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Dean Carlson will offer the Opening Remarks of the 8th Annual Designing for Empathy Summit.  She previously taught in the school’s Cosmetics and Fragrance MPS program. Dr. Carlson is an industry professional with over 25 years of executive leadership positions at Conair, Matrix, and L'Oréal, and Shiseido. Carlson holds a Doctor of Science from the University of New Haven, and a BS and MBA from Sacred Heart University.

Professor Cowan is the Co-Chair of the 8th Annual Designing for Empathy Summit. She is the Acting Chairperson, teaches exhibition development and evaluation; object and museum studies; research methodologies and audience studies in the School of Graduate Studies. Her background includes work for museums and design firms in the roles of interpreter, exhibition developer, education director, evaluator, and project manager. She is a Fulbright Specialist in the disciplines of museums, objects and mental health and her books include Museum Objects, Health and Healing, and Flourishing in Museums: Towards a Positive Museology. 

Elif is the curator and the Co-Chair of the 8th Annual Designing for Empathy Summit. She is a contemplative designer of empathy-building experiences and spaces that enrich the possibility for humans to deeply connect with their innermost selves and unlock the hidden potential within interconnectedness. She developed the Designing for Empathy® framework and its Annual Summit, and founded ONE: oneempathynetwork.com. Her upcoming book: Empathy-Building Through Museums (2026, American Alliance of Museums & Bloomsbury) is intended to be a toolkit for practitioners.

Marta Burnet's research and academic interests center on the powerful role of empathy in wildlife conservation. Her work explores strategies for cultivating empathy for wildlife within zoos and aquariums, aiming to inspire tangible conservation action and foster a deeper sense of caring. This includes innovative approaches to shifting guest perspectives on under-appreciated animals and leveraging critical anthropomorphism to advance both wildlife empathy and conservation efforts.

Monique is an artist, storyweaver, changemaker, and deeply curious woman. She utilizes the CAPE platform as a vehicle to have conversations about race and equity through the use of artwork, exhibitions, engagement with artists, and programming. She creates human centered spaces that expand visitor's perspectives and reveal our shared humanity.

With nearly 25 years of experience in the design and architectural field, Anne is responsible for design and execution of the Museum’s experiences. She oversees the permanent exhibits and collections, design consulting and traveling exhibitions programs, leading complex design teams consisting of artists, scientists and researchers. Anne has contributed to the Museum's Play with Real Stuff design philosophy and applied this approach to research in kindness and empathy.

Lizzie Gulick, MFA, studied textile processes at the Penland School in NC, apprenticed in wildcrafting and plant dyeing in NM and taught herself felting based on research and travel to sites of traditional felt making. Her work is informed by humanity’s relationship with the Sacred and of how we understand being human. She works with wool, plant dyes and clay. www.lizziegulick.com

Zorana Ivcevic Pringle is a Senior Research Scientist at Yale University and the author of The Creativity Choice. Zorana studies the role of emotion in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote creativity. She has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Education Week, Big Think, US News, Forbes, ArtNet, and others, and contributes to Psychology Today. She speaks at and works with organizations such as Pinterest, Lego, Ogilvy, and others.

Dr. Tumí Johnson creates and performs Healing Poemdances, dances that are crafted from her poetry and her experience as a physician, to powerfully instigate and propel the unique healing experience of the viewer. Tumí has performed these dances globally and now works with conscious art spaces that show video of her Healing Poemdances as art exhibitions. https://drtumijohnson.com

For two decades Noël Koehn has invested her energies into museum research, analysis, and consulting. Advocating for creative problem solving and resourcefulness, Noël has helped numerous museum leaders focus their storytelling goals, improve outreach, and channel institutional enthusiasm toward marketable, community-relevant interpretive products and programs.

Susan Lanzoni is a writer and an historian of psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience. She received her PhD in the history of science from Harvard University and has taught courses in the history of science for over twenty years at Yale, Harvard and Tufts Universities. Her award-winning 2018 book, Empathy: A History, won the Cheiron best book prize in the history of the social sciences. Her current book project draws from scientific literature and experiential practice to chart empathy as a capacious practice drawing on emotion, the imagination, intellect, kinesthetic and aesthetic experience.

Jamie Lawyer is a museum leader and audience champion known for strategic, holistic experiences connecting visitors, art, and staff. She was named a 2024 Power 10 Museum Influencer by BlooLoop for her empathy-based approach to exhibitions and capacity building.  A second-degree black belt and former Tae Kwon Do instructor, she credits martial arts with influencing her focus on embodied experiences.

Micah Parzen has been the CEO of the Museum of Us (formerly the San Diego Museum of Man) for 15 years. His empathy-centered work focuses on how to develop better and better practices in what an anti-racist and decolonial museum can look like. Together with others, he is reimagining how museums can serve as sites of relational repair for communities everywhere.

Rebekah Rodriguez-Boerwinkle is a researcher at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. She has a background in cognitive science, psychology, and studio art. Her research examines creative behavior and art engagement, especially in applied and virtual settings. Rebekah also has a passion for research projects that support museums and cultural institutions through data-based visitor interventions and grant support that leverages visitor data.

Michelle Seaters is the founder of Prometheon Consulting, helping museums and cultural organizations navigate complexity with resilience and empathy. With 25+ years of international experience across the museum, healthcare, and energy sectors, she co-founded Ithra and Saudi Arabia’s first children’s museum. Combining cultural fluency, design thinking, and change management, she guides institutions through meaningful transformation, ensuring they thrive while staying true to their values.

Dr. Pablo P.L. Tinio is a Professor at the Department of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University where he also heads the Creativity and Aesthetics Lab. He conducts research in empirical aesthetics and psychology of art and has published work with prominent museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Queens Museum, Contemporary Art Centre Andratx Spain, Belvedere Museum of Vienna, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Jim Wharton is the Chief Executive Officer at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo. Prior to this, Dr. Wharton led a team at the Seattle Aquarium that was instrumental in building innovative approaches to fostering empathy to drive conservation outcomes. This multiple award-winning project has transformed how zoos and aquariums engage with the public, influencing both educational content and professional development across the sector.

Amelia Winger-Bearskin (Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma) is the Banks Endowed Chair of AI & the Arts at UF and founder of the AI Climate Justice Lab. As New America’s Housing & AI Fellow (2025–26) and ACLS Digital Justice Seed Grant recipient, she creates Indigenous-led, justice-centered technologies, with her work showcased at Sundance, MoMA, and the Whitney.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, I first encountered sustainability and human-centered design at UC Davis. There, I learned that while art is about something, design is for something. I gravitated toward spatial design for its multidisciplinary nature—blending graphics, materials, lighting, and narrative into immersive experiences. My capstone thesis explores how exhibition designers can utilize the Torrance creativity framework to activate empathy. I’m interested in using design as a tool to blur the boundary between self and other, moving empathy into tangible practice.

Tanishka is a visual designer from India and a graduate student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she is pursuing a Master’s in Exhibition and Experience Design. With a strong background in branding and publication design, she brings a clean and thoughtful approach to visual storytelling. Her work focuses on translating ideas into spaces and experiences that engage audiences meaningfully, blending research, design, and narrative. She is passionate about exploring how design can spark dialogue and connect communities. 

Rhythm has always been the most compelling and visceral aspect of music for Dana McCurdy. In 2001, in response to his emotional stress from the World Trade Center attack, he was moved to begin a regular communal drumming practice as a therapeutic, meditative, and recreational outlet, which later, he began offering at a variety of community contexts, from nursing homes and recovery programs to corporations. https://danamccurdy.com/drum_circles/

Asal Shakeri is a multicultural storyteller and designer who crafts experiences that ignite curiosity, spark dialogue, and connects hearts across cultures and communities. She turns ideas into reality, challenges into solutions, the impossible into impact. Asal creates stories and design experiences at the crossroads of connection, education, and environment. Design is her language. Empathy is her tool. Connection is her mission. Care for the planet is her compass.

Jahnan Foundation was founded in memory of Jahnan Rahimpour—whose vibrant energy, boundless creativity, joy, and compassion touched hearts around the globe. The Jahnan Foundation is dedicated to building a more connected, compassionate, and sustainable future. Guided by Jahnan’s legacy of compassion, fearless imagination, and creative solutions, we envision a world where courage, kindness, and respect for both people and planet send ripples of lasting, positive change across the globe.