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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jane Davidson

Chair, Wales Net Zero; author, “#futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country”

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About Jane Davidson

Jane Davidson is Chair of Wales Net Zero 2035, an expert group convened between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru to ‘Commission independent advice to examine potential pathways to net zero by 2035 – the current target date is 2050. This will look at the impact on society and sectors of our economy and how any adverse effects may be mitigated, including how the costs and benefits are shared fairly. We support devolution of further powers and resources Wales needs to respond most effectively to reach net zero” The Group’s work was published in late 2024 She is the author of #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country (2020), the story of why Wales was the first country in the world to introduce legislation to protect future generations. #futuregen is published by Chelsea Green.

The update was published in Welsh by Lolfa in 2022 #futuregen: Gwersi o Wlad Fechan and a Japanese version is to be published mid 2025. She is Pro Vice-Chancellor Emeritus at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, having spent nearly a decade leading the university’s sustainability agenda through the establishment of INSPIRE (the Institute for Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness), with the university achieving a number of awards under her leadership. From 2000 – 2011, Jane was Minister for Education, then Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing in the Welsh Government, where she proposed a law to make protecting future generations the central organising principle of government; the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act came into law in 2015. She introduced the first plastic bag charge in the UK, and her recycling regulations took Wales to among the best in the world. She created a Climate Change Commission for Wales, the post of Sustainable Futures Commissioner, One Planet Developments and the Wales Coast Path.

In Education, she piloted major curriculum changes: in particular, moving away from subjects to areas of learning in the Foundation Phase for early years and broadening the A level curriculum through a Welsh Baccalaureate, integrating Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship into the Welsh Curriculum. From September 2022, the new Welsh statutory curriculum embeds both approaches. Jane is a patron of the Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) Seatrust, Cambrian Wildwood and Tools for Self Reliance Wales (TFSR Cymru). She holds honorary fellowships from IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment), WWF, CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management), CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) and honorary doctorates from the University of Glamorgan. She is a RSA Fellow and has been guest faculty in the Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership programme at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She contributes regularly to international expert events, particularly on intergenerational equity. She lives on a smallholding in west Wales where she aims to live lightly on the land.

Dr. Mays Imad

Associate Professor, Connecticut College

About Dr. Mays Imad

Dr. Mays Imad’s academic journey began at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where she pursued philosophy and minored in chemistry. She earned a doctoral degree in cellular & clinical neurobiology, with a minor in biomedical sciences, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona’s Department of Neuroscience, she joined Pima Community College (PCC), teaching a variety of biology-related subjects. During her tenure at PCC, she founded their Teaching and Learning Center (TLC). Throughout her education and professional journey, Dr. Imad has maintained a keen interest in exploring how the nervous system perceives and responds to the world, which has deeply influenced her approach to both teaching and research.

Currently an associate professor at Connecticut College, Dr. Imad is interested in understanding the social determinants of student wellbeing and success and conducts research on equity pedagogy. Her work reflects a deep commitment to equity and justice in and through education. With fervor, she advocates for institutions to pay close attention to intergenerational trauma and to prioritize repair, healing and growth. She is a Gardner Institute Fellow, AAC&U Senior STEM Fellow, a Mind and Life Institute Fellow, and a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ).

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