*Featured themes of the 2022 Conference on World Affairs indicated with an asterisk. Learn more about this year's themes: 2022 CWA Themes.
The 2022 Speakers & Performers list will be updated leading up to the event April 6-9, 2022.
2022 Speakers & Performers
Akhil Amar
Author • Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University
2022 Speaker
Jeta Amata
Filmmaker
2022 Speaker
Rick Barton
Ambassador • Lecturer • Co-Director of Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative, Princeton University
2022 Speaker
Bek Christensen
Programs Director, Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust • President, Ecological Society of Australia
2022 Speaker
Forrest Cortes
Director of Community Engagement, The Illinois Nature Conservancy • Founder, Out In Nature
2022 Speaker
Renée DiResta
Technical Research Manager, Stanford Internet Observatory
2022 Speaker
Kamran Elahian
Philanthropist • Chairman and Founder, Global Innovation Catalyst
2022 Speaker
Teresa Eyring
Executive Director and CEO, Theatre Communications Group the national organization for theatre in the U.S.
2022 Speaker
Rachel Faller
Co-Creator, tonlé
2022 Speaker
David French
American political commentator • Former attorney • Senior editor, The Dispatch
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Elena Gaby
Documentary Director and Producer
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Victoria Garrick
Mental Health Advocate • Podcast Host • Former Division I Athlete
2022 Speaker
Maurizio Geri
Dr. NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation
2017 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Raymond Gifford
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
2022 Speaker
Leo Glaze
Middle School History Teacher, The Waverly School
2022 Speaker
Matija Goljar
Head scout, Silicon Gardens venture fund • Founder, Ustvarjalnik • Creator and Host, Start it up Slovenia!
2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Brad Goode
CWA Musical Director • Associate Professor, Jazz Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
2018 Guest Speaker • 2019 Guest Speaker • 2021 Performer • 2022 Performer
Michele Goodwin
Bioethicist • Constitutional Law Scholar • Executive Committee Member of ACLU • Author
2022 Speaker
Dave Grusin
American Composer, Arranger and Pianist
2022 Performer • CU Alumnus
Don Grusin
Jazz Keyboardist, Composer, and Record Producer
2022 Performer • CU Alumnus
LaMont Hamilton
Artist • CU Art Museum’s 2022 Artist-In-Residence
2022 Speaker
Laura Harder
Cloud Solutions Architect Technical Strategist for VMWare
2022 Speaker
Tyrone B. Hayes
Professor and Department Chair of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
2022 Speaker
Heather Hurlburt
Director, New Models of Policy Change, New America
2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Asher Jay
CEO, IncOperate
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Jodie King
Founder & CEO of Jodie King Media
2022 Speaker
Brad Lancaster
Author • Educator • Designer • Activist • Organizer • Storyteller
2022 Speaker
KangJae "Jerry" Lee
Assistant Professor, Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management, North Carolina State University
2022 Speaker
Jonathan Lundgren
Director, Ecdysis Foundation
2022 Speaker
Moses Ma
Managing Partner, FutureLab Consulting
2019 Speaker • 2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Nicole Masters
Author • Regenerative Soil Educator and Soil Coach • Director, Integrity Soils
2022 Speaker
Katrina Miller
Owner, Blackat Video Productions
2022 Speaker • CU Alumnus
Justin Moore
Civil Rights Attorney
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Shalini Nataraj
Vice President, Programs, ING Foundation
2022 Speaker
Emma Needell
Filmmaker and Writer
2022 Speaker
Barbara Nordstrom-Loeb
Marriage and Family Therapist • Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist
2022 Speaker
Steven Olikara
Founder & Former CEO, Millennial Action Project • Candidate for United States Senate in Wisconsin
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
George Odhiambo Otieno
Storyteller • Critical Care RN
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Tina Owens
Organic Farmer, Snowehaven Farm • Former Senior Director of Food & Agriculture Impact at Danone
2022 Speaker
Jernej Pangersic
Technical Specialist in Education at Microsoft • Former CEO, Katapult • Co-Founder OPTICYBER3
2022 Speaker
Eliot Peper
Novelist & Strategist
2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Debora Plunkett
Cybersecurity Leader • Board Director
2022 Speaker
Jack Powers
Professor and Interim Dean, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College
2022 Speaker
Carl Quintanilla
Anchor, CNBC
2022 Speaker • CU Alumnus
Dave Rank
Senior Fellow, Yale University Jackson Institute for Global Affairs • Senior Advisor, The Cohen Group
2022 Speaker
Joshua Rhodes, PhD
Research Associate, University of Texas at Austin • Founding Partner, IdeaSmiths LLC
2022 Speaker
Ed Roberson
Author & Poet • Guggenheim Fellow
2022 Speaker
Amanda Russell
Entrepreneur • Strategist • Author • Educator
2022 Speaker
Maggie Mitchell Salem
Senior Resident Director, National Democratic Institute (NDI)
2019 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Gavriella Schuster
Executive Board Director • DEI Advocate • Former Corporate Vice President, Microsoft
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Danielle SeeWalker
Artist, Writer & Co-Founder of The Red Road Project
2022 Speaker
Vamsi Sistla
Nike, Director of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Reusable Products
2022 Speaker
Petra Škarja
Writer • Bestselling Author • Creator of Publishing House 5KA
2022 Speaker
Donna Sollenberger
EVP & CEO, University of Texas Medical Branch
2022 Speaker
Michael Spencer
Freelance Performance Maker, Director and Writer
2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Margo Squire
International Affairs Consultant • Retired Foreign Services Officer, U.S. Department of State
2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Mark Joseph Stern
Supreme Court Correspondent, Slate Magazine
2022 Speaker
Matthew Stinchcomb
Founding Team, Etsy.com • Director and Co-founder of Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley
2022 Speaker
Ty Tashiro
Author and Social Scientist
2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker • CU Alumnus
Robin Thompson
Expert in Infectious Disease Epidemic Modelling • Dr, University of Warwick, UK
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Kara Mitchell Viesca
Associate Professor of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
2022 Speaker
Shawn D. Walton
C.E.O., Everybody Eats Together • Executive Director, Wecycle Atlanta Inc.
2022 Speaker
Nancy Wang
Founder and CEO, Advancing Women in Tech • General Manager at Amazon Web Services Backup and Data Protection Services
2022 Speaker
Ernie Watts
Jazz Musician & Composer
2017 Performer • 2018 Performer • 2019 Performer • 2020 Performer • 2021 Performer • 2022 Performer
Thomas Chatterton Williams
Author • Contributing Writer, New York Times Magazine • Columnist, Harper’s • Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
2022 Speaker
Ross Wilson
Ambassador • Chargé d'Affaires to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Nitida Wongthipkongka
Venture Director, Rippleworks
2022 Speaker
Teresa Eyring
Executive Director and CEO, Theatre Communications Group the national organization for theatre in the U.S.
2022 Speaker
Elena Gaby
Documentary Director and Producer
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
LaMont Hamilton
Artist • CU Art Museum’s 2022 Artist-In-Residence
2022 Speaker
Asher Jay
CEO, IncOperate
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Jodie King
Founder & CEO of Jodie King Media
2022 Speaker
Emma Needell
Filmmaker and Writer
2022 Speaker
Barbara Nordstrom-Loeb
Marriage and Family Therapist • Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist
2022 Speaker
George Odhiambo Otieno
Storyteller • Critical Care RN
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Ed Roberson
Author & Poet • Guggenheim Fellow
2022 Speaker
Danielle SeeWalker
Artist, Writer & Co-Founder of The Red Road Project
2022 Speaker
Michael Spencer
Freelance Performance Maker, Director and Writer
2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Matija Goljar
Head scout, Silicon Gardens venture fund • Founder, Ustvarjalnik • Creator and Host, Start it up Slovenia!
2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Jodie King
Founder & CEO of Jodie King Media
2022 Speaker
Debora Plunkett
Cybersecurity Leader • Board Director
2022 Speaker
Jack Powers
Professor and Interim Dean, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College
2022 Speaker
Carl Quintanilla
Anchor, CNBC
2022 Speaker • CU Alumnus
Gavriella Schuster
Executive Board Director • DEI Advocate • Former Corporate Vice President, Microsoft
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Donna Sollenberger
EVP & CEO, University of Texas Medical Branch
2022 Speaker
Nancy Wang
Founder and CEO, Advancing Women in Tech • General Manager at Amazon Web Services Backup and Data Protection Services
2022 Speaker
Forrest Cortes
Director of Community Engagement, The Illinois Nature Conservancy • Founder, Out In Nature
2022 Speaker
Brad Lancaster
Author • Educator • Designer • Activist • Organizer • Storyteller
2022 Speaker
Jonathan Lundgren
Director, Ecdysis Foundation
2022 Speaker
Nicole Masters
Author • Regenerative Soil Educator and Soil Coach • Director, Integrity Soils
2022 Speaker
Tina Owens
Organic Farmer, Snowehaven Farm • Former Senior Director of Food & Agriculture Impact at Danone
2022 Speaker
Shawn D. Walton
C.E.O., Everybody Eats Together • Executive Director, Wecycle Atlanta Inc.
2022 Speaker
Jeta Amata
Filmmaker
2022 Speaker
Elena Gaby
Documentary Director and Producer
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Katrina Miller
Owner, Blackat Video Productions
2022 Speaker • CU Alumnus
Jack Powers
Professor and Interim Dean, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College
2022 Speaker
Victoria Garrick
Mental Health Advocate • Podcast Host • Former Division I Athlete
2022 Speaker
George Odhiambo Otieno
Storyteller • Critical Care RN
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Donna Sollenberger
EVP & CEO, University of Texas Medical Branch
2022 Speaker
Robin Thompson
Expert in Infectious Disease Epidemic Modelling • Dr, University of Warwick, UK
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Rick Barton
Ambassador • Lecturer • Co-Director of Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative, Princeton University
2022 Speaker
Zohre Elahian
Philanthropist • Board member, Chief Social Impact at Polyup • Managing Director, Global Catalyst Foundation
2022 Guest Speaker
Maurizio Geri
Dr. NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation
2017 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Dave Rank
Senior Fellow, Yale University Jackson Institute for Global Affairs • Senior Advisor, The Cohen Group
2022 Speaker
Maggie Mitchell Salem
Senior Resident Director, National Democratic Institute (NDI)
2019 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Margo Squire
International Affairs Consultant • Retired Foreign Services Officer, U.S. Department of State
2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Ross Wilson
Ambassador • Chargé d'Affaires to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
David French
American political commentator • Former attorney • Senior editor, The Dispatch
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Justin Moore
Civil Rights Attorney
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Jack Powers
Professor and Interim Dean, Roy H. Park School of Communications, Ithaca College
2022 Speaker
Carl Quintanilla
Anchor, CNBC
2022 Speaker • CU Alumnus
Mark Joseph Stern
Supreme Court Correspondent, Slate Magazine
2022 Speaker
Thomas Chatterton Williams
Author • Contributing Writer, New York Times Magazine • Columnist, Harper’s • Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
2022 Speaker
Brad Goode
CWA Musical Director • Associate Professor, Jazz Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
2018 Guest Speaker • 2019 Guest Speaker • 2021 Performer • 2022 Performer
Dave Grusin
American Composer, Arranger and Pianist
2022 Performer • CU Alumnus
Don Grusin
Jazz Keyboardist, Composer, and Record Producer
2022 Performer • CU Alumnus
Ernie Watts
Jazz Musician & Composer
2017 Performer • 2018 Performer • 2019 Performer • 2020 Performer • 2021 Performer • 2022 Performer
David French
American political commentator • Former attorney • Senior editor, The Dispatch
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Heather Hurlburt
Director, New Models of Policy Change, New America
2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Denise Lieberman
Civil Rights Attorney • Faculty Director, Voter Access & Engagement Initiative, Washington University
2021 Speaker • 2022 Guest Speaker
Steven Olikara
Founder & Former CEO, Millennial Action Project • Candidate for United States Senate in Wisconsin
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Mark Joseph Stern
Supreme Court Correspondent, Slate Magazine
2022 Speaker
Bek Christensen
Programs Director, Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust • President, Ecological Society of Australia
2022 Speaker
Renée DiResta
Technical Research Manager, Stanford Internet Observatory
2022 Speaker
Laura Harder
Cloud Solutions Architect Technical Strategist for VMWare
2022 Speaker
Moses Ma
Managing Partner, FutureLab Consulting
2019 Speaker • 2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Eliot Peper
Novelist & Strategist
2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Joshua Rhodes, PhD
Research Associate, University of Texas at Austin • Founding Partner, IdeaSmiths LLC
2022 Speaker
Vamsi Sistla
Nike, Director of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Reusable Products
2022 Speaker
Robin Thompson
Expert in Infectious Disease Epidemic Modelling • Dr, University of Warwick, UK
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
KangJae "Jerry" Lee
Assistant Professor, Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management, North Carolina State University
2022 Speaker
Justin Moore
Civil Rights Attorney
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Shalini Nataraj
Vice President, Programs, ING Foundation
2022 Speaker
Petra Škarja
Writer • Bestselling Author • Creator of Publishing House 5KA
2022 Speaker
LaMont Hamilton
Artist • CU Art Museum’s 2022 Artist-In-Residence
2022 Speaker
Asher Jay
CEO, IncOperate
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Katrina Miller
Owner, Blackat Video Productions
2022 Speaker • CU Alumnus
Emma Needell
Filmmaker and Writer
2022 Speaker
Danielle SeeWalker
Artist, Writer & Co-Founder of The Red Road Project
2022 Speaker
Jeta Amata
Filmmaker
2022 Speaker
Rick Barton
Ambassador • Lecturer • Co-Director of Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative, Princeton University
2022 Speaker
Renée DiResta
Technical Research Manager, Stanford Internet Observatory
2022 Speaker
Debora Plunkett
Cybersecurity Leader • Board Director
2022 Speaker
Ty Tashiro
Author and Social Scientist
2016 Speaker • 2017 Speaker • 2018 Speaker • 2019 Speaker • 2020 Speaker • 2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker • CU Alumnus
Akhil Amar
Author • Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University
2022 Speaker
David French
American political commentator • Former attorney • Senior editor, The Dispatch
2021 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Raymond Gifford
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
2022 Speaker
Michele Goodwin
Bioethicist • Constitutional Law Scholar • Executive Committee Member of ACLU • Author
2022 Speaker
Mark Joseph Stern
Supreme Court Correspondent, Slate Magazine
2022 Speaker
Forrest Cortes
Director of Community Engagement, The Illinois Nature Conservancy • Founder, Out In Nature
2022 Speaker
Leo Glaze
Middle School History Teacher, The Waverly School
2022 Speaker
KangJae "Jerry" Lee
Assistant Professor, Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management, North Carolina State University
2022 Speaker
Denise Lieberman
Civil Rights Attorney • Faculty Director, Voter Access & Engagement Initiative, Washington University
2021 Speaker • 2022 Guest Speaker
Justin Moore
Civil Rights Attorney
2020 Speaker • 2022 Speaker
Kara Mitchell Viesca
Associate Professor of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
2022 Speaker
Shawn D. Walton
C.E.O., Everybody Eats Together • Executive Director, Wecycle Atlanta Inc.
2022 Speaker
Tyrone B. Hayes
Professor and Department Chair of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
2022 Speaker
Brad Lancaster
Author • Educator • Designer • Activist • Organizer • Storyteller
2022 Speaker
Jonathan Lundgren
Director, Ecdysis Foundation
2022 Speaker
Nicole Masters
Author • Regenerative Soil Educator and Soil Coach • Director, Integrity Soils
2022 Speaker
Tina Owens
Organic Farmer, Snowehaven Farm • Former Senior Director of Food & Agriculture Impact at Danone
2022 Speaker
Kamran Elahian
Philanthropist • Chairman and Founder, Global Innovation Catalyst
2022 Speaker
Rachel Faller
Co-Creator, tonlé
2022 Speaker
Jernej Pangersic
Technical Specialist in Education at Microsoft • Former CEO, Katapult • Co-Founder OPTICYBER3
2022 Speaker
Amanda Russell
Entrepreneur • Strategist • Author • Educator
2022 Speaker
Vamsi Sistla
Nike, Director of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Reusable Products
2022 Speaker
Matthew Stinchcomb
Founding Team, Etsy.com • Director and Co-founder of Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley
2022 Speaker
Nitida Wongthipkongka
Venture Director, Rippleworks
2022 Speaker
