Dr. Kiana Aran is a Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine at the University of California San Diego whose work bridges biology and modern electronic systems. Born and raised in Iran and trained in electrical and biomedical engineering in the United States, she pioneers bioelectronic sensing platforms that directly interface with living systems. She is best known for inventing CRISPR-Chip, a technology enabling real-time, amplification-free genetic detection and precision gene-editing analysis. Her research focuses on multiomics sensing and technologies for precision biology and medicine.

Dr. Aran co-founded Cardea Bio, acquired by Paragraf, and CRISPR QC. Her honors include the Global Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature, the NSF CAREER Award, Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, Nature Research Award for Inspiring Women in Science, Engineering Medal of Excellence from Rutgers University, Distinguished Engineer of the Year San Diego, and  Inc.’s Top Female Founders.

Christina Connett Brophy, PhD, is President and CEO of the Maritime Museum of San Diego; an International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM) Executive Council member; Lead for the Maritime Refugees Project ICMM; Explorers Club Fellow; Board member of TMA BlueTech. She held leadership roles at Mystic Seaport Museum and the New Bedford Whaling Museum; taught at Rhode Island School of Design, and is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology.

Connett Brophy has lectured in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East on maritime history, fine art, and cartography. She holds degrees from Northwestern University (BA), University of Auckland (MA), and University of Valencia (PhD).

A lifelong mariner, she grew up aboard the research vessel Geronimo, tagging sharks and turtles throughout the Atlantic for the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Archie Carr Foundation, a program founded by her parents 50 years ago and still running. For her and many others, this program inspired a deep curiosity and love for the ocean, its creatures, its health, and all things maritime. She remains radically curious to this day.

Tyler Callaway believes hope becomes real when people can see it in someone else. A four-time national surfing champion and inductee into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame, he spent decades in the surf industry before surviving cancer multiple times — an experience that reshaped his understanding of resilience and purpose. He co-founded the Legends Surfing Luau for Moore’s Cancer Center that has raised more than $15 million for cancer research. Today, he is building a platform for cancer patients and survivors centered on video storytelling, designed to help people facing illness see that survival, and even thriving, is possible.  He also works to connect biotech and research teams with the human impact of their work, helping bridge the gap between innovation and lived experience. After surviving cancer, a shark attack, and a lightning strike, Tyler’s work centers on one belief: seeing someone survive and then thrive can change how you fight to live. Says Tyler: “ I’ve been incredibly lucky with early diagnosis and successful treatment of a handful of cancer’s that could have taken me out. The least I can do is try to pay it back by paying it forward”.

Loren Cobbs is a culture strategist and architect of belonging who designs experiences that transform strangers into community. As the Founder & CEO of LFR Events & Consulting, she has produced 300+ events reaching over 20,000 attendees, creating spaces rooted in joy, culture, and connection with her flagship brands SD Melanin, Blanket Sounds, and Kinfolk Fest.

A former U.S. Diplomat and Global Marketing Director, Loren has advised C-suite leaders and led campaigns for 200,000+. Today, she sits at the intersection of culture, data, and human connection—helping people and organizations build environments where individuals feel seen, valued, and connected.

Her work explores how belonging can be intentionally designed—and why it’s essential to how we live, work, and build community.

Nell Derick Debevoise Dewey is a Subtraction Activist, leadership strategist, and Forbes Senior Contributor who has spent her career helping ambitious, big-hearted high-achievers identify and build their own flavor of success.

Nell's journey has crossed three sectors and four continents. She began in the not-for-profit sector, supporting youth activists globally and building mental health programs for refugee communities. She spent the next decade helping Fortune 500 executives, Ivy League MBAs, global NGO leaders, and government officials to align their skills, needs, and desired impact. Today, she leads her own B Corp, sharing the approach of Systematic Subtraction through content, tools, and coaching.

Nell holds degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, Columbia, and London Business School, and is conscious she may have learned more about leadership from her horses than from any of those fine institutions. She writes the Substack, Subtract to Succeed, also the title of her forthcoming book.

Louie Nguyen is a nonprofit executive and community leader serving as CEO of SAY San Diego, one of the region’s leading organizations focused on strengthening children, families, and communities. His leadership approach grounded in innovation, accountability, and measurable impact, has helped expand programs that address mental health, youth development, family support, and community wellness across San Diego County. He is recognized for building strategic partnerships across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to drive sustainable change and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations. Louie is passionate about advancing equity, modernizing nonprofit leadership, and creating systems that help communities thrive. Under his leadership, SAY San Diego continues to grow its reach and deepen its impact through data driven strategies, collaborative leadership, and community centered solutions.

Dev Patnaik is the CEO of Jump Associates, the strategy firm for future focused leaders. Dev has been a trusted advisor to CEOs at some of the world’s most admired companies, including Starbucks, Target, Nike, Universal Music and Virgin. He’s a frequent keynote speaker at major forums, and his writing has appeared in BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fast Company, and many others. Dev is the author of Wired to Care, named one of the best books of the year by both Fast Company and Business Week. When not at Jump, Dev is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University, where he teaches innovation methods to MBA and design students. Having witnessed the moments when bold bets were made and hard truths had to be faced, he has a rare perspective on what distinguishes leaders who shape the future from those who merely survive it.

Ramla Sahid is the founder and executive director of the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA). Under her leadership, PANA has become a bold, creative, and collaborative force effectively balancing rapid response in moments of community crisis with long-term systems change.

Sahid’s work is shifting who holds power, who holds resources, and whose lives benefit from community investment. PANA’s advocacy ensures historically excluded communities have voice and influence over public investment, inclusive democracy, and policy priorities. She recently spearheaded the purchase of 2.2 acres of land for the Global Village: Refugee and Immigrant Cultural Hub and Housing Campus and oversaw a participatory visioning and planning process with nearly 2,000+ community members to shape the programming, masterplan, and long-term community ownership model of the site.

Sahid draws on her own experiences to guide her work and is committed to leading efforts that produce changes in policies, practices, systems, organizational capacities, and community norms to improve health.

Prior to founding PANA, Ramla spent over a decade organizing campaigns to promote human rights, end youth incarceration, expand access to healthcare, and advocate for food justice. Ramla was born in Somalia and came to the United States with her family as a young child and grew up in City Heights, San Diego.

Mychal Threets is a librarian. He grew up in Fairfield, CA- right between Sacramento and San Francisco. He grew up in libraries as a homeschool kid.

He got his first library card at the age of 5 and was hooked on libraries from there. He got his first library job as a library shelver at the library he grew up in and worked his way up to become Supervising Librarian of that very same library.

He is very open about his mental health. He talks about it in hopes that it’ll help others in their mental health journey. He is adamant about encouraging people to believe him when he says he’s happy they are here. He still cannot quite believe he is the host of the revival of Reading Rainbow 🌈