Wakanda Speakers

Creative artist, tech entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of FYI.AI, philanthropist and President of the i.am Angel Foundation, will.i.am has been recognized by nine Grammy Awards, a CLIO Award, an Emmy Award, A TIME 100 Impact Award, the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award, an Honorary Fellowship by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award.

He is simultaneously a creative innovation advisor, futurist, music artist, entertainer, tech entrepreneur and philanthropist as part of his fluid cross-disciplinary career.

What drives will.i.am’s entrepreneurial spirit in innovation and technology is his work as a philanthropist, where he encourages inner-city, disadvantaged youth to apply themselves in STEAM fields so they can get prepared for an AI, autonomous, robotic and highly technical tomorrow.

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Van Jones is a U.S. media personality, entrepreneur and world-class change maker. Jones has a rare track record of bringing people together to do hard things -- in areas as diverse as clean energy solutions, criminal justice reform and racial inclusion in the tech sector. In 2007, Van was the primary champion of the Green Jobs Act, signed into law by George W. Bush. In 2009, he worked in the Obama White House as the Special Advisor for Green Jobs. In 2018, he helped pass the FIRST STEP Act – which the New York Times calls the most substantial breakthrough in criminal justice in a generation. In 2021, Jones was the first recipient of Jeff Bezos’ Courage & Civility Award. Van is a CNN host, an Emmy Award-winning producer and a 3X New York Times best-selling author.

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Joy Buolamwini is a poet of code who uses art and research to illuminate the social implications of artificial intelligence. She founded the Algorithmic Justice League to create a world with more equitable and accountable technology. Her TED Featured Talk on algorithmic bias has over 1 million views. Her MIT thesis methodology uncovered large racial and gender bias in AI services from companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. Her research has been covered in over 40 countries, and as a renowned international speaker she has championed the need for algorithmic justice at the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. She serves on the Global Tech Panel convened by the vice president of European Commission to advise world leaders and technology executives on ways to reduce the harms of A.I.

As a creative science communicator, she has written op-eds on the impact of artificial intelligence for publications like TIME Magazine and New York Times. In her quest to tell stories that make daughters of diasporas dream and sons of privilege pause, her spoken word visual audit "AI, Ain't I A Woman?" which shows AI failures on the faces of iconic women like Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Serena Williams as well as the Coded Gaze short have been part of exhibitions ranging from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to the Barbican Centre, UK. A Rhodes Scholar and Fulbright Fellow, Joy has been named to notable lists including Bloomberg 50, Tech Review 35 under 35, BBC 100 Women, Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech (youngest), and Forbes 30 under 30. She holds two masters degrees from Oxford University and MIT; and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. A former pole vaulter, she still holds sentimental Olympic aspirations. Fortune Magazine named her to their 2019 list of world's greatest leaders describing her as "the conscience of the A.I. Revolution."

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Grammy Award Winning producer and instrumentalist Lawrence ‘Rance’ Dopson has changed the sound of popular music several times over through his work with countless artists including Kendrick Lamar, Nipsey Hussle, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, and Alicia Keys. He’s served as musical director for Jay-Z, Usher, Khalid, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Migos, and Rick Ross.

Along with musical partner James Fauntleroy, Rance co-founded the 1500 Sound Academy – a state-of-the-art facility in Inglewood, California that provides music and entertainment industry education, one-on-one coaching, conference events, and much more.

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Ashton Kutcher is an American actor, producer, former fashion model and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. He also created, produced and hosted Punk'd, and played lead roles in the Hollywood films Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, The Guardian, and What Happens in Vegas.

He is an entrepreneur and social activist. He co-founded Sound Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in new and emerging technologies including AI. Additionally, he co-founded Thorn, an international anti-human trafficking organization that works to address the sexual exploitation of children.

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Don Allen Stevenson III is a visionary XR and AI futurist. Known as the "Bob Ross" of the Metaverse, Don has carved out a unique niche in the intersection of art and technology, with a prowess leading him to prominent platforms like TED 2023, MIT, and Cannes Lions to share his insights on the future of creativity. Don honed his skills and understanding of the industry working at DreamWorks Animation, and now collaborates with major tech and entertainment companies such as Meta, OpenAI, Universal and more, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the digital realm. "But it's not all about technology— he's a strong advocate for balancing health, finances, family, and community while living fully in accordance with core values and life goals. His values and pursuit of excellence and apparent in his work, and his passion for empowerment and creativity is truly inspiring."

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Laurie Segall is the founder of Mostly Human Media, an entertainment company with a focus on society and artificial intelligence.

Segall is the author of Special Characters: My Adventures with Tech’s Titans and Misfits, a memoir chronicling her experience reporting during the late 00’s tech boom. Formerly CNN’s senior tech correspondent and a reporter for 60 Minutes, Segall has interviewed the world’s most influential tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook. Her access to the titans of tech has allowed her to give audiences a behind-the-scenes look at companies like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Uber during their meteoric rise.

Segall served as executive producer and host of CNN’s Mostly Human with Laurie Segall, A docuseries that explored sex, love, death, and humanity through the lens of tech. She has received numerous awards for her work championing women, including a Gracie Award for her docuseries Revenge Porn: The War on Women, which shed light on an alarming type of cyber harassment aimed at women.

She interviews the tech billionaires, but has committed her career to covering those impacted by their code.

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Samantha Tweedy is the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Black Economic Alliance. An accomplished executive, fundraiser, strategist and Yale Law-trained attorney, she has spent two decades working to increase economic mobility and opportunity for Black people. Samantha also served as the inaugural President of the Black Economic Alliance Foundation—the nation’s leading organization harnessing the collective expertise and influence of Black business leaders and allies to build generational wealth for the Black community.

Samantha brings two decades of experience building and leading transformative racial and economic justice initiatives at the intersection of the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. She was the first Chief Partnerships and Impact Officer at the Robin Hood Foundation, where she developed and directed the Power Fund to invest in nonprofit leaders of color and the High-Quality Schools Fund to support innovative school models for New York City.

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Dr. Kelly Burton is the CEO of the Black Innovation Alliance and author of “How I Used the World’s Largest Professional Network to Build a Nationally-Recognized Brand.”A trained political scientist, serial entrepreneur and change agent, she leads the Black Innovation Alliance coalition of 116 Black led-organizations, which support more than 400K innovators of color across the country.

Burton’s work has been featured by numerous media outlets, including TechCrunch, Inc., Forbes, Fast Company, Essence Magazine, NBC News, and Marketplace (NPR). She was recently added to the executive board of Fast Company.

In addition to her entrepreneurial endeavors, Burton serves on the board of directors for the Center for Action and Contemplation, founded by Franciscan friar and spiritual teacher, Father Richard Rohr.

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Daouda Leonard, CEO of CreateSafe, Inc., a music tech company building a GenAI production studio for artists to automate the creation, distribution and marketing of music IP. After 15 years of working on production teams for artists like Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Justin Bieber as well as managing businesses for artists like Grimes, Skrillex and DJ Snake, Daouda started CreateSafe to build software products for artists and managers to build and scale their business. Daouda has worked as a manager, publisher, producer, A&R and creative director throughout his career in the music industry. His education and corporate work experience brought him to places like Northeastern University, Tudor Investment and MIT Lincoln Laboratory where he learned about Computer Science, Management Information Systems and how to build computers for stock and equities traders.

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X. Eyeé is the CEO of Malo Santo, an AI consulting firm offering education and training, product development, governance and compliance, and support for AI investing. She is an expert and public commentator on AI, a former Product Manager and member of the Google Research Data and Media Understanding Team for Responsible AI, and a former Blockchain ambassador for Google.

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