Jason Chau is a Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation and leads Emergency Relief and Learning & Innovation for the Emergency Response Team. In this role, he helps develop initiatives to address humanitarian crises and to improve the implementation of innovative approaches to meet acute needs. For over 16 years, Jason has supported initiatives for the White House National Security Council, USAID, the UN, and several international NGOs. He is a graduate of the Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs and the University of California, Santa Barbara, with degrees in marine biology, anthropology, French, and international affairs.

Dr. Anu Taranath brings both passion and expertise as a speaker, author, educator, and racial equity consultant. In her work, she partners with a range of people to deepen conversations on history, harm and healing. A professor at UW for 24 years, Dr. Anu knows that the most compelling conversations on race, identity, power, and belonging take place when people feel valued and heard. Her book "Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World" was named a Washington State Book Award Finalist, Newsweek's Future of Travel Winner in Storytelling, and included in Oprah Magazine’s “Best 26 Travel Books of All Times.” Visit www.anutaranath.com to learn more.

Beth has been with SIFF since 2003, and is responsible for managing the artistic vision of SIFF, including all aspects of programming for the Seattle International Film Festival, SIFF Cinema's 6 year-round screens, and the SIFF Education team. She secured SIFF's status as an Academy Award® qualifying festival for short film in 2008. Beth currently serves on the City of Seattle Film Commission and the Board of the Arthouse Convergence. In addition to her daily work in programming, Beth has served on juries and panels in Palm Springs, Park City, Cleveland, Nashville, Calgary, Vancouver BC and Berlin, Germany.

Cécile Wajsbrot was born in Paris in 1954. She writes novels, sometimes essays, radio dramas. In her five novels cycle about art the last one, Destruction, evokes a dystopic dictature in France forbidding all kind of arts except entertainment. Nevermore (2021 translated into English by Tess Lewis in 2024), deals with the process of translation. Plein Ciel (2024) with a personal inquiry about an unsolved air crash. Her seminaries in Berlin, Dresden or Innsbruck have been dealing with climate in literature and natural catastrophes as well as with migration. She translates from the English (Virginia Woolf) and the German (Peter Kurzeck), lives both in Paris and Berlin.

Richard Watts is associate professor in the Department of French and Italian Studies and founding co-director of the Translation Studies Hub at the University of Washington. He is a translator and conducts research and teaches courses in translation studies, the environmental humanities, and the literature and cinema the francophone world. In 2022, he developed a new course that explores the history of machine translation's development and how it is changing the way everyone—immigrant communities, tourists abroad, content creators, product managers, medical interpreters, even translators of poetry—approach translation today.

Providence Kamana is the founder and CEO of Cocreative Culture, a nonprofit disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline through restorative justice and cultural healing. A certified WA Credible Messenger and a graduate of Georgetown University’s program in Advancing Racial Justice and Equity in the Youth Legal System, he brings over eight years of experience mentoring and organizing with BIPOC youth. Born during the 1994 genocide in Eastern Congo and the grandson of King Matonda VIII, Providence is also an award-winning artist using music and Ubuntu values to empower under-resourced communities.

Jean Chaumont is a French-born guitarist and composer known for his musical and social depth. Since moving to Princeton, NJ, in 2014, he has made a mark on the international jazz scene. His debut album, The Beauty of Differences (2018), features Rudy Royston and Tierney Sutton. Chaumont has performed with top artists like Dan Tepfer and Jon Irabagon and appeared at major festivals and venues. As the founder of Jazz Vespers at Lake Forest Park Presbyterian, he curates monthly concerts. His work spans production, composition, and film scoring, including the documentary Le Bonheur en Suspens, aired on French national television.

Dylan Hayes is a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. A Cornish College of the Arts graduate, he studied under Dawn Clement, Jovino Santos Neto, and Jim Knapp. He has performed with top musicians like Benny Bennack III, Jay Thomas, and Johnaye Kendrick. His debut album Songs for Rooms and People (2020) was named a top ten jazz album by The Seattle Times. His band, Meridian Odyssey, received critical acclaim, winning Earshot Jazz's 2022 Northwest Recording of the Year. Dylan has arranged for The Carolina Philharmonic, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and Julian Priester's Fellowship 'Ceptet. Most recently, he performed at the 2025 Havana Jazz Festival with Vela The Band.

Dr. David Do Paço is the Attaché for academic cooperation in San Francisco and the Deputy director of the Villa Albertine's local chapter. His role is to design, implement, support and promote teaching and research programs and activities between French and US universities. As a scholar, in 2012 he earned his PhD in history from the Université Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and successively served at the Sorbonne, the European University Institute, the Central European University, Sciences Po and Columbia University. His research explores the social life of unincorporated populations, especially Muslims in early modern European cities.