World Summit 2010 Presenters

ROB ADELSON, INNOVATOR

Rob Adelson is the Founder and CEO of The Resolve Group, which focuses on innovative projects in media, energy and consulting. As the Producer of the "Seeking Enlightenment" project, Rob aims to link the world's greatest living spiritual leaders, enlightened thinkers and creative geniuses with the most powerful world leaders alive today. Through innovative use of today's technology, "Seeking Enlightenment" will awaken audiences to their own power as leaders in shaping our shared future. Rob has over twenty-five years of business experience fundamentally changing standard business models.

ROB BAKER, USHAHIDI

Rob Baker has worked in the non-profit sector as a web developer and new media producer for 10 years, joining the Ushahidi Haiti team in January to assist during the emergency response and acting as technical director during the development transition.  His work with emerging mobile and open mapping technology has also included work in Uganda, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. Before this work, Rob the Senior Developer of Web & New Media for Oxfam America.

PETRA BACHMAIER, CO-FOUNDER, LUFTWERK

Petra Bachmaier graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Hamburg, Germany and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a practicing multi media artist engaging in collaborative work with her partner Sean Gallero. Together they founded Luftwerk Ltd. in 2007, with a focus on experiential designs and video projections. Their work illuminates special events, stage, gallery and public venues; they are always keen on defining meaningful environments that contribute to a cross cultural understanding.  

ROBERTA BASKIN, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST

Investigative journalist Roberta Baskin has won more than 75 journalism prizes, including three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Awards, two George Foster Peabody Awards, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, the Radio-Television News Directors Edward R. Murrow Award, and numerous Emmys. But her proudest achievements are righting wrongs, changing laws, and transforming the way companies do business.

WENDY BROMLEY BODDEN, MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT, STRATEGIST AND PRODUCER

Wendy Bromley Bodden is a veteran marketing and corporate sponsorship executive with over 20 years experience developing and leveraging strategic partnerships, primarily within the public television and IMAX industries. Her work - whether in media, arts, public or private sectors - is anchored in a solid grasp of marketplace dynamics and trends, the belief in the power of media and the arts to effect positive change, and the joy of collaboration towards a common goal, a common good.

ASI BURAK, CO-PRESIDENT, GAMES FOR CHANGE

Asi is the Co-President of Games for Change, and is the award-winning Executive Producer who co-founded Impact Games and created the internationally acclaimed "PeaceMaker" and "Play the News" gaming platforms. He is often interviewed by international media (BBC World, ABC, Al-Jazeera, NPR, The New York Times, Time, Wired), and has been invited to speak at conferences and institutions including The Sundance Film Festival, The Skoll World Forum, SXSW, GDC, and The US Army War College.

SANJEEV CHATTERJEE, FILMMAKER

Sanjeev Chatterjee is an award winning documentary filmmaker. He has taught classes in studio and field production, media and society, writing and documentary production at the University of Miami. Chatterjee is producer, co-director and writer of a global motion picture project about potable water entitled "One Water." An earlier short version of the film won two awards at the Broadcast Education Association and has been screened at a special United Nations conferences in 2004 and 2005 as well as a special jury award at the World Water Forum in Mexico City in 2006. 

LEONARD CHIEN, DIRECTOR, LINGUA PROJECT, GLOBAL VOICES

Leonard Chien is currently Global Voices Online Lingua Director. Lingua is one of the biggest online volunteer-based translation community in the world, with more than 140 contributors translating posts into more than a dozen languages. Based in Taiwan, he works as freelance English-Chinese translator and interpreter by trade. Other projects he is involved include Herdict and The Diplomat. 

DAVID COHN, FOUNDER, SPOT.US

David Cohn is the founder of Spot.Us, a nonprofit trying to pioneer community funded reporting. He has written for Wired, Seed, Columbia Journalism Review and The New York Times. Cohn also worked with Jeff Jarvis to organize the first Networked Journalism Summit, which brought together the best practices of collaborative journalism. He is a board member of NewsTrust.net and the founding editor of Broowaha, an expanding citizen journalism network.

JAMES VALLORD-COSTA, CEO, HYPERNIA HOSTING

James Vallord-Costa is the CEO of Hypernia, and specializes in hosting the world's top media and entertainment businesses. He is responsible for connecting over 50 million people together each and every day through social networks, online games, websites and online communications in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Among his clients are George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and their respective companies. His goal is to keep technology affordable and flexible for everyone to promote social progress.

ANN DeMARLE, Associate Professor and Director, Emergent Media Center (EMC), Champlain College

Formerly the founding director of both the Multimedia and Graphic Design and the Electronic Game baccalaureate programs at Champlain College, DeMarle was awarded an endowment to create the EMC. Her current project is BREAKAWAY; an episodic global, online game sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund with the goal of changing behavior around violence against women.

LARRY KOPALD, MANAGING PARTNER, KOPALD/STRANGER

Considered a leading brand architect, Larry has spent over twenty-five years at some of the world's leading advertising agencies representing the worlds' largest companies. He has overseen advertising for companies such as McDonalds, CocaCola, Oracle, American Express, Honda, United Airlines, Mazda, and Universal Studios. During this time Larry has also been a leader in the environmental and social movements, working with environmental, scientific, health, corporate, and both NGO and governmental agencies involved in efforts to improve the planet and encourage more sustainable ways of operating.

ERIC LERESTE, SENIOR PRODUCER, Enquête

Eric Le Reste is the Senior Producer for Canadian Public Television's weekly show Enquête, a specialized documentary based program in investigative reporting. Many of his documentaries have received prestigious awards, including the CBC National Television Prize for best Documentary in 2001. Although investigative journalism often focuses on the dark side of society, Eric has always made an effort to bring human values to the forefront of his work, trying to underline the bright side of humanity when it can be relevant to the stories.

SIMON MAINWARING, MAINWARING CREATIVE

Simon Mainwaring is a branding consultant, advertising creative director, author and blogger. A former Nike creative at Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy, he now consults for brands and creative companies that are re-inventing their industries and enabling positive change. Simon's clients include almost all major US advertising agencies, as well as production, digital, experiential, eco-conscious, design and purpose-driven companies.

DAVID MATHISON, AUTHOR, BE THE MEDIA

David Mathison is an internationally recognized media consultant, author, keynote speaker, talk show host, hi-tech entrepreneur, and event producer. His book, BE THE MEDIA, was featured in the NY Times after he sold over 5,000 copies in 11 days via his web site, Twitter, and Facebook. He has given keynote presentations everywhere from the United Nations to Columbia University, from Berlin to Cairo. He is host of an award-winning radio show whose guests have included author Seth Godin, singer Jill Sobule, craigslist's Craig Newmark, and Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales.

MARCELA MOYANO-ROSERO, PROFESSOR & FILM PRODUCER

Marcela Moyano-Rosero is a professor of Communication Arts at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida and a documentary film producer. Moyano is the co-producer of the MIFF Award Winner documentary film Blooming Hope: Harvesting Smiles in Port-de-Paix, Haiti (2010). She has received numerous grants and scholarships to participate in social media conferences. Her research focuses on using new media to advocate for social change.

GAYATRI NARAINE, SPIRITUAL WRITER, EDUCATOR AND SPEAKER

Gayatri Naraine has been a part of Images and Voices of Hope since its inception, working as one of the main organizers of the first IVoH Conversation in New York City in 1999 and helping to facilitate conversations in various locations around the world. Since 1980 she has been the Brahma Kumaris' representative to the United Nations in New York. She recently co-authored Something Beyond Greatness: Conversations with a Man of Science and a Woman of God, a search for what gives rise to acts of heroism and generosity.

BIRJU PANDYA, CHIEF OUTREACH OFFICER, CHARITYFOCUS

Birju Pandya is the Chief Outreach Officer of CharityFocus, which is a non-profit that seeks to promote the culture of unconditional giving. He has been practicing this ethos most specifically with KarmaTube, a CharityFocus project and website for inspirational video. He is also a Managing Director with Armonia, a private investment firm seeking to seed and sustain social entrepreneurship. 

B.K. MOHINI PANJABI, SPIRITUAL TEACHER

B.K. Mohini Panjabi is a spiritual teacher, a world server. Her natural wisdom and powerful personality have touched and inspired millions of people throughout the world. She is the Brahma Kumaris' coordinator for North and South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean and the main representative to the United Nations in New York.

MEREDITH PORTE, PRODUCER AND HOST, WLRN Television

Meredith Porte has been a producer and host at WLRN Public Television Channel 17 for over 30 years. She currently produces and hosts the award winning weekly arts and culture program on WLRN-Television entitled ArtStreet which airs on WLRN Public Television in South Florida. This show is now entering its eighth season. Meredith has also produced the award-winning Memories of the Night: A Study of the Holocaust, a documentary about teaching the Holocaust to people of multi-cultural backgrounds.

FRED RITCHIN, PROFESSOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, NYU

MARIA RIVAS, VOCALIST

Maria Rivas is Venezuela´s premier contemporary vocalist and composer. A native from Caracas, her style truly represents the "new Americas". Drawing on the cultural richness of her homeland, her unique sound is a original mixture of indigenous, European and African strains, with just the right splash of Brazilian, American Classic and Latin Jazz. Her personal struggle through her songs for the protection of Environment, made her gain recognition as an ecologist and leader worthy of the coveted First Prize of her career, the William H. Phelps Award, in defense of the Environment in her native Venezuela. 

JUDY RODGERS, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, IVOH

Judy Rodgers has worked at the intersection of media, business, and education for over 30 years. She was founding director with Dr. David Cooperrider of the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit in the business school at Case Western Reserve University and she is also the founding director of Images and Voices of Hope. She recently co-authored Something Beyond Greatness: Conversations with a Man of Science and a Woman of God, a search for what gives rise to acts of heroism and generosity.

Zachary Rodgers is managing editor of The ClickZ Network, a business publication covering digital media and marketing. Since 2000, he's written extensively on topics such as the rise of social media, the evolution of news, and the impact of online advertising on consumer privacy. His stories have appeared in publications including: Datamation, an enterprise technology publication; the Kauffman eVenturing series; TurboAds.com; and ChannelSeven.com.

JOSEPH RODRIGUEZ, DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER

Internationally recognized documentary photographer Joseph Rodriguez was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently represented by Bill Charles. Joseph's work has appeared in such publications as American Photo, Black&White, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Jane, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Mother Jones, Newsweek and Esquire. He has received numerous awards and grants including: the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism, the Open Society Institute, Justice Media Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, Alicia Patterson Fellowship, Fund for Investigative Journalism and New York State Foundation for the Arts. He has been awarded Pictures of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association and the University of Missouri, in 1990, 1992, 1996 and 2002.  

CONNIE SCHULTZ, COLUMNIST, The Plain Dealer and Creators Syndicate

Connie Schultz is a nationally syndicated columnist for The Plain Dealer and Creators Syndicate. She won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for columns that judges praised for providing "a voice for the underdog and the underprivileged." Schultz is the author of two books published by Random House: Life Happens - And Other Unavoidable Truths, a collection of essays, and ...and His Lovely Wife, a memoir about her husband Sherrod Brown's successful 2006 race for the U.S. Senate.

MICHAEL SKOLER, VICE PRESIDENT, INTERACTIVE MEDIA, PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL

Michael Skoler brings people, ideas and funding together to launch new media ventures that entice, engage and include the public. Skoler joined PRI after a year studying unconventional business models for news while he was a 2009-10 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow at the Missouri School of Journalism. Previously, he was managing director of news for American Public Media/Minnesota Public Radio, were he created Public Insight Journalism, a new model that efficiently brings newsrooms into partnershp with the audience on defining stories, newsgathering and production.

HANS VAN KEKEN, JOURNALIST

Hans van Keken works as a journalist for the regional newspaper in Hilversum, the capital of media in the Netherlands. He reported for various editions, but most impact had the seven years he worked as ‘Ombudsman' , an experiment in journalism he developed with others. It definitely confirmed the opportunities he always hoped media could bring, in a world that is rapidly changing.

ERIC WHITACRE, COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR AND LECTURER

An accomplished composer, conductor and lecturer, Eric Whitacre has quickly become one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. The Los Angeles Times has praised his compositions as "works of unearthly beauty and imagination, (with) electric, chilling harmonies"; while the BBC raves that "what hits you straight between the eyes is the honesty, optimism and sheer belief that passes any pretension.

ZULEIKHA, INTERNATIONAL PERFORMER AND TEACHER

Zuleikha, international performer and teacher, trained with Masters of dance, music and health from Eastern and Western traditions, went on to create her own unique movement language. Zuleikha works internationally with thousands of young people, performs and teaches at conferences and corporate settings, performs worldwide her one-woman concert and collaborations with fantastic world musicians and poets. Founder and Director of The Storydancer Project - a non-profit international health resource organization, Zuleikha is the recipient of the prestigious Humanitarian Award from Pediatric Nursing Journal, for her global work with women and children.