerned with learning contexts, and the degrees to which games and digital media create deep worlds that enable learning and mastery.

Matt Long

A NYC firefighter and Ironman athlete, Matt Long is the author of The Long Run. In 2005 while riding his bike to work, Matt was struck by a bus and critically injured. He received 68 units of blood, spent 5 months in the hospital, had 40 surgeries in less than two years, and has been in physical therapy since. Through his perseverance he accomplished the seemingly outlandish goal of completing a marathon. Today Matt Long stands as a living testament to what can happen when giving up is not an option.

Tarun Wadhwa

Tarun is a senior research associate with the Think India Foundation, where he analyzes the issues and challenges that India is facing due to urbanization, and a Researcher at the Hybrid Reality Institute. He is completing a book on the promise and the perils of India’s national identity system. The book explores the global rise of electronic identity systems, and their profound impact on service delivery, financial inclusion, national security, civil liberties and the very definition of citizenship itself. Tarun has conducted research on globalization and trade-related issues for Harvard Law School, Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, and Patton Boggs LLP. He has also worked on advocacy, labor, and privacy issues with the Campaign For Youth Justice; Office of the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao; and the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

Slavic Soul Party

Throbbing funk grooves, fiery Balkan brass, Gypsy accordion wizardry, and virtuoso jazz chops make Slavic Soul Party! NYC’s official #1 brass band for BalkanSoul GypsyFunk. SSP! has created an acoustic mash-up of Balkan and Romani (Gypsy) sounds with North American music, weaving the gospel, techno, funk, dub, jazz, and Latin influences of New York’s neighborhoods seamlessly into a Balkan brass setting. SSP!’s music has won the ear of fans and musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, and their tunes have been learned by Serbian brass stars Boban Markovic Orkestar and New Orleans funk sensations Galactic, among others. In addition to touring in the US, Europe, Mexico, and Africa, SSP! holds down a residency every Tuesday in Brooklyn which has become a destination for music fans from around the world.

Alexis Gambis

Alexis Gambis is a French-Venezuelan filmmaker and scientist. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Imagine Science Films, a non-profit organization that promotes a high-level dialogue between scientists, artists, and filmmakers on an international level. Dr. Gambis is redefining the portrayal of science and scientists in popular media. He creates and showcases films that effectively incorporate accurate science into visually compelling narratives. His production company, Imaginal Disc is currently developing the Fly Room project, a feature film and documentary series about the Fly Room lab at Columbia University, the birthplace of modern genetics in the early 20th century. His work has been featured in a variety of media outlets such as the Village Voice, WNYC, Nature, and Science.

Jason Sosa

Jason is the Founder and CEO at Immersive Labs which has been featured by CNNMoney, New York Times, Huffington Post, Fortune Magazine, Mashable, and Business Insider. For the last four years, he has been researching Digital Signage and HCI (human computer interaction) with a focus on bridging the gap between the virtual (online) world and physical world through intelligent content.