Uncle Paul Gordon is a cultural leader and custodian of Aboriginal Lore throughout Australia and has dedicated his life to teaching and connecting stories. He leads camps and workshops for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to reconnect to culture. As a traditional knowledge holder and custodian of Aboriginal lore, he continues to share as part of his obligation to thousands of years of Aboriginal culture.

Ikimaliq Pikilak is an artist, author, filmmaker and traditional practitioner of Tunniit (Inuit Tattoo from Narsaq). A neurodivergent research nerd, she has been researching Inuit culture since 2016. Her passion about the preservation of Inuit culture is exemplified in the disseminating knowledge through her practice, art, children’s books and films.

Dr. Diana is the Director at Te Kurahuna LTD and is of Ngāti Porou descent raised in Porirua under the umbrella of Ngāti Toa. Diana began her journey in the health industry, training first as a nurse and then as a psychiatrist and is a Fellow of the Royal Australia New Zealand College of Psychiatry. Mahi a Atua became the philosophy behind Diana’s ground-breaking work. She and her husband, Mark Kopua, continue to grow a collective of Mataora (change agents who are trained in Mahi a Atua) to indigenise their respective communities.

Mark was raised in Mangatuna, by his old people and is considered a historian by his East Coast tribes of the North Island in New Zealand; Te Aitanga a Hauiti, Ngāti Ira, and Ngāti Porou. He was the master carver for several meeting houses both on the East Coast as well as in the lower North Island. He and a small group of moko artists are responsible for the reinstatement of moko into New Zealand society. He has trained several moko artists and continues to work as a moko artist and design consultant. Mark is a co-director for Te Kurahuna where he uses his skills as a storyteller and keeper of ancient Māori knowledge and whakapapa.

Tina Ngata is a Ngati Porou mother of two from the East Coast of Te Ika a Maui. Her work involves advocacy for environmental, Indigenous and human rights. This includes local, national and international initiatives that highlight the role of settler colonialism in issues such as climate change and waste pollution, and promote Indigenous conservation as best practice for a globally sustainable future

John Ridsdale, Hereditary Chief Na’Moks of the Tsayu Clan, Wet’suwet’en Territory is dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of First Nations’ culture, traditions and territories.

A mixed blood woman, Dr. Ruby is the Executive Director of Freedom Lodge, and an international healer, speaker and educator. She has spent her life developing and training others in Somatic Archaeology©, a transgenerational approach to wellness and reclaiming memory. Dr. Gibson is also the developer of Generational Brainspotting™, My Body, My Breath™ and the Historical Trauma Master Class for Native Americans. She is honored to witness the amazing capacity that each person has to reconcile suffering.

Patty Krawec (Anishinaabe/Ukrainian) is a founding director of the Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation and the author of Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future (2022) and Bad Indians Book Club: Reading At The Edge of a Thousand Worlds (2025), both published by Broadleaf Books. Her work centers on how Anishinaabe belonging and thought can inform faith and social justice practices and has also been published in Sojourners, Rampant Magazine, Midnight Sun, Yellowhead Institute, Indiginews, Religion News Service, and Broadview. She posts podcasts and essays with some regularity on her blog. You can find her online at daanis.ca

Emeritus Professor Judy Atkinson, is a proud Jiman, Bundjalung, Anglo-Celtic and German woman. She is the author of Trauma Trails – Recreating Songlines The Transgenerational Effects of Trauma in Indigenous Australia and has won many awards for her contributions to the understanding of trauma-related issues stemming from the violence of colonisation and the healing/recovery of Indigenous peoples. Presently she is the co-founder and patron of We Al-li Trust and continues to work across Australia and in Papua New Guinea.

Joe is a proud Wiradjuri/Wolgalu, First Nations Aboriginal man. He forged a successful professional sporting career as a rugby player and boxer, but after struggling with suicidal ideation and Bipolar disorder, he felt his true purpose was to help other people struggling with mental health. Joe is now an accomplished author and motivational speaker, teaching people tools to improve their well-being and in 2019 was named a dual winner of the Australian Mental Health Prize.

Darcia Narvaez is Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Born in Minnesota, she grew up living around the world as a bilingual/bicultural Puerto Rican-German American but calls Earth her home. Her earlier careers include professional musician, business owner, classroom music teacher, classroom Spanish teacher, and seminarian. She uses an interdisciplinary approach to studying evolved morality, child development and human flourishing. Her most recent books are Restoring the Kinship Worldview, and The Evolved Nest: Nature’s Way of Raising Children and Creating Connected Communities. Her recent short films are Breaking the Cycle, The Evolved Nest, and Reimagining Humanity. She hosts the webpage EvolvedNest.org and serves as president of KindredWorld.org.

Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows), aka Donald Trent Jacobs, Ph.D., Ed.D., is a renowned scholar and Oglala Pipe Carrier whose main focus is on the intersection of non-binary worldview reflection, Indigeneity, counter-hegemonic education, environmental ethics, animism, and global interconnectedness. Four Arrows has contributed to the discourse on how our pre-colonial worldview and traditional Indigenous knowledge can be integrated into contemporary educational systems to create a more holistic and culturally sensitive approach. He lives with his artist wife by the Pacific seas of Mexico and Canada.

Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation, is a lifelong Indigenous activist and advocate. He is the Founder, Host, and Executive Producer of First Voices Radio, which has aired for 30 years in New York City and Seattle/Olympia, Washington. In 2016, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy. He has also been nominated for the Indigenous Music Awards, the National Native American Hall of Fame, and the Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellowship. Tiokasin describes himself as a “perfectly flawed human being.”

Linda Thai, LMSW ERYT-200 is a trauma therapist and educator who specializes in brain and body-based modalities for addressing complex developmental trauma. Linda has worked with thousands of people from all over the world to promote mindfulness, recover from trauma, and tend to grief as a means of self care. Linda’s work centers on healing with a special focus on the experiences of adult children of refugees and immigrants. Her teaching is infused with empathy, storytelling, humor, research, practical tools, applied knowledge, and experiential wisdom. She has assisted internationally renowned psychiatrist and trauma expert, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, with his private small group psychotherapy workshops aimed at healing attachment trauma. She has a Master of Social Work with an emphasis on the neurobiology of attachment and trauma.

Jungwon Kim is an award-winning writer and cultural worker. She is also a communications leader, organizational strategy consultant, and journalist who has dedicated her professional life to human rights and environmental advocacy. As Head of Creative & Editorial at the Rainforest Alliance, she directed a multimedia team of writers, videographers, and graphic designers. Earlier in her career, she served as the editor of Amnesty International USA’s human rights quarterly that featured the work of award-winning journalists and documentary photographers (circulation 300,000). She began her storytelling career as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and on-air correspondent for nationally syndicated public radio programs.