Speakers and Artists
2025
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Judy Battista
Senior National Columnist, NFL.com
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Geoff Bennett
Co-anchor and Co-managing Editor, PBS NewsHour
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Sanford Biggers
Conceptual Artist
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H.E. Geraldine Byrne Nason
Ambassador of Ireland to the United States
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Melissa Chiu
Director, Hirshhorn Museum
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Ashley Davis
Founding Partner, West Front Strategies
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Elizabeth Duggal
Chair, Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy
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Angela Lee Gieras
Executive Director, Shakespeare Theatre Company
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Jessica Glass
Co-founder of Atelier Verre
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Terry K. Harvey
Vice President, Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy
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Micah Hendler
Founder and Artistic Director, Jerusalem Youth Chorus
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Ambassador Stuart Holliday
CEO, Meridian International Center
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Natalie Jones
Executive Vice President, Meridian International Center
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T.H. Sydney Kamlager-Dove
U.S. Representative (CA-37)
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Eric Latzky
Principal, Culture Communications NY
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DeDe Lea
Executive Vice President, Global Public Policy and Government Relations, Paramount
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Edwaard Liang
Artistic Director, Washington Ballet
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Marlene Malek
Vice Chairman, Friends of Cancer Research
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Efe Obada
Free Agent, National Football League (NFL)
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Peter O'Reilly
Executive Vice President, Club Business, Major Events & International, National Football League (NFL)
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Mark D. Sikes
Interior Designer
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Paul Tetreault
Director, Ford’s Theatre
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Jerusalem Youth Chorus
Special Performance
Past Speakers and Artists
2024
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Megan Beyer
Director, Art in Embassies
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Elsabé Johnson Dixon
Visual Artist
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Her Excellency Maguy Maccario Doyle
Ambassador of Monaco to the United States and Canada
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Nicole Elkon
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional and Cultural Exchanges, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
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Emilio Estefan
Music, Television, and Film Producer
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Gloria Estefan
Singer, Actress, Songwriter, and Author
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Lorrie Fair
Sports Envoy and Chief Program Director, Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project
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Halim Flowers
Visual Artist
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Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee)
Visual Artist
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Danita Johnson
President of Business Operations, D.C. United
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Scott Kratz
Director, 11th Street Bridge Park
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Aba Kwawu
President and Founder, TAA PR
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Dan Mickelson
Sports Diplomacy Chief, U.S. Department of State
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Ana Navarro
Co-Host, The View
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Rose Previte
Owner, Compass Rose & Maydan
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Ali Rogin
Correspondent, PBS NewsHour
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AJ Ross
Correspondent, CBS Sports
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Virginia Shore
Co-Curator, Mother Earth
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Sarah Tanguy
Co-Curator, Mother Earth
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Alan van Capelle
Executive Director, Friends of the High Line
Past Speakers and Artists
2023
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Nolen V. Bivens
President and CEO, Americans for the Arts
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Irina Bokova
Former Director-General, UNESCO
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Marianne Boesky
Founder, Marianne Boesky Gallery
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Kaitlan Collins
Host, CNN’s The Source
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Nekisha Durrett
DC Artist, For Freedoms
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Vanessa Friedman
Fashion Editor, New York Times
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Tuliza Fleming
Curator of Visual Art at the National Museum of African American History and Culture
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Maria Fernanda Garcia Velazco
Cultural Attaché, Embassy of Uruguay
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Eric Gottesman
Co-founder, For Freedoms
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Jonathan Katz. Ph.D.
Founding Figure in Queer Art History, University of Pennsylvania
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Richard Kurin
Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large, Smithsonian
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Aba Kwawu
Founder & President, TAA PR
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Deborah Lehr
CEO and Managing Partner, Edelman Global Advisory
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Patricia Michaels
Native Designer and Project Runway finalist
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Marilyn Minter
Artist
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T.H. Lee Satterfield
Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
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Dr. Kateryna Smagliy
First Secretary, Public and Cultural Diplomacy, Embassy of Ukraine
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Hank Willis Thomas
Artist and Co-founder, For Freedoms
Past Speakers and Artists
2022
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Laura Ballman
Founder, Capital Art Strategies
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Def-i
Musician
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Krista Kim
Digital Artist and Founder, Techism Movement
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Faridah Mohammed
Representative, Embassy of Nigeria
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Symone Sanders
Host, MSNBC’s SYMONE
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Ngaire Blankenberg
Director, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
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Kevin Gover
Under Secretary for Museums and Culture, Smithsonian
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Kate Knibbs
Senior Writer, WIRED
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Wanda Nanibush
Curator of Indigenous Art, Art Gallery of Ontario and Author, Violence No More: The Rise of Indigenous Women.
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Mark V. Vlasic
Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center
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David Breslin
Director of Curatorial Initiatives, Whitney Museum of American Art
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Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle
Global Director of Online Sales, Pace Gallery NYC
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Courtney M. Leonard
Artist and Filmmaker
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Jami Powell
Curator of Indigenous Art, Hood Museum of Art
Past Speakers and Artists
2021
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Bela Bajaria
Head of Global TV, Netflix
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Carla Canales
Classical Singer/Advocate
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Jonathan Capehart
Journalist
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Allison Janae Hamilton
Visual Artist
-

Kal Penn
Actor; Former Associate Director
White House Office of Public Engagement
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Art Smith
Chef, Culinary Diplomacy Project
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Laurent Claquin
President, Kering Americas
-

Midori
Violinist
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Pedro Reyes
Visual Artist
-

Fred Tomaselli
Visual Artist
-

Alan Yang
American Screenwriter
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Massimiliano Gioni
Artistic Director, The New Museum
-

Rachel Lehmann
Co-founder, Lehmann Maupin
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Shirin Neshat
Visual Artist
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Divinity Roxx
Musician/Composer
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Darren Walker
President, Ford Foundation
