Dr. Elie Haddad is a triple board-certified physician in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cardiac Electrophysiology. As a practicing cardiologist, he has spent decades studying the human body and the forces that shape health and disease. Beyond clinical medicine, he is the co-founder of the Homo plasticus movement, an initiative that uses art, science, and public education to raise awareness about the impact of micro and nanoplastics on human biology. Through his work, Dr. Elie seeks to bridge medicine, environmental health, and public awareness to inspire action for the future of human health.

Marcus Fontoura is currently in his second tenure as Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, where he works as CTO for Azure Core. He is also the author of A Platform Mindset: My lessons from developer to CTO, published in 2025 by 8080 Books. Most recently, he was the CTO at Stone.co (2022 2025), where he led the engineering organization. Previously, in his first tenure as Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft (2013-2022), Marcus worked as the chief architect for Azure Compute and led the Azure efficiency team. Marcus also had posts at Google, Yahoo, and IBM Research. He was a post-doc toral researcher at Princeton University and has received his Ph.D. in Computer Science by the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil (PUC-Rio)

Ruthe Farmer is the Founder and CEO of Last Mile Education Fund, the only nationwide safety net addressing the graduation gap among aspiring STEM talent from low-income communities - the largest pool of untapped technical talent in the US. A serial social entrepreneur and former Obama White House advisor, Ruthe has spent her career expanding access to technology and innovation workforce pathways. She envisions a world where the tools and technology used by all, are created by all. She has launched and scaled multiple enduring national education initiatives, including tech and engineering programs and strategy for Girl Scouts of the USA, Aspirations in Computing, now a 35,000+ member community of young women in tech, and inspiring millions of Latinas to explore technology careers through the TECHNOLOchicas campaign with Televisa and Univision. A strategist who looks for high leverage opportunities within systems, her work led to bipartisan federal legislation that unlocked millions in Department of Defense funding to expand computing education at 3421 JROTC host schools, increasing access for 4 million US high school students each year. Ruthe’s work is deeply informed by her own experience growing up in poverty, moving dozens of times before age 18. That lived experience fuels her belief that talent is universal, but opportunity is not—and that small, strategic interventions at the right moment can change the trajectory of a life. Her latest venture, the Last Mile Education Fund, is building a new kind of safety net for determined students who are just one unexpected expense away from dropping out, but fully capable of transforming our economy if given the resources to thrive, rather than just survive.

Vivienne Ming explores maximizing human capacity as a theoretical neuroscientist, delusional inventor, and demented author. Over her career she’s founded 7 startups, been chief scientist at 2 others, and founded The Human Trust, a philanthropic data trust and “mad science incubator” building a foundation model for human development. She co-founded Possibility Sciences to advance scientific discovery via massive scale hybrid intelligenc. She also develops AI tools for learning at home and in school, models of bias in hiring and promotion, and neurotechnologies for dementia, TBI, and postpartum depression. In her free time, Vivienne designs AI systems to treat her son’s diabetes, predict manic episodes in bipolar sufferers, and reunite orphan refugees with extended family members. For relaxation, she writes science fiction and spends time with her wife and children. Vivienne was named one of “10 Women to Watch in Tech” by Inc. Magazine and one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2017. She is featured frequently for her research and inventions in The Financial Times, The Atlantic, Quartz Magazine and the New York Times.