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Trang is a 2015 TED fellow and 2014 Echoing Green climate fellow. She's the founder and CEO of Fargreen, a social enterprise based in her home country Vietnam that builds sustainable mushroom farming communities to tackle both climate change and poverty issue. She had her MBA from the Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise program at Colorado State University (CSU), U.S.A in May, 2014. Growing up in a working class community in Vietnam and being the first one in her family go to college then the first to go abroad have fueled her tremendous passion toward international development work and social entrepreneurship. Trang has spent ten years working for both non-profit and for-profit development projects in Asia and Central America.

Trevor Aaronson is the executive director of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting and author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism. Aaronson reported and produced a one-hour documentary for Al Jazeera Media Network, “Informants,” about the FBI’s counterterrorism program. He co-founded the nonprofit Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, which won national and regional journalism awards under his leadership. A two-time finalist for the Livingston Awards, Aaronson has won more than two dozen national and regional awards, including the Molly National Journalism Prize, the international Data Journalism Award and the John Jay College/Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award. Aaronson has been featured on CBS This Morning, NPR’s All Things Considered, MSNBC, This American Life, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, WNYC’s On the Media and The Leonard Lopate Show, among others.

Trevor Timm is the co-founder and executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation. He writes a weekly column for The Guardian on the intersection of privacy, free speech, and national security, as well as a monthly column on the media and press freedom for Columbia Journalism Review. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Boing Boing, Politico, Al Jazeera, and Harvard Law and Policy Review,

BIOGRAPHY Tunde Jegede is a composer and musician who has been steeped in the traditions of European and African Classical music for the last 30 years. His music has been performed all over the world in concert halls such as, Carnegie Hall (New York), the Royal Albert Hall (London) and the Basilque (Paris) by international orchestras and artists including; The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia, London Sinfonietta, Brodsky Quartet, Smith Quartet and the percussion soloist, Evelyn Glennie. He is also a pioneer of African Classical Music and has a deep knowledge of traditional music and culture. As the the founder of the African Classical Music Ensemble, Tunde has gone on to perform and record with some of Africa's finest artists including Toumani Diabaté, Oumou Sangaré, Juldeh Camara and the Pan African Orchestra. From an early age, Tunde was uniquely schooled in both Western and African Classical Music. He attended the Purcell School of Music, UK's first specialist music school conservatoire and also studied the music of the Kora (African Harp-Lute) and the Griot tradition under the Gambian Master of the Kora, Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, in a hereditary tradition that dates back over 700 years. From this unusual parallel education, Tunde gained a deep understanding and appreciation of both forms of music and their distinct legacies, and all these strands and influences have since informed his music and work as an international classical composer. His music has since taken him all over the world and he has written three full-scale operas, twenty symphonic works and worked with over a hundred orchestras and chamber groups. Tunde has recorded four solo albums including his seminal debut album, 'Lamentation' and 'Still Moment' a meditative album of solo Kora. His brand new album, 'Heritage' will be launched in spring 2013. CV COMPOSER COMMISSION, ROYAL OPERA HOUSE 2012 Commissioned by the Royal Opera House, London, this multi-media opera was written for six opera soloists, a spoken word artist, African Classical Music Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra. It was premiered at the Royal Opera House in September 2012. COMPOSER COMMISSION, VIVA SINFONIA 2011 Commissioned by Viva Sinfonia to write a cello concerto for solo cello, contemporary dancer and symphony orchestra. It was premiered by Matthew Barley (Cello), Bode Lawal (Dancer) and Viva Sinfonia and recorded for BBC Radio 3. COMPOSER COMMISSION, SMITH QUARTET 2010 Commissioned by the Smith Quartet to write a piece for their new album, 'Dance' which also features works by John Adams, Tan Dun, Kevin Volans and Michael Finnissy and is released on Signum Classics record label. COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE, ST DENIS CLASSICAL MUSIC FESTIVAL (FRANCE) 2009 Commissioned to compose a new work for the legendary Malian artists, Oumou Sangaré, Toumani Diabaté, Kase Mady, the African Classical Music Ensemble and Brodsky Quartet, which was premiered at the Basilique, St.Denis, As part of his one year residency, he also gave several concerts with the African Classical Music Ensemble and members of L'Orchestre National de France. COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE, CHELTENHAM MUSIC FESTIVAL 2007-2009 Commissioned to write a new work for the Brodsky Quartet, a song cycle for the Opera soprano, La Verne Williams and a piece for the newly-formed festival orchestra as part of his three year composer residency. ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, ALFRISTON MUSIC FESTIVAL 2006 - 2007 Artistic Director for the Alfriston Summer Music Festival where he programmed a series of concerts featuring players from the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and prominent chamber music players from the London scene, to give recitals and concerts. COMPOSER COMMISSION, TRINITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC/GYE NYAME 2005 Commissioned by Trinity College of Music and Gye Nyame to compose a contemporary opera based on the story of Stephen Lawrence. Scored for soloists, gospel choir, operatic chorus, band and chamber orchestra, it was conducted by Terry Edwards and premiered at the Greenwich Theatre. COMPOSER COMMISSION, BBC PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 2005 Commissioned by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra to compose an oratorio for an Opera soprano, Malian vocalist, Jazz singer, Spoken Word Artist, African Classical Music Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. It was conducted by Jason Lai, premiered at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and recorded for BBC Radio 3. COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE, PRINCE CLAUS FOUNDATION (HOLLAND) 2004 - 2005 Commissioned by the Prince Claus Foundation to compose a chamber opera featuring some of West Africa's finest emerging singers, musicians and dancers. It was premeired in Jant-Bi, Senegal to an international audience that included the scholar, Prof. J.H. Kwabena Nketia and the directors of the Het Muziektheater Opera House (Amsterdam) and Theatre du Chatelet (Paris).

Uldus Vildanovna Bakhtiozina is a Russian born artist and film director, known as the one who challenges stereotypes through her work. Uldus is a woman of the year at Top 100 Women of 2014 year according to BBC channel. She is the first Russian speaker in the history of TED with talks in 2014 and 2017. Bakhtiozina's works have world recognition by such magazines as Vogue Italy, Aesthetica, Creative Review, Worbz Magazine and medias as CNN and BBC. Uldus's works are exhibited worldwide (London, Saint-Petersburg, Milan, Brussels, Moscow, Hong-Kong, Berlin, Istanbul), located in private collections, museums (Faberge Museum in Saint-Petersburg, Russia), foundations ( RUYA, Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Iraq). Bakhtiozina's works are largely exhibited through the group exhibitions among such artists as Marina Abramovic, Jan Fabre, Damien Hirst and Yoko Ono. In 2016 Vogue Italy named Uldus the best young fashion photographer. In 2017 Uldus became the finalist of prestigious Laguna Art Prize. Since 2017 Uldus producing and directing films, both art and fashion. She works as an artist and costume designer with such organisations as Royal Opera House and Rambert. Living artistic life between art, fashion and film, in 2019 Uldus became an official ambassador of WomenInCulture and ambassador of Gucci Beauty, keep sharing her ideas and experience through lectures and visionary works.

Usman Riaz is a composer, film director, scriptwriter and animator born in Pakistan. Usman received a full scholarship to study Composition & Performance at the Berklee College of Music, in Boston, United States. Before that he also had studied Graphic Design at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi, Pakistan. As music composer he has published the Albums 'Flashes & Sparks' with EMI Pakistan in 2011 and 'Circus in the Sky with EMI Pakistan in 2012. He has written, directed and scored the live action short film 'RUCKUS' that premiered at TED Global 2012 and took part at SXSW 2013 and also the live action short film 'The Waves' that was an Official Selection at the 2013 New York City Independent Film Festival. The Glassworker will be his first feature and not only did he write the original story but also worked as scriptwriter with Moya O'Shea and produced the full storyboard and animatic himself. At 21 he was selected as a TED Fellow in 2012. He performed and spoke about his work at TED Global 2012, playing percussive guitar alongside master Preston Reed after he had learnt to play by watching videos on YouTube. He was selected as a TED Senior Fellow in 2013 and has spoken at TED and TED Conferences in Japan, India, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Turkey, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States.

Madhavan is the Managing Director of Skills Education Private Limited. Skills Education Pvt Ltd seeks to provide young people from low-income families with the information and skills to find employment. Skills Education also engages with employers to help reduce their attrition and to improve access to people for entry level jobs. Madhavan moved back to New Delhi in August 2012 after 8 years living and working in the Kumaun Himalayas as the Executive Director of the Central Himalayan Rural Action Group (Chirag), After moving back to New Delhi, Madhavan spent eight months as a Consultant to the High Level Committee on status of Women in India - a committee set up by the Government of India to prepare a report on the status of women in India by reviewing all existing government programmes, schemes and laws and submit recommendations on how to improve the status of women. Madhavan has spent fifteen of the past two decades living and working in villages - promoting an integrated rural development approach - first in the desert in Rajasthan and more recently in the mountains of Uttarakhand. Madhavan commenced his professional career in the desert districts of north-western Rajasthan with the Urmul Trust and its affiliates where he spent 7 years before relocating to Delhi. In Delhi, Madhavan worked on policy advocacy with ActionAid, consulted independently and spent a little over three years working on the issue of women and governance with The Hunger Project. After the desert and Delhi, the mountains presented a new challenge where Madhavan spent eight years. Now he's back in the city - trying to apply his experiences of the past two decades on a larger canvass. Madhavan is one of theTrustees of The Action Northeast Trust (The ANT) (www.theant.org), an organization that works amidst largely tribal communities in Assam as well as the The ANT Craft Trust which runs a store in Bangalore primarily for craft products from the North East of India. Madhavan is also on the Board of the All India Artisans and Craft-workers Welfare Association. Madhavan's interests include agriculture and rural livelihoods, education and community health, community based institutions, the not-for-profit sector and international politics in which Madhavan received his Masters from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Over two decades of working in diverse environments to build enterprises for low income communities. Entrepreneur, Fund Manager, Investor. Africa, Asia, Europe, US. Worked across Not for Profit ( Oxfam, CARE, Acumen) and For Profit (Unilever) before launching own firm Impact Investment Partners in London in 2010. Chevening Scholar and Asia Society Global Young leader. On multiple global boards and investment committees.

Veronica's major field of work and research is environmental design, energy efficiency and climate responsive architecture. She serves as vicepresidente of Ecuador’s green building council CEES and is a leading expert in environmental certification systems for buildings. Founder of VIVA Arquitectura and Sustainable Design Studio. Fulbright Scholar, received a Masters degree in Advanced Technology buildings from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and a Master of Science in Building Design with concentration in Climate responsive architecture and energy performance from Arizona State University.

2017 TED Global Fellow. Cancer research scientist. Cancer survivor. Science writer - bylines in The Times, The Guardian, Forbes online.

Vijay embarked on his music career at 17 when he decided to drop-out and start managing rock bands with a vague plan of wanting to do ‘something’ in the 'indie' space. What started as a hobby soon became a full fledged career as he founded Only Much Louder (OML), the first artist management company for indie bands in India in 2002. Fueled by a strong DIY ethic, OML launched Counter Culture Records in 2007 which started their own distribution for emerging artists. Babblefish Productions was started in 2008 as the video production arm of OML to help give indie artists a visual identity by developing music videos, documentaries and podcasts. OML Digital is the latest venture based out of Bangalore and focuses on creating direct to fan platforms for indie musicians in India. Over the last 7 years OML has booked artists for over 400 concerts, produced festivals of international repute, released independent artists and established themselves as one of the key players in the Indian music industry. Vijay just won the prestigious British Council International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2009 making him the first Indian to achieve this feat. He was featured in ‘India Today’, a leading national magazine in their Spirit of India feature as a young entrepreneur to watch out for. He is currently working with different music export offices and agencies helping them tap into the Indian indie market and break Indian acts across the world. Vijay believes he is extremely lucky that his vocation is aligned with his biggest passion - music. The freedom to paint his own canvas as an entrepreneur is exhilarating and the challenges he faces each day make his life far richer than it would have been had he chosen the well-trodden, conventional path.

Viraj is the co-founder and CEO of Gotham Greens, a New York-based company working to advance sustainable urban agriculture. Gotham Greens operates New York City’s first and largest commercial scale, greenhouse facility. Prior to founding Gotham Greens, he spent three years as a Project Manager at an environmental engineering firm. Viraj has managed sustainable development projects in Ladakh, India and Malawi, Africa focusing on green building techniques, renewable energy, fuel efficient cookstoves, and environmental design. His written work has appeared in several publications including the UN Academic Journal and a new book, “100% Renewable – Energy Autonomy in Action.” Viraj has delivered presentations on sustainability at a variety of settings including the Parsons School of Design, New York; Wageningen University, Holland; Urban Futures 2030, Germany; and Ecocities World Summit, San Francisco. He has received fellowships from the Wild Gift, where he is currently a board member, and the Environmental Leadership Program. Viraj is a LEED® Accredited Professional and graduate of Colgate University, New York and Doon School, India.