AL JOHNSON

An accomplished painter and commercial artist, Al Johnson has been a professional artist most of his life. Mr. Johnson has studied at the distinguished Pratt Art Institute, the Art Students League and the prestigious Albert Pale School of Commercial Arts. Selected from a nationwide search, by the City of New York, he was commissioned to create a 7ft portrait of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination, which is permanently installed in Brooklyn Borough Hall. His accomplishments include the rendering works of the Georgia Aquarium, one of the largest aquariums in the world. He is known as a notable African American Expressionist Artist as well as a Commercial Artist, creating storyboard art for the Academy Award winning film "The Hours" and Darron Aronofsky’s "The Fountain" to name a few. His paintings have been seen in numerous television series, including the much-anticipated CBS TV series “Star Trek: Picard”. His storyboard art clients include MGM, CBS, NFL Films, Paramount Pictures and loads of projects with HBO. His ability to conceptualize with a cinematic eye has led to many accomplishments. Mr. Johnson has received invitations to exhibit his work internationally. During the Centennial Tribute to Romare Bearden by the Romare Bearden Foundation, Mr. Johnson was chosen as one of the Bearden 100 artists. His unique paintings were exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum in Japan, Susan Bentley Gallery in London, Maison de Arts in Le Bacares, France, where his residency resulted in multiple permanent installations in the state building of Le Bacares, the Guangzhou International Art Fair in China and New York City in a juried exhibition curated by Jordan Kantor, during his tenure as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Modern Art. Al Johnson’s artwork is noted as infinite abstraction. His marks become shapes that form a relationship to one another of a desired aesthetic adding cosmic splatter. He continues to explore new avenues of discovery in a vast array of mediums.

SONIA MANCHANDA

Sonia Manchanda, Founding Partner of SPREAD Design + Learning, a new age design firm that integrates disciplines of design with technology and media. She has set up two key projects - The Design Farm, a sustainable mini urban farm where her studio is located in Bengaluru, India and the Design Barn, India’s first integrated and independent design centre. Sonia designs ground up strategies - for massive scale and impact and lead interdisciplinary teams through tough challenges - demonstrating a high level of thought and craft in branding, experience, and interactions. Her most satisfying and significant achievement is conceptualizing The Dream:in Project, an open innovation and design research project that reimagines the role design can play, especially in emerging economies - shifting its focus from people's needs to their dreams, to create inclusive design strategies, empowering people everywhere to dream, believe and realise. Sonia was awarded as one of six “Gamechangers” by Metropolis Magazine, USA, and her work has been featured in books such as “Creative Intelligence”, by Bruce Nussbaum, “Design Transitions”, by Emma Jefferies, Lauren Tan and Joyce Yee and in “Change Ahead” by Carola Verschoor. Sonia has consistently offered her skills as Design Thinker and Lead Designer for corporations, brands, and experiences in retail, hospitality and healthcare.

ANWARUL CHOWDHURY

Ambassador Chowdhury is a recipient of the U Thant Peace Award, UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for Culture of Peace, Spirit of the UN Award, University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor’s Medal for Global Leadership for Peace, 2018 Global Women’s Peace Award and IMPACT Leadership 21’s Global Summit Frederick Douglass Award honoring men who are champions for women's advancement.

He is the Founder of The Global Movement for The Culture of Peace, a coalition of civil society organizations promoting the culture of peace as envisaged by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999, he works and working in close collaboration with the UN.