Kim A. Snyder is an Academy Award nominee & Peabody Award-winning Director/Producer. Her latest feature documentary, THE LIBRARIANS, premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and has been nominated for a 2026 Primetime Emmy®. THE LIBRARIANS has won 30 festival awards, was released theatrically in over 200 cities internationally, and broadcast on PBS/Independent Lens. 
Her most recent short documentary, DEATH BY NUMBERS, was nominated for a 2025 Academy Award®. Snyder’s other acclaimed films include Us Kids (Sundance 2020), LESSONS FROM A SCHOOL SHOOTING (Best Short Doc Tribeca 2018, Netflix Original), NEWTOWN (Sundance 2016, Peabody Award, PBS/Independent Lens). She associate produced the Academy Award®-winning short TREVOR, which inspired The Trevor Project, a leading national nonprofit focused on LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention. 

John F. Szabo is the City Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library, which serves more than four million people—the largest population of any public library in the United States. He oversees the Central Library and 72 branches. Under his leadership, the Library’s major initiatives include those related to immigrant integration and citizenship, civic engagement, digital equity, and lifelong learning. He has expanded the library’s reach into the city’s diverse communities through partnerships with several community-based organizations. He has more than 30 years of leadership experience in public libraries, previously serving as the director of four libraries including the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. Recognizing his “genuine love of community” and how he has aligned library services with the city’s priorities, John was named Library Journal’s 2025 Librarian of the Year. 

Taylor Dwyer is Curator of Feuchtwanger Memorial Library at the University of Southern California, where she manages the rare book and archival collection of Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger, German exile collections, and Holocaust and genocide materials. She provides a range of library services including reference, instruction, exhibitions, and academic programming. She completed her undergraduate degree in History at Chapman University, and her Master of Library and Information Science at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Nikki High is the founder and owner of Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena, California. As an early reader, Nikki has always found safety in books, and her passion for books and storytelling continued to grow throughout her life. It is with this passion in mind and Nikki’s desire to create a literary and creative space she longed for as a child, Nikki opened the doors to Octavia’s Bookshelf on February 18, 2023. Octavia’s Bookshelf offers a highly curated selection of books across all genres written by BIPOC authors. When Nikki isn’t at the bookstore, you can find her somewhere reading (anywhere, really), working on a craft project, or hanging out with her husband and dogs, Freddie and Dayveon. 

Dr. Léa Steinacker is a social scientist and entrepreneur, who researches, teaches, and speaks about the intersection of technology with people, organizations, and the planet. She is the CEO of GaiaLogic AG, serves on the Board of Directors of Weleda AG and is a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen. Léa previously co-founded ada Learning, an upskilling and transformation company for the age of AI, and co-wrote the bestseller "Everything Everywhere All At Once: How AI Impacts Our World". She holds degrees from Princeton University, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the University of St. Gallen.    

Jodie Hopperton is a British American media executive based in Los Angeles, specializing in the intersection of product, technology, and news media. As the lead of the INMA Product & Tech Initiative, she explores how media organizations can leverage product thinking to drive growth, enhance customer experiences, and navigate the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem. Across her 20 years of international experience she has also lived in Paris, Madrid, and London and held leadership roles spanning technology startups and major media brands, including Director, EMEA Syndication & Licensing at The New York Times and Consultant COO at Global Editors Network. A sought-after speaker and moderator, Jodie is known for her engaging, insightful, and dynamic stage presence. With infectious enthusiasm, she brings energy and expertise to global conferences, leading discussions on AI, product strategy, and the future of news media, while inspiring audiences with her deep industry knowledge and global perspective.

Joan Weinstein is Vice President, Program Planning at Getty. She was previously Director of the Getty Foundation, where she was responsible for strategic grant initiatives internationally related to museum practice, art history, and conservation. In 2010, she co-created PST ART, Getty’s region-wide art experience involving dozens of cultural organizations throughout Southern California and directed the project through its first three iterations. She led the $40 million LA Arts Recovery Fund during the pandemic and the LA Fire Relief Fund for artists and arts workers following the 2025 fires. Weinstein began her career as a professor of art history at the University of Pittsburgh and is the author of several books and numerous articles on the history of modern art in Weimar Germany. She holds a PhD in the history of art from the University of California, Los Angeles, and studied at the Phillips-Universität Marburg.

Sandra Jackson-Dumont is the former director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, California. A curator and museum educator, Jackson-Dumont served as chair of education at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 2014 to 2020. Previously, she was deputy director for education and public programs and adjunct curator in modern and contemporary art at the Seattle Art Museum (2006-14). She has also held posts at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Throughout her career, Jackson-Dumont has developed programming around museum collections and special exhibitions for diverse audiences, including teens, families, young school children and their teachers, the blind and hearing impaired, as well as artists and scholars.

Kia Vahland has been an editor at the Süddeutsche Zeitung since 2008, where she was head of the art section until 2017 and co-founded the SZ opinion section in 2018. She studied art history and political science in Rome, Hamburg, and Dijon and worked as an editor for the magazine Art and the ZDF program “Willemsens Woche.” Vahland writes for Geo Epoche and is a columnist for Radio Bremen and the Swiss magazine Republik. She teaches at the Deutsche Journalistenschule and at LMU Munich. She is a 2026 Thomas Mann Fellow.

Erin Harkey is CEO of Americans for the Arts, where she drives the organization’s mission to advance the people, organizations, and systems supporting arts and culture across America through advocacy, research, and national convening. With more than 20 years of experience at the intersection of arts, public policy, and community development, she has built a career focused on strengthening the role of arts and culture in civic life. Prior to joining Americans for the Arts, Harkey served as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, following leadership roles as First Deputy Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner for Programming. She also served as Senior Policy Advisor for Arts and Culture in the Mayor’s Office, advising on cultural policy and strategy across government in Chicago.