Adrian Ellis - Founder of AEA

Adrian founded AEA (www.aeaconsulting.com) in 1990. AEA is a leading consultancy with a global client base in the cultural sector, working in the fields of cultural planning for public agencies; concept development and design for new cultural initiatives in the public, private and nonprofit sectors; and strategic and operational planning for cultural institutions. He returned to his full-time position at AEA at the beginning of 2012, after serving as Executive Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center from 2007 to 2011. Prior to founding AEA, he was Executive Director of The Conran Foundation, where he was responsible for planning the establishment of the Design Museum in London. Adrian writes and lectures extensively on internationally on management and planning issues in the cultural sector. In May 2010, he was a Scholar in Residence at Teachers College of Columbia University where he taught a graduate seminar series on Special Topics in International Cultural Policy. In 2012, Adrian was named a “Jazz Hero of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Hudson Valley.

Julia Kaganskiy - Director of NEW INC, New Museum

Julia Kaganskiy, Director of NEW INC, is a recognized cultural producer across the art and technology fields. She previously served as Global Editor of the Creators Project, a partnership between VICE Media Group and Intel, and founded #ArtsTech Meetup, a group that brings together professionals from New York City’s museums, galleries, art-related start-ups, and digital artists. She has been cited by Fast Company (2011) andBusiness Insider (2013) as one of the most influential women in technology and profiled in the 2012 AOL/PBS series MAKERS honoring women leaders.

David van der Leer - Executive Director, Van Alen Institute

David van der Leer is specialized in the contemporary urban condition and creates programs that address urban issues through dialogue, academic research and experiments as well as experiential installations. Van der Leer’s programs bring together professionals, and students from the design and art fields, with academics, scientists, policy makers and city officials as well as engaged urbanites in cities around the world.

Currently Van der Leer is Executive Director of Van Alen Institute in New York City, which since its founding in 1894, has promoted innovative thinking about the role of architecture and design in civic life. Today the Institute’s competitions, research, and public programs shape the public conversation and bring design excellence to the built environment of cities and sites around the world. Beyond guiding the Institute through board and committee development, a strategic planning process, an increased fundraising profile, a renovation, and re-branding; Van der Leer instituted multi-year inquiries that guide its competitions, research and public programs. The first initiative, Elsewhere: Escape and the Urban Landscape, explores the experience of escape in the urban environment. The Institute uses this process to expand its focus to the patchwork of suburban, semi-urban, and rural landscapes around cities to better understand the complexities of the extended urban environment, acting beyond the confines of the city and across regions. The Institute’s current projects include Rebuild by Design, a multi-stage, regional design initiative to promote resilience, public health, and prosperity in the Sandy-affected region through innovative planning and design, a project of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in which Van Alen Institute collaborates with New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge, the Municipal Art Society, and the Regional Plan Association.

Lindsay Miller - Managing Director, Dubai Design District

Lindsay Miller is the Managing Director of Dubai Design District, also known as D3, the region’s first community dedicated to the design industry.

Lindsay is responsible for developing and implementing the overall strategy of D3, part of TECOM Investments, with a focus on developing it as a world-class creative district that helps the regions’ design community realise its full potential, and serve as a global design gateway for the Middle East. D3 will nurture and develop local and Arab designers, as well as being home to some of the world’s leading brands and talent.

Prior to D3, Lindsay worked in various roles across TECOM Investments for six years, including Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development for the group’s six industry clusters. She has helped guide the commercial strategy of TECOM’s business parks, including Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City, and had a leading role in the development and establishment of the Dubai Film and Television Commission. As part of this role, Lindsay supported the project that brought Mission Impossible 4 to Dubai, and managed the National Media Council’s TV audience measurement project, which led to the establishment of Tview; the first initiative of its type in the GCC.

Prior to her role at TECOM, Lindsay worked for the Toronto International Film Festival and the National Film Board of Canada, after which she relocated to Dubai. Earlier, Lindsay was a flight instructor, preparing students to pilot 747-400 commercial aircraft.

Lindsay holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, and a MBA in Strategic Management from the Schulich School of Business, York University.