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Zaya Benazzo

Director and producer, Science and nonduality (SAND)

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About Zaya Benazzo

Born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria, and fascinated with exploring life’s big questions, Zaya feels most at home in nature and, increasingly, within herself. Her deepest passion is bringing spiritual wisdom in service of all life. She has produced and directed several award-winning documentaries including The Wisdom of Trauma, The Art of Life, Rays of the Absolute, and Where Olive Trees Weep.

 

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Mar Cabra

Executive Director, The Self-Investigation

About Mar Cabra

Mar Cabra is executive director and cofounder of The Self-Investigation, a global nonprofit catalysing a healthy work culture in the media ecosystem by placing well-being and mental health as a core business strategy and value. Recognized by Forbes as one of the most awarded Spaniards, she is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, digital wellness educator and fellow at Ashoka & Acumen, working on raising awareness on how technology is changing the way we interact with ourselves, each other and as a society. She’s committed to creating a healthier working culture to prevent others from burning out like she did after leading the technology and data work for the Panama Papers investigation. She’s a master of ceremonies, keynote speaker and has talked to companies such as Twitch, Santander Bank, Just Eat, The Guardian or PWC.

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IN MAR’S WORDS

How do you think individual, collective, and planetary wellbeing are connected?

It’s urgent that we rethink the way we interact with ourselves, each other and the planet. We’ve been operating as if they were separate parts, but in reality, we’re all one and need to work on our interconectedness.

What do you hope the outcomes are from the global Hearth Summit?

Inspiration, community and positive action.

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Rabbi Lynn Gottleib

Rabbi, visual & performing artist, and author; Founder, Shomeret Shalom Collaborative for Jewish Revolutionary Nonviolence; Board Member, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

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About Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb

Lynn Gottlieb is one of the first ten women to become a rabbi in Jewish history. She is a pioneer Jewish feminist, writer, visual and performing artist, master storyteller and founding elder of Shomeret Shalom Ordination Program for Jewish Revolutionary Nonviolence. Lynn served Temple Beth Or of the Deaf from 1972 – 1979 in NYC where she also created Mishkan A Shul – an arts based community. Founder of Nahalat Shalom Community in Albuquerque, NM in 1981, her community is rooted in culture tending of Ashkenazi and Sefardic traditions. Lynn is a team member of Grassroots Reparations Campaign, board member of Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and on the rabbinic council of Jewish Voice for Peace. Lynn has been devoted to Palestinian human rights since 1966. She is author of She Who Dwells Within; Trail Guide to the Torah of Nonviolence; Peace Primer II; World Beyond Borders Passover Hagaddah and Shomeret Shalom: Replanting Seeds of Jewish Revolutionary Nonviolence After October 7. Her most recent theatrical work is called: Storyteller on Sacred Ground – stories of pilgrimage to justice. She is very funny.

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Zoe Newcomb

Senior Manager, Peacebuilding, Humanity United

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About Zoe Newcomb

Zoe Newcomb is a Senior Program Manager, Peacebuilding at Humanity United, where she leads the South Sudan country pillar. In this role, Zoe stewards Humanity United’s long-term commitment to supporting a growing network of youth peacebuilders and activists in South Sudan. Her work emphasizes fostering resilient relationships across social divides and co-creating responses to deeply entrenched polarization. Zoe also plays a key role in HU Peacebuilding’s Healing & Wellbeing thematic work, promoting a greater understanding of individual and collective care within the peacebuilding community. She is a passionate advocate for trust-based philanthropy, focusing on more equitable, responsive grantmaking practices that amplify the leadership of proximate peacebuilders.

With a background in emergent strategy, systems-informed tools, and facilitation, Zoe brings extensive experience in convening global peacebuilders and creating physical spaces that facilitate transformational learning. Zoe holds an M.A. in Human Development from George Washington University, where her research focused on navigating complexity and group sense-making. She also holds a B.A. in Political Science from Westmont College. Zoe lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter and enjoys spending as much time as possible outdoors enjoying the beauty of California.

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Laura Webber

Consultant, Peacebuilding, Wellbeing, and Care; Humanity United

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About Laura Webber

Laura Webber (she/her) engages in research and practice at the intersection of trauma healing, embodiment, social neuroscience, and peacebuilding. She moves with a healing-based and care-centered approach as she engages in efforts of conflict transformation from the individual to the collective. Laura orients her practice in support of social change practitioners and activists to nurture their resiliency and grow their sustainability. She currently works with peacebuilding and social change organizations in a variety of capacities including research, program design and facilitation, and learning. Laura holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Vassar College, and a Master’s of Arts in Peace and Justice from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego.

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Sandesh Kadur

Wildlife Filmmaker; National Geographic Fellow & Explorer; Board of Trustees, National Geographic Society; Founder and Director, Felis Creations; Founder, Conservania

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About Sandesh Kadur

Sandesh V. Kadur is a BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker, National Geographic Fellow & Explorer, and was recently named the second-ever Explorer Trustee of the National Geographic Society Board of Trustees. His groundbreaking documentaries have aired globally on networks like National Geographic, BBC, Netflix, Apple,Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet. His work spans from the elusive snow leopard in the Himalaya to the Okavango Delta in Botswana & the endangered Kemp’s Ridley turtles in Mexico. Sandesh is the producer of a 3-part docuseries for National Geographic titled ‘Wild Cats of India’ & ‘India’s Wild Leopards’. His first documentary, Sahyadris: Mountains of the Monsoon (2002), which was accompanied by his first book, earned critical acclaim while drawing attention to one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots, and helped convince UNESCO to name the Western Ghats a World Heritage Site in 2012.

He is also the co-author of two books, Sahyadris: India’s Western Ghats – A Vanishing Heritage (2005) and Himalaya – Mountains of Life (2013). His work has won a slew of prestigious international awards, including a 2017 EMMY nomination and the 2017 BAFTA award for his work on BBC Planet Earth II and was nominated twice for a Green Oscar at the Wildscreen Film Festival, among many other awards and nominations. Sandesh hopes that his photographs and documentaries will reveal places and species people rarely see and will inspire new passion to protect them. “I help people connect emotionally with the beauty of the wilderness, bring conservation issues to light, and raise awareness in a way that fosters respect and concern. I also try to make powerful graphic images that expose how much we are losing.” He is the founder and director of Felis Creations and co-founder of Conservania.

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Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl

Professor and NoVo Foundation Endowed Chair in Social and Emotional Learning, University of Illinois Chicago

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About Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl

Dr. Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl is the NoVo Foundation Endowed Chair in Social and Emotional Learning and Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago. A former middle school and alternative high school teacher for youth at risk, she earned her MA from the University of Chicago and her PhD from the University of Iowa, followed by postdoctoral work as a Fellow in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Clinical Research Training Program in Adolescence at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

Internationally recognized for her expertise in social and emotional learning (SEL), Dr. Schonert-Reichl’s research centers on the factors that promote empathy, compassion, altruism, and resilience in children and youth. She has led numerous studies evaluating SEL programs such as Roots of Empathy, MindUp, and Kindness in the Classroom, and has also examined SEL’s impact on teacher well-being and how SEL can be integrated into teacher preparation programs. Dr. Schonert-Reichl has collaborated with neuroscientists and psychobiologists to explore the biological underpinnings of children’s social and emotional development, including stress physiology and social epigenetics. A leading figure in SEL assessment, she spearheaded the development of the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI), a population-level measure capturing children’s self-reported well-being and social and emotional competencies.

Used globally and translated into multiple languages, the MDI has been administered to more than 400,000 children and is being used in international projects, including a current initiative in Tuluá, Colombia. Her contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including the 2021 Janusz Korczak Medal for Children’s Rights Advocacy, the 2019 Postsecondary Leader of the Year Award (Canadian EdTec), the 2015 Joseph E. Zins Distinguished Scholar Award for outstanding SEL research, and the 2009 Confederation of University Faculty Associations BC’s Paz Buttedahl Career Achievement Award in recognition of sustained outstanding contributions to the community beyond the academy through research over the major portion of a career.

In total, she has authored over 185 scholarly publications, has co-edited two books on mindfulness in education, and has a recent co-edited book Social and Emotional Learning in Action: Creating Systemic Change in Schools (2023). She is Editor-in-Chief of Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy, the first academic journal dedicated to SEL, published by Elsevier. Dr. Schonert-Reichl serves on several influential boards and advisory groups, including the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the Karanga Global Alliance for SEL and Life Skills, and UNESCO’s MGIEP. She also chairs the Scientific Research Advisory Committee of the Goldie Hawn Foundation and has advised the OECD’s Education 2040 initiative and the British Columbia Ministry of Education on SEL-informed curriculum reforms.

Since 2006, Dr. Schonert-Reichl has participated in dialogues with the Dalai Lama on compassion and educating the heart—experiences highlighted in the 2017 documentary The Last Dalai Lama? Her work has been featured widely in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, The Atlantic, and Scientific American Mind, underscoring her global influence in the field of SEL and child development.

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Mia Jafari

Founder, Fluid Labs

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About Mia Jafari

My work aims to transform corporate cultures by designing innovation programs that tackle real challenges holistically. My upcoming book “Collaborating with Life” (October 2025) shares my research and insights that explore how innovation starts with an inner journey and how, when combined with technology, this mindset can create solutions that honour both our creativity and life itself.

Since 2010, I have been designing, planning, and executing innovation and entrepreneurship programs for universities, foundations, and banks, including the University of Arts London, Emirates Foundation, Impact Hub, Abu Dhabi Arts and Music Foundation, Commercial Bank of Dubai, and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. My company Fluid Labs, founded in 2023, builds innovation systems that benefit people, planet and profits.

Unlike traditional approaches, I’ve found transformation sticks when people feel truly inspired, supported and aligned with a vision they believe in. I aim to break down complex tech and business ideas into practical contexts that help everyone think like entrepreneurs. I am driven by unlocking creativity through wellbeing, building future-fit business models, and forming partnerships where organizations, people and life can flourish together.

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Nektarios Liolios

Co-founder, The Future Farm

About Nektarios Liolios

Nektarios ‘fell into’ banking and spent the first 15 years of his career in very traditional roles in finance. This changed in 2011 when he joined an innovation team, a step that became his path out of the corporate world and into entrepreneurship. Since then he has started multiple business and has worked closely with hundreds of entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses.

He is the cofounder of Startupbootcamp FinTech, the world’s largest fintech startup accelerator, the Innotribe Startup Challenge, the first global fintech startup competition and Radish Credit, a lending platform, helping underserved communities to finance important life needs. Driven by the realisation that nobody cares about the emotional needs of founders, he cofounded The Future Farm in 2019, a global community dedicated to healthier entrepreneurship. Driven by collaboration and the desire to improve the lives of people, Nektarios is a global nomad, travel geek, and sneaker freaker.

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Diego Ruete

Fooducator, Fooducation for all – Petit Gourmet

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Diego Ruete is a 49-year-old cook, preschool teacher, and Ashoka Fellow from Uruguay, with over 20 years of experience. He developed the concept of Fooducation by uniting his paths in food, education, and social change. A father of three, surfer, and passionate gardener, Diego sees cooking not just as a skill, but as a powerful, transformative practice.

His work places the use of local, seasonal vegetables at its core—fostering conscious food choices that nourish people, respect nature, and strengthen communities. He is the author of Hoy cocinamos nosotros (2016) and Educocina (2019), two books that reflect his commitment to learning through food and with purpose.