2018 Speakers & Performers

Millie Chen

Visual, Audio, and Performative Artist; Professor of Art, University at Buffalo

2018 Performer

Eva Hagberg Fisher

Writer, Educator, Architectural Historian, and Activist

2018 Speaker

Amanda Gorman

Inaugural youth poet laureate of the United States

2018 Performer • Notable Past Participant

Lena Gutschank

Aerialist, Dancer, Contortionist, Actress, Entrepreneur

2017 Performer • 2018 Performer

Kayhan Irani

Playwright, Community Cultural Activist, Theater of the Oppressed Trainer

2018 Speaker

Kevin Kling

Storyteller and Playwright

2018 Performer

Kate Lesta

Community-Minded Culture & Arts Organizer, Curator, Manager & Producer

2018 Speaker

Clare Muireann Murphy

Storyteller

2018 Speaker

Maurice Sherif

French Photographer • CU Art/Art History Visiting Lecturer

2018 Speaker

Michael Spencer

Professor of Theater and Performance Design, Central Saint Martins

2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

James Tanabe

Independent International Circus Producer • Former Senior Director of Creative Strategy, Cirque du Soleil

2017 Performer • 2018 Performer

Jose P De La Fuente

Director, SMC Consulting

2018 Speaker

Jenny Fielding

Managing Director, Techstars

2018 Speaker

Martha Clark Goss

Independent Director, American Water Works

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Fred Haberman

CEO & Co-Founder, Haberman; Co-Founder, Urban Organics

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Guest Speaker

Jerry Michalski

Founder, REX

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker

Reza Ramazani

Professor of Economics, Saint Michael's College

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • CU Alumnus

April Rinne

Founder and Advisor, April Worldwide

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker

Mara Steiu

Founder, iXperiment • Co-founder, FairFunders • Product Design, AiFi

2018 Speaker

Lisa Swenerton

General Manager & Director, Southern California Edison Carrier Solutions

2018 Speaker

Ben Wagner

Assistant Professor, Vienna University of Economics and Business

2018 Speaker

Roger Walton

General Manager - Americas, Quantexa Ltd.

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Tracey Holloway

Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; President, Earth Science Women's Network; Leader, NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Science Team

2018 Speaker

David Orr

Paul Sears Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, Oberlin College

2018 Speaker

Perry Samson

Professor of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan; Co-Founder, The Weather Underground

2018 Speaker

Susan Shaw

Environmental Health Scientist, Explorer, and Ocean Conservationist, Founder and Executive Director of the Marine & Environmental Research Institute

2018 Speaker

Jennifer Thomsen

Assistant Professor of Parks, Tourism, and Recreation Management, University of Montana

2018 Speaker

Alexander Verbeek

Founder, Institute for Planetary Security

2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Kate Williams

CEO, 1% for the Planet

2018 Speaker

Francisco Zamora Arroyo

Director, Colorado River Delta Program, Sonoran Institute

2018 Speaker

Janice Engel

Director, Producer, Award-winning Filmmaker and Show-runner

2018 Speaker

Danielle Feinberg

Director of Photography (Lighting), Pixar Animation Studios

2018 Speaker

Josh Larsen

Co-Host, Filmspotting • Film Critic, Think Christian

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Carlisle Vandervoort

Producer, Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins

2018 Speaker

Chris Borland

Former NFL Linebacker • Meditation Teacher, Search Inside Yourself • Producer, Co-Laboratory Studios

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Deliana Garcia

Director of International Projects, Research, and Development, Migrant Clinicians Network

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker

Lloyd I. Sederer

Chief Medical Officer, New York State Office of Mental Health • Medical Editor for Mental Health, The HuffPost • Adjunct Professor, Columbia/Mailman School of Public Health

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Ty Tashiro

Author and Social Scientist

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • CU Alumnus

Charles van der Horst

Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of North Carolina

2015 Speaker • 2016 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker

Zhana Vrangalova

Sex Researcher; Adjunct Professor of Psychology, New York University

2018 Speaker

Joe Cirincione

President, Ploughshares Fund • MSNBC Nuclear Security Analyst

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • CWA Speaker Series

Gabriel Demombynes

Program Leader for Human Development, World Bank

2018 Speaker

Ismail Elfath

International Soccer Referee, FIFA

2016 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Ed Elmendorf

Past President, United Nations Association

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Jeffrey A. Engel

Director, Center for Presidential History, Southern Methodist University

2018 Speaker

Larry Greenwood

President, Japan Society of Northern California

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Malou Innocent

Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute

2016 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Kemal Kirişci

Senior Fellow and Director, Center on the United States and Europe's Turkey Project, Brookings Institution

2018 Speaker

Peter Rupert Lighte

Sinologist; Board Member, CIEE, the One Sky Foundation and Prudential Financial

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker

Susi Snyder

President, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons; Humanitarian Disarmament Programme, PAX, Utrecht

2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • Notable Past Participant

Margo Squire

International Affairs Consultant • Retired Foreign Services Officer, U.S. Department of State

2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Christina Tobias-Nahi

Director of Public Affairs, Islamic Relief USA

2018 Speaker

Ross Wilson

Interim Chargé d'Affaires to Georgia & Former Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan, U.S. Department of State

2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker

Bonnie Burton

Author; Journalist; Comedian; Actress; Show Host; Former Senior Editor, StarWars.com, Lucasfilm

2018 Speaker • CU Alumnus

Robert George

Editorial Writer, New York Daily News

2018 Speaker

Lisa Graves

Co-Director, Documented

2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Ian Millhiser

Senior Correspondent, Vox

2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

John Harrison Nichols

National Affairs Writer, The Nation, Co-Founder, Free Press, and Author

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Charlie Oliver

Founder and CEO, Tech 2025

2018 Speaker

Joe Sexton

Senior Editor, ProPublica

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • CU Alumnus

Ellen Sweets

Author • Writer • Former Reporter

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Cyrille Aimée

Singer, Songwriter, & Improviser

2017 Performer • 2018 Performer • 2019 Performer

Rony Barrak

Percussionist, Composer, Instructor

2016 Performer • 2017 Performer • 2018 Performer • 2019 Performer

Claire Daly

Baritone Saxophonist

2017 Performer • 2018 Performer

Adrean Farrugia

Pianist, Composer, and Educator

2017 Performer • 2018 Performer

Lisa Marie Simmons

Singer, Songwriter, Poet & Blogger

2018 Speaker

Ernie Watts

Jazz Musician & Composer

2017 Performer • 2018 Performer • 2019 Performer • 2020 Performer

Ronald Wilkins

Musician, Vocalist, Composer, Educator

2018 Performer

Roman Zavada

Pianist; Composer of Résonances Boréales

2018 Performer

Susan Low Bloch

Professor of Law, Georgetown University

2018 Speaker

David Campbell

Professor of American Democracy, University of Notre Dame

2018 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Michael G. Franc

Director, Washington, D.C. Programs, Hoover Institution

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Heather Hurlburt

Director, New Models of Policy Change, New America

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Elisabeth MacNamara

Past National President, League of Women Voters

2018 Speaker

Gregory K. Tanaka

Director, Center for the Study of Democracy and Social Change • Instructor, University of San Francisco

2018 Speaker

Timothy E. Wirth

Vice Chairman, United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Diana S. Aga

Professor of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

2018 Speaker

Deborah Bryant

Senior Director, Open Source and Standards, Red Hat; Board Director, Open Source Initiative

2018 Speaker

Adam Frank

Professor of Astrophysics, University of Rochester • NPR Science Blogger • Author

2018 Speaker

David Grinspoon

Senior Scientist, Planetary Science Institute

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Michael D. L. Johnson

Assistant Professor of Immunobiology, The University of Arizona

2018 Speaker

Eliot Peper

Novelist & Strategist

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Heather M. Roff

Research Scientist, Google DeepMind; Associate Fellow, University of Cambridge; Future of War Fellow, New America

2018 Speaker • CU Alumnus

Pamela Ronald

Professor, Dept Plant Pathology & the Genome Center, University of California, Davis. Co-author, "Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food”

2018 Speaker

Tony Seba

Co-Founder, RethinkX • Author & Educator, Stanford University • Entrepreneur and Angel Investor, Silicon Valley

2018 Speaker

Amanda Gorman

Inaugural youth poet laureate of the United States

2018 Performer • Notable Past Participant

Maggie Duncan Simbeye

Executive Director and Founder of Dare Women’s Foundation

2018 Speaker

Erin Vilardi

Founder and Director, VoteRunLead

2018 Speaker

Raoul Adamchak

Farm Manager, UC Davis Student Farm

2018 Speaker

Katherine Alford

Former Senior Vice President of Culinary, The Food Network; Consultant, Chefs Collaborative

2018 Speaker

Fred Haberman

CEO & Co-Founder, Haberman; Co-Founder, Urban Organics

2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Guest Speaker

David R. Montgomery

Professor of Geomorphology, University of Washington

2018 Speaker

Pamela Ronald

Professor, Dept Plant Pathology & the Genome Center, University of California, Davis. Co-author, "Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food”

2018 Speaker

Adam Frank

Professor of Astrophysics, University of Rochester • NPR Science Blogger • Author

2018 Speaker

David Grinspoon

Senior Scientist, Planetary Science Institute

2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker

Jennifer Thomsen

Assistant Professor of Parks, Tourism, and Recreation Management, University of Montana

2018 Speaker

Alexander Verbeek

Founder, Institute for Planetary Security

2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker

Kate Williams

CEO, 1% for the Planet

2018 Speaker

Jan Amend

Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California

2018 Guest Speaker

Bijoux Barbosa

Instructor, Jazz Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker • 2019 Guest Speaker

Eduardo “Bijoux” Barbosa was born in Sao Paulo-Brazil where he studied music theory and electric bass with Prof. Nadir Dos Santos. In Brazil he played with pop bands and Jazz Fusion oriented bands. He then moved to Caracas- Venezuela in 1991 where he worked with many well known artists. Besides studying Latin music, Bijoux also started his doublebass studies in Venezuela. He then moved to Denver-Colorado-USA in 1997 where besides...

Lorriane Bayard de Volo

Chair, Women and Gender Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Morgan Bazilian

Executive Director, Payne Institute • Research Professor of Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines

2018 Guest Speaker

Cinnamon Bidwell

Assistant Professor, Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Max Boykoff

Director, Center for Science and Technology Policy, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

David Brown

Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Jed Brubaker

Assistant Professor of Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Heather Callender-Potters

Co-Founder, PharmaJet, inc.

2018 Guest Speaker

Dana Coffield

City Desk Editor, Denver Post

2018 Guest Speaker

Ann Cooper

Founder, Chef Ann Foundation and Director of Food Services for Boulder Valley School District, and Partner of Lunch Lessons, LLC

2018 Guest Speaker

Anne Cure

Owner and Farmer, Cure Organic Farms

2018 Guest Speaker

Michael de Yoanna

Director of News Content, KUNC Public Radio Colorado

2018 Guest Speaker

Dan Delurey

Founder and President, Wedgemere Group

2018 Guest Speaker

Jim Deters

Founder, Galvanize

2018 Guest Speaker

Kim Dickey

Professor of Ceramics, Department of Art and Art History, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Katherine DiMatteo

Partner, Organic Specialists

2018 Guest Speaker

Bart W. Édes

Representative, North America, Asian Development Bank

2018 Guest Speaker

Robert Ergun

Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences researcher on heliospheric and astrophysical plasmas, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Mona Esposito

Co-Founder, Noble Grain Alliance

2018 Guest Speaker

Philip Fernbach

Assistant Professor of Marketing, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Beatrice Fihn

Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign coalition

2018 Guest Speaker

Steven Frost

Instructor, Department of Media Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Brad Goode

CWA Musical Director • Associate Professor, Jazz Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker • 2019 Guest Speaker

Called “the lyrical genius of the trumpet' by the Chicago Tribune, Brad Goode is a trumpeter, bassist, drummer who has recorded on more than 100 jazz albums. Originally from Chicago, he has performed worldwide as a soloist and as a member of groups led by Jazz legends Eddie Harris, Jack DeJohnette, Curtis Fuller, Ira Sullivan and others. Brad is recognized as a master teacher of trumpet technique, and makes frequent...

Meriwether Hardie

Chief of Staff, Bio-Logical Capital

2018 Guest Speaker

Melissa Hart

Justice, Colorado Supreme Court

2018 Guest Speaker

Brad Hayes

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Sue Helibronner

CEO, MergeLane

2018 Guest Speaker

Brian Hynek

Associate Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Joe Jupille

Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Robert G. Kaufman

Visiting Scholar, Center for Western Civilization, Thought, and Policy, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Micklina Kenyi

Executive Director & Head of School, Empowerment Through Education Foundation

2018 Guest Speaker • 2020 Guest Speaker

Micklina Kenyi fled her homeland of South Sudan during the genocide that has claimed the lives of over 2 million people. She came to the United States as a refugee in 2003, and founded a non-profit organization, The Community of South Sudanese and American Women (CSSAW) in 2005. CSSAW has been instrumental in helping resettle young women from South Sudan to the United States of America and empowering them through...

David Laskarzewski

Co-Organizer, UpRoot Colorado

2018 Guest Speaker

Sandra Laursen

Senior Researcher and Co-Director, Ethnography & Evaluation Research, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Heather Lazrus

Project Scientist, Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

2018 Guest Speaker

Lindsey Loberg

Program Director, Boulder Food Rescue

2018 Guest Speaker

Ginnie Logan

Ph.D. Candidate, School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Jeffrey Logan

Chief Analyst, Strategic Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

2018 Guest Speaker

Alex Macmillan

Farm Manager, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Hadley Heath Manning

Director of Policy, Independent Women’s Forum

2018 Guest Speaker • 2019 Guest Speaker • 2020 Guest Speaker

Hadley Heath Manning is director of policy at Independent Women's Forum and Independent Women’s Voice and a Senior Fellow at the Steamboat Institute. Hadley has testified before Congress and state legislatures on various policy issues. She appears frequently in radio and TV outlets across the country and is a regular guest on the Fox Business Network. Her work has been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes,...

Mike Marlier

Director, Drum Set Studies, Newman Center for the Performing Arts

2018 Guest Speaker

Boli Medappa

Founding Member and Managing Director, Hermes Consulting Group

2018 Guest Speaker

Denise Mickelson

Food Editor, 5280 Magazine

2018 Guest Speaker

Guy D. Middleton

Visiting Fellow of History, Classics, and Archaeology, Newcastle University

2018 Guest Speaker

Helen Norton

Professor of Law, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Rahul Parson

Assistant Professor of Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Lori Peek

Director, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

Scott Prestidge

Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Colorado Oil and Gas Association

2018 Guest Speaker

Jessica Rogers

Women’s March on Denver 2017, 2018 co-organizer; March On Colorado co-founder; National We Are March On cofounder

2018 Guest Speaker

Janelle Shane

Research Scientist, Aiwierdness.com

2018 Guest Speaker

Yasmeen Siddiqui

Founding Director, The Minerva Projects

2018 Guest Speaker

Scott Skinner-Thompson

Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

David Spector

Director of High Performance Transportation Enterprise, Colorado Department of Transportation

2018 Guest Speaker

Razia Sultana

Human Rights Activist

2018 Guest Speaker

Woody Tasch

Founder and Chairman, Slow Money Institute

2018 Guest Speaker

Ross Taylor

Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker

U Kyaw Win

Professor Emeritus, Orange Coast College

2018 Guest Speaker

Jeffrey S. Zax

Professor of Economics, University of Colorado Boulder

2018 Guest Speaker • 2020 Guest Speaker

Jeffrey S. Zax is a professor specializing in labor economics, public economics, and urban economics at the University of Colorado Boulder. Among his published papers are articles on the relationship between IQ, schooling and adult income; the effects of residential segregation on black economic welfare; the economic consequences of competition among local governments; the estimation of voting behavior; and microeconomic activity in China. Themes in his current work include the...

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2018 Speakers & Performers