Sean McManus regularly advises companies in the areas of strategic communications, conferences, digital media and thought leadership. He was the original managing director of QuartzLive, the conferences and live events division of Quartz and director of programs at The Economist, leading content development for Economist Events in the Americas, including sponsored content and related digital media. Previously, he was a magazine editor; his work has appeared in the New York Times, New York magazine, Worth and Details. Sean has a master’s degree in US history and was a teaching assistant for Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

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Brett Dobbs has worked at the intersection of media, policy, technology, and law for the past decade. Prior to becoming an attorney, Brett worked for “Charlie Rose” on PBS and later at BigThink.com where he produced interviews with global leaders ranging from tech founders to heads of state. He has consulted for the World Economic Forum, BBDO, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the African Center for Economic Transformation, the Global Philanthropy Forum, the Salesforce Foundation, Ergo, and NewsDeeply - developing online and offline platforms for engagement among influentials. He also led development of the US-Africa Business Forum in Washington D.C. in 2014 and 2016 in New York for Bloomberg and the Commerce Department. He is a member of the Illinois and Wisconsin Bar Associations.

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Melissa Wall is a journalist and content strategist with over ten years of experience in digital and interactive content development. She is the former associate editor at the Huffington Post, a founding editor of the New York Times’ Freakonomics blog, the founding editor of Newsweek’s iPad edition, and she has appeared as an on-air commentator for CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox Business. Melissa creates award winning custom content and design for innovative websites. She has overseen site launches for brands such as Google, Citibank, Estee Lauder, and more. A former corporate litigator, she is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and a member of the New York Bar Association.

Julia Ford-Carther is a consultant and entrepreneur with over 10 years experience in new media and strategic communications. She has led content and program development for brands such as NBC, W Hotels, the Huffington Post. Shop Spring, and the World Happiness Summit. Additionally, Julia is on the founding team of Aminta Ventures, a coalition supporting the growth of the female investors in South Florida. Ford-Carther received her B.A. in Communications from Stanford University and is a graduate of the Babson College WIN Lab Miami accelerator program.

Chris Juby operates at the intersection of international affairs, communications, and media relations. He was an assistant director of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent, nonpartisan organization that provides insight and influences public discourse on global issues, where he coproduced over 200 public and private events annually. He is an expert in advanced logistics and operations, personnel management, media production, and project management. Recently, Chris served as publicity manager for the Public Affairs, Nation Books, and Economist Books imprints at Hachette Book Group, one of the five largest book publishers in the world. There, he directly managed leading nonfiction author/title publicity campaigns globally.

Yanikk Lewis is a research and strategy consultant with eight years of experience in conflict transformation and international development. Most recently, he has supported high-level strategic communications efforts in Syria and Iraq, and has also worked with organizations such as the US Institute of Peace, where he developed a national peacebuilding strategy for Syria; ALEF-Act for Human Rights, where he advocated for refugee policy reform in Lebanon; NewsDeeply; and the World Economic Forum. He has a Bachelors degree from School of Visual Arts and is a MA candidate in Visual and Media Anthropology.