Danah Abdulla is a designer, educator and researcher interested in new narratives and practices in design that push the disciplinary boundaries and definitions of the subject. She is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Anti/Post/Decolonial Histories, Theories, Praxes at the Decolonising the Arts Institute at University of the Arts London (UAL). She is the author of two books: Designerly Ways of Knowing: A Working Inventory of Things a Designer Should Know (Onomatopee, 2022), and Design Otherwise: Transforming Design Education in the Arab Region (Bloomsbury, 2025). www.dabdulla.com.

Rachel [she/her] is an independent creative executive shaping the future of design at the intersection of brand, culture, and technology. Since founding her SF-based consultancy in 2020, she has brought her expertise to larger companies like Airbnb and Dropbox and women-founded ventures such as Chicken & Egg Films and Acora.

Debra has been the Design Director of The New York Times for Kids since 2017. Previously she spent more than 25 years working as an editorial Art Director designing magazines such as Rolling Stone, House and Garden, Condé Nast Traveler, Esquire and More magazine.

Hi, I’m Gurudutt — your go-to creator for blending brains, beauty, and business into seamless digital experiences. 🚀 I thrive at the crossroads of engineering precision, creative artistry, and business impact, turning complex challenges into intuitive solutions that inspire.

Interdisciplinary artist, inventor, co-founder, executive, design leader, DJ, dancer, designer, and aspiring writer. Background in design, engineering, and interdisciplinary mischief. Decades of experience shipping products and experiences, including work on multiple operating systems and inventions that have now become ubiquitous and everyday.

My name is Abby Covert. I am an author, teacher and community leader in the field of information architecture. My work aims to make information architecture and sensemaking skills accessible to everyone.

I started learning design at two years old on my father’s letterpress (yes, really - there’s a photo to prove it). I’ve been creating ever since, following in his footsteps as a second-generation design and Creative Director.

Lou Downe is the author of Good Services, the bestselling book on how to design services that work and the founding director of the School of Good Services. Lou is the former Director of Design for the UK Government where they founded the discipline of service design, growing a 2000 strong team of designers into one of the largest, and most influential design team’s in the UK - winning a Designs of the Year award and a D&AD lifetime achievement award