Diana Abouali is the director of the Arab American National Museum, located in Dearborn, Michigan. Previously, she was an assistant professor at Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, USA); head of research and collections at the Palestinian Museum (Birzeit, Palestine), and director of education, outreach and awareness at the Petra National Trust (Amman, Jordan). She serves on several boards and committees including ArteEast (NYC), CultureSource (Detroit), the Citizens Advisory Committee at the University of Michigan- Dearborn, and the general assembly of Taawon-Welfare Association (Palestine). Diana is Palestinian, was born in Toronto, Canada and grew up in Kuwait. She received her PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University in 2004.

Marie Chapman is CEO of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, located at the National Historic Site in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The museum is Canada’s sixth national museum, the second to be established outside the National Capital Region and the only one in Atlantic Canada. Chapman has played a central role in the establishment of the museum and was appointed by the federal government in 2011 to be its first CEO, with reappointments in 2016 and 2021. She was the museum’s director of marketing, sales and development from 2003-2011 and has been its chief operating officer since 2008. Prior to that, she worked in development, marketing and fundraising for Mount Allison University, Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre Foundation, among other organizations. Under her leadership, Pier 21 has evolved into a national museum with the facilities, technology and team to share the diverse history of the Canadian immigration experience with visitors from across Canada and around the world.

Dr. Palina Louangketh is an entrepreneur in the museum sector. She is a former refugee from Laos into Idaho, U.S.A. since 1981 and currently serves as the Advisor for the Idaho Lao Community. Her family’s two-year journey of uncertainty from war-torn Laos during the Vietnam era conflict and into Idaho has inspired her vision towards an innovative approach to honor the human journey on a global scale. As the Founder and Executive Director of the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora (IMID), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, she is passionate about connecting the community to the cultures of the world through cultural art, music, literature, film, food, and other creative platforms. She holds a Doctor of Strategic Leadership, a Master of Health Science, and a Bachelor of Science. Dr. Louangketh teaches in the College of Health Sciences, the University Foundations Program, and Multicultural Studies at Boise State.

Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis has over 20 years of experience as a curator and senior advisor for museum and cultural projects, working with institutions including the National Museums of Scotland and Glasgow. More recently Ulrike served as Co-Director at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization as well as Senior Strategic Advisor to the Sharjah Museums Department in the United Arab Emirates.

Sarah E.K. Smith is Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Art, Culture and Global Relations. She is based in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University in London, Ontario, where she runs the Practitioner Media Lab. Her writing and curatorial projects address contemporary art and museums, cultural diplomacy, as well as creative labour. Sarah is co‐founder of the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative, a multi-disciplinary research network of academics, policymakers, and practitioners in the field of critical cultural diplomacy. She is also a member of the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance. In 2015 Sarah held the Canada‐US Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California.