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Kendall Bryant

Research & Program Associate, The Red House at Georgetown University

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About Kendall Bryant

Kendall (they/them) is a Research and Writing Associate at the Red House with a B.S. in Business Management and a minor in African-American Studies. A current Master’s student in Engaged & Public Humanities at Georgetown, they seek to use culture, dialogue, and research to create spaces for sharing power and rooting deeply into visions of healing where technology, education, art, and justice meet.

Additionally, Kendall is an independent, self-produced musician and songwriter who uses their craft to meditate on the ethics of love while lifting up the work of mutual aid organizations and community gardens/farms in Washington, D.C. They seek to honor the legacies of the extraordinary people who have fed their unquenchable belief in a better world by using their extensive skills and abundant curiosity to investigate ways of knowing, doing, and being together that may support meaningful, sustainable social change and projects of liberation worldwide.

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Mae Paner

Founder, President, and Chairperson, KAWA Pilipinas

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About Mae Paner

Mae is an award-winning theater and film actor, writer, producer, and director. She is a graduate of psychology from the University of Santo Tomas and Star Performer Awardee of the Managing the Arts program of the Asian Institute of Management. For almost three decades she worked on hundreds of television ads, working her way up as Production Assistant, Production Manager, Assistant Director, Director to partner in an advertising firm. Her experience in this field spans internationally—she has directed ads for clients in Indonesia and Singapore. An ad she directed won the Creative Guild award for Best Public Service Ad of the Year (2000). Mae is also a published author.

Writing about her true-to-life experiences riding taxis, Uber, and Grab she produced two books: Kwentaxi 1 and Kwentaxi 2, released in 2015 and 2016 by Anvil Publishing. Her debut as a theater actor came in 1983 in aPhilippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA) production. Since then she has performed in several productions, from original Filipino plays to world classics, including a few musicals. Offstage, she has worked as Stage Manager and Tour Manager, notablyof Panata Sa Kalayaan (Oath to Freedom), which went on a ten-month tour of fourteen countries in North America and Europe. She has collaborated with various theater companies in Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. And at PETA’s 50 year anniversary celebration in 2017, she was given an award for“transforming lives through theatre.” She has acted in films, among them the internationally celebrated Lav Diaz opus Norte, the End of History.

In 2017 she won the CinemaOne Originals Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in Chedeng and Apple, a comedy directed by Fatrick Tabada and Rae Red. Her advocacy for good governance and social justice gave birth to her alter ego Juana Change (2008-present), a persona that gleefuly and scathingly lampooned Philippine society through live performances and over thirty video satires immortalized on youtube. In 2013 she starred in and co-produced the film Juana C. the Movie (directed by Jade Castro). Conquering hearts and minds is her most recent production Tao Po, four monologues on extra-judicial killings. Playing all four characters, Mae has toured with the play all over the Philippines and abroad in Melbourne, Canberra, Geneva, Amsterdam, Vienna, Rome, London, and Berlin.

In 2020, Tao Po has migrated to film. She was a political prisoner in 1985 during the time of Marcos. To this day, after six more presidents, amid harassment and death threats, she continues to be a creative patriot with an even firmer resolve to continue the fight for social justice in her beloved Philippines. Now, Mae has volunteered her time and expertise in cooking to KAWAPilipinas a private initiative she founded in 2020. They have been cooking meals to feed the homeless, persons deprived of liberty, political prisoners, children and seniors with special needs, those affected by natural or man made disasters, urban poor and survivors of disasters. Mae, is an artist activist and philanthropist operating from the heart.

 

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Ditri Zandstra

Founder, board member; LifesWork, The Wellbeing Project, and the Presencing Institute

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About Ditri Zandstra

As member of several Supervisory Boards and former CEO, COO and Chief People, she led and governed complex transformations for more than 25 years. At the Presencing Institute Ditri blends her experience and passion for living systems with the stewardship of PI’s mission and practices to support organisations, eco-systems and grass root initiatives that are the driving force of the overall system transformation needed today to address the challenges we face as societies. Ditri aspires to serve the acceleration of awareness and agency to re-balance society and the world’s operating model, unlocking abundance, inclusion and wholeness. As COFRA’s former Chief People and Operations officer, she played a key role in COFRA’s mission and strategic transformation to be a Force for Good by contributing to the world’s systemic transitions in Capital, Food, Liveable Cities and Energy.

In the years before Prior, Ditri served aswas CEO at the Brenninkmeijer Family Office (Anthos). Ditri combines her current activities leadership role at the Presencing Institute with Supervisory Board roles at Vesteda (Largest mid-rental housing fund of the Netherlands), Constanter (Philanthropy), TU Delft and an advisor role at The Wellbeing Project. She is also actively engaged with the World of Communities initiative, weaving together business and local communities, building prototypes that unlock reciprocal value and potential. Ditri studied Hotel Management and holds a Master degree from Nyenrode-Kellogg-Stellenbosch. She worked across multiple industries, gaining experience in Commercial and Investment Banking (ABN AMRO Bank), Health Care (University Hospital Utrecht) and FMCG before she joined the COFRA Family business. Key transformative moments in her life were the births of her two daughters and the longer residency and activities with the Brahma Kumaris (India), Mother Teresa’s missionaries of charity and native Americans. Ditri lives in the Netherlands.

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Gannon Gillespie

Senior Advisor to Social Change Organizations; Coordinator, Full Spectrum Coalition; Member, Catalyst Now; Co-Chair, Shifting the Funding Paradigm

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About Gannon Gillespie

Gannon Gillespie has over 20 years of experience working with social change organizations in Africa and around the world. Gannon is currently Senior Advisor to several leading community-focused organizations and networks. He is most passionate about holistic, community-led change, making philanthropic systems (much) better at supporting sustainable wellbeing, and exploring the deep collaboration the world desperately needs. Gannon is a Co-Chair of the Shifting the Funding Paradigm and an active member at Catalyst Now; a coordinator at Full Spectrum Coalition; and a member of the Board of Advisors for Lebec Consulting. Gannon has a BA in Creative Writing from Nebraska Wesleyan University and has been a speechwriter for C-suite leaders, a writing consultant to UNICEF NY and a guest lecturer for leading universities. Gannon lives in Genoa, Italy with his wife and two sons and travels frequently to Africa and the U.S.

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Maurizio Benazzo

Director and producer, Science and nonduality (SAND)

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About Maurizio Benazzo

Born and raised in Genova, Italy with deep ancestral roots in Piemonte, Maurizio is devoted to making visible the profound interconnectedness between all forms of life and the ancestral wisdom that flows through it. He and Zaya co-founded SAND, and together they have since co-directed, produced and independently distributed several award-winning documentaries.

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Ángela M. Báez-Silva Arias

Independent consultant -systemic approaches (transformation and PMEL), Adapt Peacebuilding

My expertise lies in complexity and systemic approaches towards human systems transformation. My experience includes working as a facilitator, teacher/trainer (at both undergraduate and graduate levels), researcher, program manager, and executive director in research, intervention, and evaluation projects and institutions focused on gender equity, peacebuilding, citizenship, national literature, psychosocial care, community philanthropy and education. Additionally, I have worked with public, private, and international cooperation institutions on topics such as cultural transformation, conflict resolution, education, negotiation, participation, human rights, gender-based violence (GBV), dialogue, and strategy, using systemic-adaptive and differential approaches. I’ve also produced academic publications, training materials and intervention designs across various disciplines and topics. I believe in participatory, dialogic, and systemic approaches that emphasize intersectoral, ethical, and horizontal relationships. These approaches help foster recognition, autonomy, and trust among people who inhabit different, yet equally valid, multiverses.

Currently, I work as an independent consultant, primarily focusing on participation, everyday democracy, #ShiftThePower, equity, peacebuilding, and education. I’m particularly interested and an active member of networks reflecting about governance, participatory and complex design, PMEL, and how to transform violent everyday behaviors. I studied Psychology and Philosophy, followed by two Master’s degrees: one in Literature and another in Cultural Biology or Biology of cognitions and communication, where I conducted research under the guidance of Humberto Maturana.

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Mile Viero

Mile Đurđević, who performs under the artistic name Mile Viero, comes from a musical family from the village of Osipaonica, Serbia. After completing his secondary education in 2019, he began his studies at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where he graduated with highest honors (summa cum laude). He furthered his education at the Conservatory of Music in Trieste as part of the Erasmus exchange program in 2023. He is currently pursuing advanced studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. Throughout his studies, under the mentorship of Prof. Borut Zagoranski, he has achieved numerous important artistic successes.

He has received over fifty awards at national and international competitions, among which the most notable are prizes from the TEMSIG competition, the Coupe Mondiale in Lithuania, the Concorso Talento Contemporaneo in Italy, and the Akkordeonwettbewerb in Germany. He has performed within prominent concert cycles in Slovenia, as well as at numerous official events organized by the Republic of Slovenia, the University of Ljubljana, the Academy of Music, and other faculties. Among his most significant performances are two concerts for the President of the Republic of Slovenia (2022, 2024), a performance at the Frankfurt Book Fair (2023), three solo concerts in Paris (2025), and a concert at the Slovene Cultural Center Korotan in Vienna (2025).

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Laurence Lien

Director, Co-Founder, and Chairman; Asia Philanthropy Circle; Chairman, Lien Foundation; Co-Founder and Board Member, Asia Community Foundation

About Laurence Lien

Laurence Lien is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Asia Philanthropy Circle, a membership-based platform for philanthropists in Asia to exchange and collaborate. Laurence is also the Chairman of Lien Foundation, a family foundation established in 1980, which has become well-regarded for its forward-thinking and radical approach.  He is also Co-Founder and a Board Member of the Asia Community Foundation.

Laurence was the CEO of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre in Singapore from 2008-2014. Prior to his work in the non-profit sector, Laurence served in the Singapore Administrative Service in the Singapore Government. Laurence holds degrees from Oxford University, the National University of Singapore, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In 2010, Laurence was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship. He was also a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore from 2012-2014.

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Jason Ferenczi

Facilitator, Translocal Governance Collective

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About Jason Ferenczi

Jason’s journey has been shaped by travel encounters, historical study, and listening in a career that has included nonprofit leadership and grant making. He leads JF Consulting and is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His passion is to create environments where participants do not feel the need to perform or prove themselves good enough.

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Kate Woodsome

Founder and Publisher, Invisible Threads; Senior Fellow & Scholar, Georgetown University

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About Kate Woodsome

Kate Woodsome is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, systems change strategist, and mental health advocate who spent two decades reporting on democracy, trauma, and repair — from Cambodia to Cuba, Hong Kong to Washington, D.C. After leading award-winning news teams at the Voice of America, Al Jazeera English, and The Washington Post, Kate’s journey took a personal turn during the pandemic and U.S. political crisis. Covering the January 6th attack on the Capitol — and defusing direct threats with humor and humanity — left her with complex PTSD and a deeper understanding of the human cost of broken systems.

Stepping away from the daily news cycle, Kate turned her focus to building the conditions for intergenerational wellbeing. She is now a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Psychology Department and a consultant with the Red House research and design unit, where she co-developed The Journey Framework — a strengths-based model for transforming cycles of harm into resilience, trust, and collective repair. Today, Kate works with individuals, communities, and institutions to unlock new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting — strengthening personal resilience and renewing the foundations of democracy and civic life.