Zachi is a relational facilitator, doula (mostly abortion and IVF) and creative antidisciplinarian. She supports individuals through transitional experiences, builds communities around our shared stories and advocates for a messy revolution based on care, liberation and our collective dreams. She is the mother of twins (and many dying houseplants). Learn More: www.zachibrewster.me

Whitney is a creative producer and editor. Her work is rooted in documentary, oral history, and narrative nonfiction. Stories are her way of making sense of the world. She has helped public media journalists, artists, podcasters, and high school football players find and tell their stories. Now, she’s making sense of her own creative practice: a mix of stories, walking, maps, hospitality, letters, and self-determination. Learn More: thedarlingkiller.com

As a practitioner in architecture, design, educational planning, and research, and as an author, facilitator, and creative capacity-builder, Valerie explores connections between human flourishing, neuroarts, and the built environment. Notably, Valerie engages transformative placemaking, having designed and facilitated a wide array of places, and experiences for emergent, lifelong learning, creativity, and innovation. Learn More: www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-sherry-caruolo

Timothy is a Design Strategist and Consultant. He works for a federal consulting firm in Virginia, constructing workforce strategies and facilitating product and service design engagements with clients. He currently lives on the Oregon coast, trying to get back into running shape along the coastal trails and spending time restoring his car. Learn More: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamcelroy/

Su [Susanne] (they/them) is a cultural producer, curator and facilitator, b. 1967 in Nässjö, Sweden and currently based in Stockholm, Sweden. Main interests: social aesthetics and engaged art, space and political concerns. Learn More: https://susanneovelius.tumblr.com/

Stefany is a learning experience designer, children's book author, and entrepreneur. She likes working in the intersection between learning, technology, storytelling, and play. Stefany is the co-founder at the Lunar Society and LX Designer at the 100 School. She loves guatemalan coffee, music festivals and long walks. Learn More: https://stefy-b.co/

Shelley is a commercial and documentary producer/director who gravitates toward projects that shine a light on overlooked communities. She has written and produced for networks such as National Geographic and YouTube Originals. Accolades include an Emmy nomination for Season 1 of Vox’s Glad You Asked. She is a 2022 recipient of the New York Foundation of the Arts NYC Women’s Fund for her documentary Laying the Last Track, which links the forgotten legacy of the Chinese railroad workers who built America to current-day racism Asian Americans face. Her personal projects focus on BIPOC & women’s issues. Shelley is fluent in multiple mediums – broadcast video, social & digital content, print, and experiential – in the world of production, as well as toddler speak in the world parenthood. Learn More: shelleycheung.com & @cheungita

With over 15 years in the field of human-centered design, Sarah’s passion is designing bespoke experiences at the intersection of our digital and physical worlds. Sarah is a pancake lover (hosting a sidewalk pancake popup in San Francisco), a community builder (teaching creative living and business courses at Freelance for Life), and weekend adventurer (creator of local travel guides). Learn More: https://www.huzzahstudio.com & https://www.freelanceforlife.com & https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahjutras/

Ronit (Ro-neet, she) leads the fundraising department at a social justice org. Her career grew from her love of creating and building out parties and arts festivals, and other exciting ways for people to gather. She spends lots of time on Duo Lingo and plays piano. A native of Queens, she and her spouse now live in Manhattan, by way of Brooklyn. Together they travel far and wide, treading lightly upon the earth. Learn More: @melodymudd

Robyn is a historian, author, executive producer, and Founder of The Lunar Society. She has founded other adventures in publishing and agricultural conservation. Books include The Wizard War, Meat, Market, and the City, Food Routes and Humans in Our Food. Publications include Food+City and documentary films include The Long Coast, Arc of Oblivion, and Shelf Life. She received her bachelor’s degree from The University of Michigan and her masters and doctorate from Boston University. She was a professor at The University of Texas at Austin for 12 years. The Lunar Society is a rowdy and creative group of filmmakers and experience designers that use their curiosity to launch enduring conversations about complicated questions. Learn More: www.robynsmetcalfe.com & https://substack.com/@robynmetcalfe

A Brazilian, based in São Paulo, Rafael wandered from fashion editorials to the third sector, weaving stories in education, sustainability, and politics. Now, he crafts transformative experiences at Agência Nuts—connecting people, ideas, and organizations—believing that the right experience can shift perspectives and reshape the world. Learn More:@rafanscarvalho & https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelnascimentodecarvalho/

Pablo is a Mexican Experience Designer and Creative Director who is devoted to history and stories. A filmmaker by training, he dedicated a few years to television. For more than a decade Pablo has been a part of Cocolab, a multimedia experience studio based in Mexico city. Learn More: https://pabloazuela.com/ & https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablo-azuela/

Myra is a product manager, escape room designer, and origami artist based in Seattle, WA, who combines creativity and problem-solving to craft immersive, story-driven experiences. She has played over 250 escape rooms worldwide and enjoys designing her own games for corporate teams, nonprofits, and local communities. Driven by her passion for art and technology, Myra creates thoughtful, interactive environments that inspire connection and creativity. Notable achievements include founding Rice University's escape room club and contributing to puzzle hunts for the MIT Mystery Hunt, Cryptex Hunt, and Microsoft. Learn More: @myraorigami & myraorigami.com

Melissa strongly believes that integrating hands-on inquiry with scientific concepts in outdoor settings is the key for inspiring curiosity and transformational learning. She is passionate about creating and delivering transformative education that translates high-level scientific and technology concepts into accessible experiences. With over sixteen years of program development experience, she is currently experimenting with the idea of education as an art form. She is looking forward to learning new skills! Learn More: www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-carine-7698b919

Magdalena is a creative strategist from Austria’s leading advertising agency, bridging business development and innovative storytelling. From composing music and impro-rap to crafting Private Dining Experiences and immersive theater, she brings ideas to life. She is now focused on Experience Scribbles, translating hidden desires, visions, and fears into tangible, impactful designs and interactive narratives. Learn More: https://scribble-in-the-margin.framer.ai/blog

With roots spanning the Gullah Geechee low country and Harlem, Joyous grounds her curatorial & creative practice in the belief that creativity is a communal act. Her work reflects the dynamic intersections of history, sound, movement, and visual arts, driven by the understanding that art transcends linear narratives. She curates to expand our collective understanding of time, memory, and space, creating immersive environments that invite you into deeper reflections on identity and cultural thrivance. Learn More: https://joyouspierce.com/homepage & @joyousli

Jerome (he/they) is a two-spirit Fort Belknap Agency A’aninin/Standing Rock Lakota writer, educator, and producer. TigerBear, their independent production company, centers and amplifies fresh in-person and digital experiences developed and designed to make new stories happen every way they can. Learn More: tigerbearproductions.com

Humans have always been Ilma's biggest passion. She loves designing conditions for people from different backgrounds to connect more deeply. She was born in Lithuania, calls New York home, but will be based in Switzerland in 2025. Learn More: @ilma_explores

Elham is a UX Designer transitioning into Human Experience Design with a particualr interest in blending Ayurvedic practices and meditation techniques with modern technology. Passionate about creating mindful, user-centered digital and in-person experiences, Elham focuses on using holistic principles to craft intuitive, balanced interactions that enhance well-being and self-awareness, while fostering deeper connections between people and technology. Learn More: https://elhamko.squarespace.com/

Douglas is an interdimensional experience designer, XR storyteller, game designer, educator, and musician whose work braids and unravels the threads of reality and consciousness. Through embodied narrative and game design, he weaves immersive worlds where perception tilts, stories take root in the body, and participants wander intricate labyrinths of sensation and meaning, blurring the lines between the tangible and the imagined. Learn More: douglasjaygoldstein.com & @digdougmore

Cazimi or Cazi (she/they), is a Filipinx-Canadian cultural producer, vibe curator, storyteller, and community weaver. Raised in Vancouver and Toronto, they create transformative experiences blending music, street/club dance, and art. Cazimi aims to shift how these forms are presented, amplifying underrepresented voices and fostering connection, joy, and community through immersive design. Learn More: https://cazimihoudini.com & @cazimi_houdini

Brynn (They/Th em)is a multidisciplinary artist and designer with more than 15 years of experience crafting meaningful, user-centered experiences for non-profits and tech startups. Passionate about pushing creative boundaries, they thrive on designing immersive, playful, and sometimes absurd characters and environments that challenge audiences to step outside their comfort zones and spark personal transformation. Ever curious, Brynn delights in exploring unconventional communities, eccentric hobbies, and sharing their discoveries through teaching and collaboration. Their work blends whimsy with purpose, always striving to make a lasting, positive impact on those it touches. Learn More: https://brynncaputo.com/

Aryamaan has recently graduated form college in London and is an India-based budding creative entrepreneur and works in his family business which specialise in creating experiences through various sorts of events, Installations and exhibitions. He believes that everything tells a story and is an experience in some way. He aims to create experiences for people that tell a story and is sensitive to culture.

Anne Gottlieb began tapdancing from an early age until she discovered Greek Tragedy and Shakespeare which sparked her decades long exploration as an actor, writer, occasional director, collaborative theater maker and master teacher of transformational presence work. She has received many awards and given a TEDx talk about the Dutch diarist and mystic, Etty Hillesum, about whom she co-created a new play, The Wrestling Patient. Currently, she writes screenplays and works with global thought leaders and fortune 500 companies employing dance, immersive theatre, dharmic practices, the imaginal and joke telling. For this, she is not infrequently accused of being a witch, which she finds pretty funny living just outside of Salem, Massachusetts with her husband and two radical cats.

Alison is an experiential and performance artist whose work explores the interplay between the individual and the collective in ritual. She is particularly interested in exploring the ways in which emotion and memory can be alchemized into something new through the reimagining of familiar rites and experiences.

Alfonso is a computer engineer by training, an artist in soul, an entrepreneur by chance, a social activist in his work, and hopefully, a great experience designer in the future.

Kristen (they/them) is an experience designer who creates emotionally evocative, narrative-based experiences that connect and shift people’s perspectives of themselves and their world. Their work is deeply inspired by the concept of einfülung, the emotional knowing of a work of art from within, and they apply that ethos to inspire empathy and transformation in audiences.

Alex (he/him) is an experience designer, foodie, gardener, and all-in-all creative project lover who lives in the Hudson Valley. He has consulted on experience design projects with Google, Meow Wolf, and NASA. He also runs an annual creative residency in Italy called Residenza Lago Scuro, that focuses on regeneration, sustainability, and the magic that can happen when creative minds come together in a nourishing space.

Casey Selden (she/her) is a San Franciscan, an intentional community builder, and an unconventional educator who leverages unique environments to disrupt expectations and spark curiosity. She specializes in instigating social and emotional growth by shaping interpersonal dynamics and designing challenges that nurture self-confidence and compassion.

Amy Segreti (she/her) is a relational experience designer, writer and intimacy ceremonialist who focuses on connective, embodied, small-scale encounters. Through the weaving of guided itineraries, sensory exploration, skillful communication, and openness to the unknown, Amy helps people access new levels of intimacy and inner knowing. She comes from a background as a print journalist, group facilitator, and sex educator.

As an artist, Brian Rush (he/him) is mostly known for his “relational prosthetics,” objects that invite (usually awkward) encounters between two or more people. When he’s not working as a product designer in Portland, Oregon, these days he’s reimagining interpersonal engagement through pranks, hug rugs, cozy sci-fi, and experimental massage.

Anna (she/her) is a creative producer, experience designer and artist based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. With a particular interest in site-responsive work. She has engaged audiences in chemical laboratory buildings, bathtubs in bookstores, community halls in regional towns, disused warehouses, libraries, theatres and galleries.

James Lopez (he/him) is a magician and minimalist immersive creator based in Denver, Colorado. James is the founder of The Exposure Project, an immersive theater company that explores minimalistic immersive experiences through magic, storytelling, technology, and sensorial experiences.

Lina (she/her) is a passionate driven designer, who stopped midway through a business career to pursue an inspiration, and turned it into a profession. Designing projects geared to facilitate inner transformation by evoking audience thoughts and feelings in experiential exhibitions, rides and immersive theatre.

Abbygaelle (she/her) is a jack-of-all-trades who spent most of her adult life travelling and doing odd jobs here and there, a fascination for the theatrical and for emergent rituals has followed her throughout. She has spent the last year helping in the first steps of an intentional community and cognitive science research center near Lisbon, Portugal, where she has made her first steps in designing immersive theatre events.‍

Chris (he/him) is an architect, experience designer and design strategist with a background in designing places for performance in real and virtual worlds. He organises Long Now London and teaches design at a couple of universities and feels self-conscious when writing about himself in the third person.

Sarah (she/her) is an educator, community builder and learning experience designer based in the Netherlands. She designs and implements learning philosophy and pedagogy for K-12 international schools, and is currently studying for a doctorate in education policy and practice.

Mira is an innovation instigator and faculty member in the Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland. She teaches students, faculty, and staff how to build at low resolution, collaborate radically, let go of being experts and lean on others, and most of all, talk to each other in meaningful ways. In addition to teaching, she creates artifacts to communicate concepts and tools; designs experiences with relationality in mind; and prototypes new ways to weave innovation into the cultural thread of the institution. Learn More: innovation.umd.edu & https://sites.google.com/umd.edu/innovation-studio/ & https://www.linkedin.com/in/mira-azarm-81761165/ & @mazarm

Maggi is a dancer, choreographer, and movement educator passionate about reigniting and reimagining our relationship to movement. With a background in diverse styles, she aims to create inclusive spaces for connection through movement and craft performances that invite audiences to engage deeply as observers of poetic embodied expression. Learn More: @maggi.asbjoernsen

Janae (she/her) is an artist, writer, and experience designer for magic makers and cycle breakers. She has a particular interest in finding the magic in the mundane and illuminating points of connection. Over the last decade Janae has helped community organizers across the globe improve their training experience.

David is an experience designer, event creator, community builder, and film/TV-maker, based in Toronto. He is co-founder of Planet Fabulon, an arts collective that uses live events (filled with costumes, interactive art, dancing, and live performance) as a medium for promoting greater connection, playfulness, and social change.

Jessica Schoolman is passionate about empathy, neuropsychology and promoting conscious acts of kindness as a lifestyle. Her work in the fields of clinical psychology, international volunteering and health education gives her a unique ability to create opportunities to learn about the brain, the self, and the vital differences between them.

Tyler Jones is the director of 1504, a narrative studio in Birmingham, Alabama that integrates strategic communications with the visual arts. As a filmmaker, Jones has led initiatives with the Equal Justice Initiative, Southern Foodways Alliance, and NPR. He believes the power of experiential storytelling fosters a more empathetic society.

Emily (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist, dabbler, writer, community-engagement practitioner and English professor residing in Northern California (but know that she is a proud Philly native). Her artwork and teaching center on interconnectedness through designing immersive activities that tie various communities in reciprocal service bonds to one another. She is a sensory-input lover.

Kasaundra Couch (any/all pronouns) is a Bay Area-based playwright and director with an active interest in immersive and experiential work. After surviving the pandemic by slinging coffee and keeping sane by writing increasingly surreal scripts they are ready to take on the ultimate challenge: this stunningly talented cohort!

Yvette Hatton is a third of the way through her 150 year life. There was an adventurous, DIY culture in her family growing up that combined a love of art-making with deep curiosity about everything. She has created experiences as a product manager, mother, and sales rep. She directed Orpheus by Jean Cocteau at Barnard with an all-woman cast and launched digital experiences at a major bank. She looks forward to growing old and every minute of the journey there.

As an Information Designer, Hailey activates communities by sharing complex ideas in accessible ways. She leverages neuroscience and human-centered design to inform visual design solutions that provide communities with access to essential information (housing, health, and emergent responses). Her multi-faceted approach to social design is anchored in the principles of the Design Justice Network.

Tinkerer, Teacher, Maker, Technomancer, Jerome’s passion projects range from programming giant motion-sensing pseudo-holograms to secret internet-connected newspaper bins, to RFID-enabled immersive art exhibits. He is driven by a need to get past the “neat” factor of new and emerging technology, and instead, find ways to use technology to facilitate human-to-human connection.

Natalie lives in Hackney, East London and devises themed, cross-genre events. Co-founder of groundbreaking Field Day music festival, devisor of bespoke barter in The Good Food Swap: her “Village Mentality” approach has community exchange and creative health at its heart: freely blending tradition, performance and the domestic, with loads of nature; always!

Tracy is a scientist and artist who investigates complex interactions among organisms, be they microbial or human. Through This Yearning, she designs restorative experiences using multisensory stimuli (smell- and sound-scapes). As the Collaboration & Outreach Coordinator with the New York Genome Center, Tracy uses experience design to guide holistic science communication.

Emily Gill, MFA, is currently an Associate Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Theatre at the University of Montevallo in Alabama where she teaches design theory and costume design topics. Her interest in experiential design comes from a pre-graduate work career in freelance theatre in Atlanta as well as frequent participation in the Prague Quadrennial Festival, as well as a real love of challenging and creative theatrical experiences as a maker and audience member.

Christine (she/her) is an independent theatre-creator, audience experience crafter, and interactive and immersive comedy writer, teacher, and performer. She runs her indie theatre company smallmatters.ca out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada located on Treaty 6 Lands. She is keen on using humour as a tool to create empathy.

Mel Bieler is a theatrical and event Production and Experience Designer dedicated to creating human-centered artistic experiences through storytelling, discovery, and interactive design. As an Event Designer, she’s designed and produced 600+ events and brand activations. As a multi-disciplinary theatre artist, Mel is a scenic, prop, and puppetry designer, visual playwright, and producer.

Margo Gray (she/they) is a creator of immersive work based in Minnesota, on the unceded land of the Dakota and Ojibwe. Their work focuses on building audience empathy. Margo’s current project is creating an interactive audio experience for a 135-mile bike trail through northern Minnesota’s Iron Range.