2025 Speakers and Artists
-
Sanford Biggers
Conceptual Artist
-
Melissa Chiu
Director, Hirshhorn Museum
-
Eric Latzky
Former Head of Communications, New York Philharmonic
-
Edwaard Liang
Artistic Director, Washington Ballet
-
Mark D. Sikes
Interior Designer
-
Anna Deavere Smith
Actress, Playwright, Teacher, and Author
Past Speakers and Artists
2024
-
Megan Beyer
Director, Art in Embassies
-
Elsabé Johnson Dixon
Visual Artist
-
Her Excellency Maguy Maccario Doyle
Ambassador of Monaco to the United States and Canada
-
Nicole Elkon
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional and Cultural Exchanges, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
-
Emilio Estefan
Music, Television, and Film Producer
-
Gloria Estefan
Singer, Actress, Songwriter, and Author
-
Lorrie Fair
Sports Envoy and Chief Program Director, Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project
-
Halim Flowers
Visual Artist
-
Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee)
Visual Artist
-
Jerome Grant
Executive Chef, Sweet Home Café
-
Danita Johnson
President of Business Operations, D.C. United
-
Scott Kratz
Director, 11th Street Bridge Park
-
Aba Kwawu
President and Founder, TAA PR
-
Dan Mickelson
Sports Diplomacy Chief, U.S. Department of State
-
Ana Navarro
Co-Host, The View
-
Rose Previte
Owner, Compass Rose & Maydan
-
Ali Rogin
Correspondent, PBS NewsHour
-
AJ Ross
Correspondent, CBS Sports
-
Virginia Shore
Co-Curator, Mother Earth
-
Sarah Tanguy
Co-Curator, Mother Earth
-
Alan van Capelle
Executive Director, Friends of the High Line
Past Speakers and Artists
2023
-
Nolen V. Bivens
President and CEO, Americans for the Arts
-
Irina Bokova
Former Director-General, UNESCO
-
Marianne Boesky
Founder, Marianne Boesky Gallery
-
Kaitlan Collins
Host, CNN’s The Source
-
Nekisha Durrett
DC Artist, For Freedoms
-
Vanessa Friedman
Fashion Editor, New York Times
-
Tuliza Fleming
Curator of Visual Art at the National Museum of African American History and Culture
-
Maria Fernanda Garcia Velazco
Cultural Attaché, Embassy of Uruguay
-
Eric Gottesman
Co-founder, For Freedoms
-
Jonathan Katz. Ph.D.
Founding Figure in Queer Art History, University of Pennsylvania
-
Richard Kurin
Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large, Smithsonian
-
Aba Kwawu
Founder & President, TAA PR
-
Deborah Lehr
CEO and Managing Partner, Edelman Global Advisory
-
Patricia Michaels
Native Designer and Project Runway finalist
-
Marilyn Minter
Artist
-
T.H. Lee Satterfield
Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
-
Dr. Kateryna Smagliy
First Secretary, Public and Cultural Diplomacy, Embassy of Ukraine
-
Hank Willis Thomas
Artist and Co-founder, For Freedoms
Past Speakers and Artists
2022
-
Laura Ballman
Founder, Capital Art Strategies
-
Def-i
Musician
-
Krista Kim
Digital Artist and Founder, Techism Movement
-
Faridah Mohammed
Representative, Embassy of Nigeria
-
Symone Sanders
Host, MSNBC’s SYMONE
-
Ngaire Blankenberg
Director, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
-
Kevin Gover
Under Secretary for Museums and Culture, Smithsonian
-
Kate Knibbs
Senior Writer, WIRED
-
Wanda Nanibush
Curator of Indigenous Art, Art Gallery of Ontario and Author, Violence No More: The Rise of Indigenous Women.
-
Mark V. Vlasic
Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center
-
David Breslin
Director of Curatorial Initiatives, Whitney Museum of American Art
-
Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle
Global Director of Online Sales, Pace Gallery NYC
-
Courtney M. Leonard
Artist and Filmmaker
-
Jami Powell
Curator of Indigenous Art, Hood Museum of Art
Past Speakers and Artists
2021
-
Bela Bajaria
Head of Global TV, Netflix
-
Carla Canales
Classical Singer/Advocate
-
Jonathan Capehart
Journalist
-
Allison Janae Hamilton
Visual Artist
-
Kal Penn
Actor; Former Associate Director
White House Office of Public Engagement
-
Art Smith
Chef, Culinary Diplomacy Project
-
Laurent Claquin
President, Kering Americas
-
Midori
Violinist
-
Pedro Reyes
Visual Artist
-
Fred Tomaselli
Visual Artist
-
Alan Yang
American Screenwriter
-
Massimiliano Gioni
Artistic Director, The New Museum
-
Rachel Lehmann
Co-founder, Lehmann Maupin
-
Shirin Neshat
Visual Artist
-
Divinity Roxx
Musician/Composer
-
Darren Walker
President, Ford Foundation