Antionette D. Carroll is a serial social entrepreneur, founder of Creative Reaction Lab (CRXLAB) and the Institute of Equitable Design and Justice, and co-founder of Design + Diversity LLC and &Design LLC. At CRXLAB and the Institute, she pioneered Equity-Centered Community Design™ (ECCD™), recognized by Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas, and developed the leadership model Redesigner for Justice™. She has been honored as a PepsiCo and Doritos Solid Black Changemaker, Aspen Institute Civil Society Fellow, TED Fellow, and more. Her work has been featured on NPR, Fast Company, Bloomberg, BET, and other outlets.

Arianne Miller is passionate about bringing a human-centered approach to complex systems and work that shapes people’s lives. She recently ended 13 years as a federal civil servant, beginning as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and then serving over a decade with The Lab at OPM. As Managing Director, she grew the program and led a multi-disciplinary team partnering with 100+ federal programs and 7,000+ civil servants. Her earlier career focused on public education at Chicago Public Schools and DonorsChoose.org. She holds degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Michigan.

Elmer Moore, Jr. is CEO and Executive Director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), appointed in 2022. With 15+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, workforce development, and community revitalization, he leads efforts to expand affordable housing across Wisconsin. Under his leadership, WHEDA has invested in 15,000 housing units, administered $525 million in state funding, and achieved a 52-year high in first-time homebuyer mortgages. Deeply committed to equity, Moore also serves on several boards, teaches entrepreneurship at Marquette University and UW–Milwaukee, and holds degrees from Muhlenberg College and Columbia Business School.

George co-founded Greater Good Studio in 2011 to use design to heal, be just, and be restorative, where he serves as Co-Executive Director. Previously, he was the first human-centered designer at the Chicago Transit Authority after seven years at a global innovation firm. Since founding Greater Good, he has guided clients through complex projects that honor reality, create ownership, and build power. He speaks frequently across the US and internationally and is an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University. He serves on boards including Asian-Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago. Born in Myanmar, raised in the UK, he's now a U.S. citizen.

Jason Schupbach, Dean of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, explores the intersections of design, arts, community development, social justice, and innovation.

Jenn is co-founder and CEO of the Department of Imaginary Affairs. She is a struggling idealist, a recovering perfectionist, a serial idea generator and big believer that collective liberation is possible. She loves spending her time floating in water, doing endless crafts, searching for beach glass and snuggling up with her kiddos.

Jennifer is Assistant Professor of Strategic Design and Management and Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Learning at Parsons School of Design. Her research explores design pedagogies that critique intersections of design and power and advances K12 design education that helps young people of color envision futures in design. She has published in Crafted Kinship: Inside the Creative Practices of Contemporary Black Caribbean Makers (Editor, 2024), The Black Experience in Design (Developmental Editor, 2022), and Design Museum Magazine (2021). Jennifer previously worked with Pentagram, Columbia’s Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, and the AIGA.

Kate Maehr has led the Greater Chicago Food Depository since 2006, guiding strategic initiatives to distribute nutritious food across Cook County while addressing the root causes of hunger. Under her leadership, the Food Depository expanded operations to meet rising demand and executed comprehensive emergency food responses during the Great Recession and COVID-19. She also develops programs to better serve priority populations and oversees innovation efforts. A staunch advocate for anti-hunger policies, she has testified before Congress and the Illinois General Assembly. In 2013, Feeding America honored her with the Dick Goebel Public Service Award.

Michelle Morales is President of the Woods Fund Chicago, a foundation supporting community organizing and advocacy. A first-generation US-born Puerto Rican, she previously led Mikva Challenge Illinois, developing youth civic leadership. Her career began in alternative education as a teacher in Humboldt Park and Associate Director of the Alternative Schools Network, and she spent 16 years organizing in Chicago’s Puerto Rican community on issues from police brutality to educational justice. At Woods Fund, she has centered racial justice, embedded Trust-Based Philanthropy, and increased annual payout. Michelle holds degrees from DePaul, UIC, and Northeastern Illinois University.

The Honorable Nina Turner is an impassioned public intellectual, motivational speaker, national news commentator, and self-proclaimed “hell-raising humanitarian.” She is founder and President of We Are Somebody, a coalition-building organization for the working class, and a Senior Fellow at The New School’s Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy. Turner served as national surrogate for Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2016 campaign and as national co-chair in 2020. A former Cleveland City Council member and Ohio State Senator, she continues to champion a human rights economy and tirelessly advocates for policies that uplift working people.

Sara Cantor is a creative leader and human-centered designer focused on equity, inclusion and social innovation. After seven years using human-centered design to create new markets for corporate clients, she co-founded Greater Good Studio in 2011 to apply design to pressing social sector challenges. Her team of "pissed-off optimists" has helped nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies build internal capacity for social innovation, create and prototype new programs, and sustain and scale their impact. Sara speaks regularly on designing for social impact and facilitates workshops worldwide. She holds a master's in design planning from IIT and a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University.

Victor Udoewa, Engagement Manager at Bloom Works and former Service Design Lead at the CDC, is a civic designer, community designer, and practitioner of Radical Participatory Design, and has experience giving up power, prioritizing the wisdom and skills of community members as they lead their own interventions and approaches.