Sindha Agha is an Emmy-nominated director, writer, and visual artist known for her viral, vibrant work. Sindha kicked-off her career by writing & directing "Birth Control Your Own Adventure," which was acquired by The New York Times. Sindha has since been awarded two Sundance fellowships, directed the critically-acclaimed series “Body Language” for BBC Three, contributed to Radiolab, The New Yorker, Vox, and The Atlantic. Most recently, Sindha wrote & directed her original comedy series "How to Be a Person” for Channel 4, and is currently in production on “Everything Wrong and Nowhere to Go,” about the psychology of climate change.

Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin are Emmy Award-winning filmmakers and photographers based in San Francisco. Their films and photographs can be found in publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle, California Sunday Magazine, National Geographic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Brethauer and Hussin were 2020 SFFILM FilmHouse Residents. They are currently directing a feature-length documentary about a group of residents in Paradise, California following the 2018 Camp Fire.

Julian Buchan is a British LA-based LGBTQ+ director and photographer, specializing in magic realist imagery. He’s shot artwork for various musicians, editorials for Playboy, V, OUT, Paper (including the cover with Carly Rae Jepsen), Flaunt Magazine, and campaigns for Beats, ASICS, and Spotify. He’s directed various narrative shorts including “Lifted” with Joel Kim Booster, which premiered at Outfest, as well as series for YouTube Pride and YouTube Creator Academy. Grindr’s first original series "Bridesman" is Buchan's first venture into scripted episodic and is sure to be the beginning of stunning things to come.

Mary Chieffo (Co-creator/writer/producer/"Iago") is a queer actor/creator known internationally as the Klingon Chancellor L’Rell on Star Trek: Discovery. Mary produced, wrote & starred as Iago in Operation Othello alongside Viola Davis & Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions. Chieffo graduated from Juilliard in 2015, receiving the Elizabeth Smith Voice & Speech Prize & the Saint-Denis Prize for "Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Drama.”

Eva Vik is an award-winning Czech director, writer, and producer. Represented by RSA Films Group. Eva's short films starring Sean Penn, Suki Waterhouse, Jack Kilmer, or Dylan Sprouse have screened at the Paris Pompidou, premiered on Nowness, Mubi, and Dazed, and have been recognized with several film awards including the Breakout Director's Award, Audience Awards, and or Best Genre honors. Vik was recently named in Forbes' prestigious 30 Under 30. She is currently in development of her first feature film with Wild Bunch Distribution and Vixens Films. Eva is also an ambassador for the White Ribbon Campaign.

Director, Producer, Graphic Designer and Illustrator. Tireless creator, constantly searching for new media and ways to express ideas. In recent years, Julian has concentrated his energies in the universe of animation (2D/3D/VR/AR) directing and producing projects for multi-award-winning production company 3dar. There, he is in charge of animation, 3D modeling, programming and design teams, as well as carrying out projects for brands such as Adidas, Cartoon Network, Sony, Play-Doh and Hershey’s. In 2019 he produced the multi-award winning VR series Gloomy Eyes. Currently, Julian Co-directs the AR department alongside Camila Marturano, creating hundreds of AR filters and experiences.

Red Gaskell is a Filipino/Chinese-American filmmaker and photographer based in Los Angeles. Born in Manila and raised in California, his experience as a first-generation immigrant brings a unique perspective to his projects. Red is a self-taught director and has been blessed with mentorship from established filmmakers. He has produced award-winning projects with brands like Spotify, Square, Nike, Uninterrupted, and more.

Nadia Hallgren is an award-winning filmmaker from The Bronx. Nadia directed BECOMING, the Netflix feature documentary about former First Lady Michelle Obama, which was nominated for four Emmys. Nadia is the first person in Emmy history to be nominated in both the directing and cinematography categories on the same film. She was also awarded the NAACP "Outstanding Breakthrough Creative in a Motion Picture" award for the documentary. Nadia’s most recent documentary THE SHOW (Showtime, 2021), featuring The Weeknd, received the “Best Director” award at the Sundance Brand Storytelling conference. Nadia’s short films include the academy-award shortlisted AFTER MARIA, and OMNIPRESENCE.

Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin are Emmy Award-winning filmmakers and photographers based in San Francisco. Their films and photographs can be found in publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle, California Sunday Magazine, National Geographic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Brethauer and Hussin were 2020 SFFILM FilmHouse Residents. They are currently directing a feature-length documentary about a group of residents in Paradise, California following the 2018 Camp Fire.

Tani Ikeda is a 4th generation Japanese American Emmy award-winning documentary director and augmented reality artist. She is a Sundance Fellow, Tribeca grantee, and Stanford artist in residence. Her work is a love letter to the resilience of her elders and future generations.

Michelle Kumata is a 3.5 generation Japanese American artist influenced by heritage, identity and legacy. Her current work focuses on sharing Nikkei stories with a wider audience as a way to stake our place, inform, engage, inspire, and connect.

Tiffany J. Johnson is a filmmaker and storyteller who this year, directed 'The Beauty of Blackness,' a feature-length documentary about the Black beauty industry through the lens of the first Black-owned cosmetics brand, Fashion Fair Cosmetics. Tiffany has a robust history of directing including episodes on 'Black Monday', 'Boomerang,' 'Dear White People,' 'Twenties,' and 'The Last OG' that streamed across notable platforms and her two short films titled, 'Ladylike' and 'Marabou.' Tiffany has worked for several TV and film production companies and has assisted Academy Award-winning producer Peggy Rajski.

An early adopter of Augmented Reality. That technology was the perfect medium to give life to a whole world of creative ideas where the digital exists alongside the real. Her first experiments were as a director/creator of some mix mixed media projects involving live performances, animation, projections, choreography and other visual arts. She has taken the lead for over two years of the AR department in 3dar studios building over 50 AR filters for Messenger and Instagram. Besides AR, Camila has also created a VR game concept currently in the works.

Through stories of little people against the backdrop of the big era and the sentimental value of one’s hometown, Zhang Meng’s characteristic humour is woven into his films and elevated by his uniquely poetic camera language. His directorial debut for Lucky Dog won the Chinese Film Media Award for Best New Director. In 2011, his critically-acclaimed film Piano in a Factory earned him a Golden Rooster and Golden Horse nomination for Best Director. The film would then snag numerous accolades at the Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, and Miami film festivals, making him a rising star of the 21st Century.

As the VP of Epic Stories at Vox Creative, Kiana Moore leads the production and strategy of creative work with a growing list of notable brands. Moore has over a decade of experience in unscripted programs and the stories found by Moore have found homes across notable streaming platforms. This year, Moore marked her directorial debut with The Beauty of Blackness, a feature-length documentary about the Black beauty industry through the lens of the first Black-owned cosmetics brand, Fashion Fair Cosmetics. Moore’s tenacity in overseeing purpose-driven and human-centric projects has proven to be successful across audio, editorial and video

John Onieal is a filmmaker best known as the creator and writer of Bridesman, Grindr’s first narrative series. He has performed and trained with Upright Citizens Brigade, iO Theater, The Annoyance, and Second City. In addition to his own films, he has appeared in the 2020 film "Cicada" and Netflix's 2018 documentary "Take Your Pills."

Jonathan’s heart is in telling powerful, emotive stories through films that are defined by highly visual, cinematic qualities. Jonathan has built an extensive portfolio and worked with some of the world’s best-known brands. His commercial work has picked up a range of awards, including several Cannes Lions and Clios, whilst his long-form work has won both RTS Awards and a BAFTA. Jonathan’s versatility is furthermore exemplified by his most recent project for Z by HP, a branded drama/thriller series that he both developed and directed. The narrative dramatic series was the first ever branded film to air on NBC/Peacock TV.

An Academy Award® winning short-documentary director and entrepreneur, Ben Proudfoot is the creative force behind Breakwater Studios. The studio’s work has been recognized by the Academy Awards®, The Emmys, The Peabody Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards, The James Beard Awards, the Sundance Film Festival, Telluride, and the Tribeca Film Festival among others. Proudfoot was named one of Forbes Magazine’s "30 Under 30" for his leadership and innovation in the brand-funded documentary space. He hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Proudfoot is an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician and has performed at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles.

(She/Her) is a Brooklyn based filmmaker with a focus on queer and female driven stories. Her directing & producing work has screened at festivals internationally, including Academy Award-qualifying Tribeca Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest, and Outfest. Her short film GIRL TALK screened at 40+ festivals internationally and has amassed over 15 million views on NO BUDGE. Her producing credits include films & television for Showtime, PBS, AT&T, HBO, and Netflix. www.ericarosefilms.com

Shern Sharma is an award-winning director and writer. His short films and branded campaigns have traveled worldwide festival circuits such as Cannes and Berlinale, and have won numerous prizes, including four Telly and two Webby awards. In addition to commercial success, Shern’s short film HOLY DOG was a Vimeo Staff Pick and earned a Booooooom TV Award. With decades of experience behind the camera, as both a photographer and filmmaker, Shern’s ability to “pull back the minutia” and swiftly reach the human core of his subjects makes him a masterful storyteller. See more at https://shernsharma.com/ or IG @shernnotsean.

Mackenzie Sheppard is a Canadian film director. He was raised in Japan and currently lives in Tokyo. His visual diversity and magical take on stories has received widespread acclaim around the world. His work has been recognized at award winning festivals around the world, such as the Cannes Young Director Awards in both 2015 and 2016, and Ciclope Festival. His ‘Liberty Fields’ docu-film for Guinness won Best Web Film at AICP 2020. Nominations include British Arrows and two Webby’s in 2022. VISIT EARTH, his first original series was nominated for Best of the Year at the Vimeo Festival 2020, and viewed over 50 million times on YouTube. His work is viewable online at https://mackshepp.com or IG @mackshepp

(She/Her) is a Franco-American filmmaker and AD. Her films have screened at festivals internationally, including the BAFTA Qualifying London Short film Festival and the British Film Institute. Elina is a current resident artist at Green Lung Studio in Brooklyn, and curates a monthly Female Filmmaker screening series. She is currently in post production for her new fiction short film. Her AD credits include TV for NBC, Netflix and commercials for Facebook, Amazon, and Apple. www.elinastreet.com

Josh Nelson Youssef is an Egyptian-American transdisciplinary artist, musician and spatial storyteller leveraging emerging tech to tell untold stories & empower historically marginalized voices. Josh is the Head of Immersive & Interactive at Viola Davis & Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions where he produced Operation Othello with Oculus, and The March with TIME magazine.

Saquon Barkley was drafted by the New York Giants with the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was named the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, the FedEx Ground Player of Year, AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and earned a Pro Bowl appearance as a result of his stellar debut in the league. Barkley finished his sophomore campaign as the only running back in Giants’ history to have 1,000 rushing yards in their first two seasons. Throughout his professional career thus far, Barkley has 659 carries for 2,937 yards, 190 catches for 1,482 yards, and has scored 27 touchdowns.

Samantha Barry is Glamour’s global editorial director, Americas. She previously served as CNN’s global head of social media, and has worked in multiple editorial roles for BBC World News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and RTE.

Elianel Clinton is a portrait and documentary photographer, based in New Jersey where he was born and raised. Eli received his Bachelors degree of Fine Arts majoring in Photography and The Digital Image with a minor in History of Art from the Fashion Institute of Technology. His work focuses primarily on the subjects of identity and diversity informed by his own multicultural background. With experience working in and out of studio, Elianels work has been seen in publications such as The New York Times, i-D, Vogue Italia, Teeth magazine, Cake magazine and Bleu magazine. As Eli continues building his practice, he works towards reaching other culturally diverse people around the world, pushing gender boundaries and informing the upcoming generations that it's okay to be different.

Proud fashion outsider and Memphis native Brandice Daniel is founder and CEO of Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR) and ICON360. Brandice created HFR in 2007 to bridge the gap between multicultural designers and the fashion business by providing opportunities to showcase their skills and abilities in an industry that is often non-accessible to them through fashion shows and other events. She has been featured in WWD, Harper’s Bazaar, NY Times, Good Morning America, ESSENCE Magazine, BET, Vogue, and more. Brandice has been a guest judge on Project Runway, a guest on the Drew Barrymore Show, and is a member of Gucci’s Changemakers Council. She’s also shared her talent as a speaker at Ted X Memphis, the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit, and the Forbes CMO Summit. Brandice has led collaborations while creating opportunities for designers, with brands like Banana Republic, Janie and Jack, American Girl, and the most historic, Nike and Lebron James. When she’s not being an entrepreneur, speaker, and author, she’s a wife to Rich and mother to her beautiful little Sky Grace.

Jennifer Donohue is Senior Vice President of Disney Advertising Local. Under her leadership, Jenn manages sales strategy across Disney’s expansive Linear and Addressable Ad Sales teams, focusing on multi-media opportunities for marketers. Jenn also leads local, regional, political, audio and podcasting advertising sales channels nationally for Disney, driving impressive incremental revenue for the business at large.

A career spanning over 3-decades, D’Wayne Edwards has over 50 patents, and designed more than 500 styles for premier athletes such as Derek Jeter, Carmelo Anthony and Michael Jordan. He has received numerous awards from Red Dot, Mercedes Benz Fashion, Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, President Obama Volunteer of Service Award, has taught and lectured at ArtCenter, Parsons, MIT and Harvard. In 2010 Edwards founded the first academy dedicated to footwear design, PENSOLE. PENSOLE has quickly become the preeminent footwear design school in the world with over 700 former students working at the industries top brands. Today D’Wayne is the President of Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design in Detroit(PLC). PLC is the 1st design focused HBCU and the 1st HBCU to reopen. PLC has been recognized by FastCompany as one of the most innovative design companies in the world.

Brendan Gaul is one of the world’s foremost leaders in advertising and entertainment. His recent producing projects include the 2021 TribecaX Best Feature winner, Dear Santa, distributed by IFC Films which Gaul produced for USPS and 5B for Johnson & Johnson. The latter, which was co-directed by Academy Award nominee Dan Krauss and Oscar winner Paul Haggis, and distributed by Verizon Media/RYOT Films, was the first branded feature to ever earn, and to date, maintain a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score as well as premiere as an Official Selection at Festival de Cannes. Gaul also serves as Global President of Mediabrands’ new indie development and production entity, TRAVERSE32.

Don Jackson is one of the country’s most successful television and media entrepreneurs. His Chicago-based, Central City Productions, has produced, marketed and syndicated television shows for nearly a half-century, with many of the shows becoming bedrock programming for African-American audiences. Jackson is currently working on the launch of Stellar TV, a 24-hour seven day a week family friendly television entertainment network targeted to African American audiences that will premiere in third quarter, 2022 on cable, OTT AVOD platforms and broadcast syndication. Jackson’s media career began in 1970 when he founded Central City Productions, Inc.

Chris oversees the development and execution of national campaigns that position the United States Postal Service as the partner of choice for consumers, commercial customers, and the mailing and shipping industry. Under his leadership, USPS Brand Marketing has won numerous awards in creative, and content partnerships. Chris regularly speaks at industry conferences, served on the ANA International ECHO Awards Board of Governors, written for several publications and supported his community by serving on numerous nonprofit boards. Chris received his Executive MBA in Finance and Economics from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business and is a Lean Six Sigma certified green belt.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, two-time Grammy® Award-winning Hip-Hop icon, Kennedy Center Honoree, recording artist, actor, author, NAACP Image Award winner, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder and CEO of Rock The Bells, LL COOL J has created one of the most multifaceted careers and brands in entertainment and continues to display his wide range of talents with every project. Since its launch in 2018, Rock The Bells has developed into a global media company that has become the preeminent voice for classic and timeless Hip-Hop.

Zoey Martinson is an award-winning writer and director in film and theater. Her work focuses on nuanced stories from the diaspora. Living in Africa, London, and the United States has given her work a unique lens into the stories she tells. Her company Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative creates work around social justice themes and has toured festivals internationally. She is a recipient of the Rauschenberg Artist as Activist Fellowship; NYC Mayor’s Film, TV and Theatre grant; and Filmmakers Without Borders grant. Her work has won at the 2020 Diversity in Cannes showcase, been nominated for Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, African Movie Academy Award, featured on BBC World Service and published in five anthologies. She is named one of the 18 Women Making Black History by Popsugar.com. Her work is currently streaming on HBO Max and Off-Broadway.

Sejal Shah Miller is the Chief Marketing Officer at Converse. Her mission is simple: to future-proof Converse’s brand and leave it in a stronger position than when she found it. With over 20 years of brand building experience, she has led transformative marketing initiatives in digital, social, content, product, and retail across the beauty, toy, entertainment, and now footwear industry. She is also a diversity, equity and inclusion champion who fosters a culture of collaboration while delivering breakthrough work in fast-paced, highly competitive marketplaces. Sejal was named by Brand Innovators as one of the Top 100 Women in Marketing for 2021.

Dana Nachman is an award-winning filmmaker of both fiction and documentary films. Films that Nachman directed can currently be watched on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and Disney+. Nachman specializes in pulling out the emotion in any story whether a hard-hitting investigative piece or a family friendly film. She has won a number of awards over the course of her journalism career as well, including three regional Emmy Awards, The Edward R. Murrow Award, and an Associated Press Award. Nachman’s latest feature documentary Dear Santa won approximately 20 different awards including Best Feature at TribecaX in 2021.

Rose Pierre-Louis is a highly-recognized public sector leader who has dedicated her career to helping the most vulnerable receive access to justice, services, and support. She is the Chief Operating Officer at the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University and host of season two of the institute’s podcast, Black Boys and Men: Changing The Narrative. Rose previously served as Commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence (OCDV) and Manhattan Deputy Borough President; and has held other leadership positions over the years in government, law and public interest. She is Founder of the Haitian Roundtable, which is dedicated to redefining the narrative about Haiti and recognizing excellence in the Haitian community. Rose serves on a number of boards relating to New York civic participation and was named to City & State New York’s Women 100 Power List in 2021.

As top brand builder and P&G veteran for nearly four decades, Marc believes in the power of brands to be a force for growth through serving people with the best-performing products while being a force for good through community impact, equality and inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Marc leads P&G’s brand-building reinvention and is a leading voice in the media, marketing and creative industry. Marc has received a long list of industry honors in his role as P&G Chief Brand Officer. Most recently, P&G was named Brand Marketer of the Decade by Cannes Lions and Marc was personally awarded the honor of 2020 Global Marketer of the Year by the World Federation of Advertisers. Marc is responsible for P&G’s brand building disciplines worldwide. He sets the Company’s multi-billion-dollar media, marketing and advertising strategies, and leads marketing innovations that guide communication and brand-building for P&G’s portfolio of trusted, quality brands.

Haider Rafique is the Global Chief Marketing Officer at OKX, one of the largest global crypto exchanges by trading volume. Haider previously served at the US exchange Okcoin as Chief Marketing Officer. He rebranded the company in 2021 and it recorded a growth of retail user sign-ups by 20x year-on-year, onboarding more than a million customers to the platform. He is one of the few in the industry with experience from traditional Madison Avenue ad firms and multinational tech giants like Microsoft.

Cliff Rigano is the Creative Director and Head of Culture, Content and Experiential Marketing, overseeing the development and execution of all content creation, cultural marketing and event marketing for Mast-Jägermeister US. Before joining Jägermeister, he was a marketing executive for Universal Motown and Republic Records working on campaigns for The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Drake, Lil Wayne and many more. Prior to that, Rigano was a successful recording artist and live performer for over 15 years, selling over 400,000 albums and performing in 20 countries worldwide.

A 19-season MLB veteran, 6x All-Star, and New York Yankees legend, CC Sabathia retired as the MLB’s active leader in strikeouts, innings pitched, complete games, and WAR. Today, Sabathia ranks third in MLB history in strikeouts by a left-hander, trailing only Hall of Famers Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson. In April 2022, Sabathia was named MLB’s Special Assistant to the Commissioner in a new role developed specifically for him that addresses areas important to the future of the sport, including player relations, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, social responsibility, youth participation, and broadcasting.

Jarvis Sam is VP, Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Nike Inc and recently named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Sports class of 2021 as well as Portland Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. In his current role, he oversees a team of people focused on driving diverse representation, inclusive leader and social justice education, professional development and the ecosystem of promoting and creating a culture of belonging inside and outside of Nike. Prior to his current role, Jarvis held various roles focused on acquiring new talent capabilities for the company and driving large programs, partnerships and initiatives aimed at impacting representation and accelerating the flow of Nike’s diverse talent pipelines. Jarvis collaborated closely with key stakeholders and partner organizations, internally and externally to facilitate and measure effective workplace diversity and inclusion models.

Brian Toombs currently serves as the Director and Head of Content for the Roku Brand Studio. In this role, Brian oversees creative development and production for streaming entertainment created in partnership with brands. Prior to joining Roku, Brian served as SVP, Digital at Funny Or Die and was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Gen: 35 under 35” class of 2019. He also previously held positions at Maker Studios, Fremantle Media, and as a television producer. Brian is a seasoned digital media executive with extensive experience in creative development, partnerships, content strategy and production. Brian also holds a B.A. in Media Studies from the Indiana University and serves as Chairman Emeritus for the NextGen Board of Directors for the Motion Picture Television Fund.