John Bwarie, Stratiscope’s CEO, has more than two decades experience engaging communities, leading conversations, and fostering resilience. John co-created the ShakeOut and CA Clean Air Day and has worked for the Los Angeles Mayor and City Council. He advises leaders in academia, transportation, elected office, and other high visibility individuals. John teaches university-level community engagement and leads strategic facilitation for government, nonprofit, and corporate entities.

Co-Founder David Lesher is a veteran California journalist and state policy expert. He co-founded CalMatters in 2015 and led the organization as Editor/CEO until December 2018, when he continued to serve as Editor-in-Chief until May 2023. Previously, he was Director of Government Affairs at the Public Policy Institute of California, a non-partisan think tank focused on state policy issues. Lesher has more than 25 years of journalism experience, largely at the Los Angeles Times where he was a political writer, state Capitol reporter and assistant national editor for the White House campaign. He also has served as Editor of California Journal magazine and as California Director for the New America Foundation.

Ted is a recognized futurist that has presented worldwide at numerous conferences and events for the Movie, TV and interactive Entertainment industries. He’s been featured in Wired, Variety, NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC, CNET, Film and Video, DV Magazine, TV Technology, HD Video Pro, Engadget, Gizmodo, Millimeter, American Cinematographer, MacWorld, Post Magazine, Popular Science, and countless other publications. Ted worked as the futurist in Residence with the leadership and technology teams across Paramount Global, including CBS, CBS Sports, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Plus, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, PlutoTV and Comedy Central, exploring emerging tech for entertainment with an emphasis on Virtual and Mixed Reality, Web 3.0 and Advanced Themed Entertainment pursuits. Prior to joining Paramount, Ted was the futurist at 20th Century Fox, where he worked on the evolving art and science of advanced interactive visual storytelling. He was part of the creation team for the Martian VR and Wild VR experiences, which premiered at CES and Sundance. In 2019, Ted was honored at the Variety Hall of Fame with the Variety Innovation Award.

Michelle Woo is a cultural producer and arts business consultant based in Los Angeles. She is a Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of For Freedoms, an artist-run organization that models creative civic engagement for which she received a ICP Infinity Award in 2017 and a National Art Award in 2022. Her diverse role includes strategy and design of national campaigns, public art initiatives, exhibitions and programming. She also advises artists and organizations on business management and cultural strategy.