Master in Architecture Bebel Abreu is co-founder of Mandacaru, a design and editorial production studio that has been the Brazilian partner of WDCD since 2014. Mandacaru creates exhibitions, courses, conferences and campaigns related to design, graphic arts and sustainability. Bebel has been a juror for several editions of WDCD Challenges and the ADG Graphic Design Biennial, as well as awards for the 2019 World Illustration, 2021 Tomie Ohtake Design and the 2022 Brasil Design by ABEDesign. She is the founder of Bebel Books, which has published over 90 titles in graphic arts.

Ayush Chauhan is the Managing Partner founder of Quicksand India, a design strategy and innovation consultancy working in emerging markets. Here, he promotes design for social and business impact by connecting the best practices of design, business strategy and public policy to address the pressing and complex issues of social equity, public health, education, financial inclusion and climate change. Ayush has worked with global leading organizations, including Unilever, World Bank, Google, Meta & UNICEF, to design products and services that promote sustainability and quality of life for low and middle-income communities in emerging markets.

Based in Mexico City, Joanna has dedicated over a decade to promoting design as both an aesthetic expression and a transformative force. Co-founding Promotora Nacional DMX in 2010, she initiated projects like La Lonja MX, PUM Proyectos Unidos Mexicanos, and Atalaya Design Fair, all focused on promoting independent Mexican design and contemporary Mexican culture. In 2013, she co-founded the Abierto Mexicano de Diseño, a festival that celebrates all design disciplines with the goal of bringing design closer to society. Since 2021, she has co-directed WDCD Mexico, aiming to accelerate the transition to a sustainable and just society using the power of design.

Wangui is the Projects & Partnerships Manager at Nairobi Design and a Green Building Consultant. She is accredited to practice as a Green Star Accredited Professional (Interiors), an EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) Expert and as a Lead Expert by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

Wangui’ s expertise lies in renewable energy, green building certification & sustainable construction, Social & Governance (ESG) and climate advocacy, among others. She is passionate about sustainable living, visualising concepts and seeing to their actualisation and lives by the mantra of “Be part of the solution and not the problem”.

Based in Mexico, Taina is an industrial designer focused on regenerative design through material experimentation, social innovation, and design research with a gender perspective.

Tainas’ greatest interest as a design professional is sustainability. She defines herself as an eco-feminist activist and defends the idea that diversity, equality, fair trade, the conscious extraction of resources, good waste management, clean and healthy processes, respect for local communities and other factors involved in sustainable design, are the best way to design. She promotes these practices as a designer, researcher, teacher, activist and in her daily life.

Bregtje van den Berg is Lead Link New Product Development at Secrid, a Dutch wallet brand. Through a variety of projects at a design agency as well as at Secrid she has experience in bringing initial ideas towards feasible products, considering a broad range of aspects concerning new product development. As Secrid is producing in The Netherlands she cooperated with a variety of local suppliers over the years. Right now, she’s focusing on building the NPD-team at Secrid for future innovations. She studied Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology with a Master’s in integrated Product Design.

Vincent Ogaya is a communication, learning and reporting officer at Kenya Climate Innovation Center. In his role, Vincent integrates communication, research, knowledge management and advocacy tools by analysing priority issues, including sector constraints across KCIC’s five thematic sectors of agribusiness, renewable energy, water management, commercial forestry and waste management. Guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Vincent seeks to enhance understanding of the impact programmes have on livelihoods and the planet, as a way of guiding programme management, strategy and learning.

Robin Foolen is Sustainability Lead at Secrid . He has more than 25 years of experience in Industrial Design and production. The past 10 years he has dedicated his time and energy to grow a local, sustainable and equal value chain in the Netherlands to cope with the growth of Secrid worldwide. By combining knowledge about sustainability, product design, materials and production, his target is to create awareness and concrete actions to create sustainable solutions with the industry.

Loreta Castro Reguera is a Mexican architect, co-founder with José Ambrosi of Taller Capital. Their studio focuses on designing housing and public space projects to fix the broken city. Most of their proposals consider water as a key element, understanding architecture, landscape and urban design as important tools to promote soft management strategies. The studio has also curated the exhibition Retroactive at the 2022 Lisbon Triennale and Ciudades de Agua in Museo Tamayo. Loreta is professor at the School of Architecture, UNAM and has been an invited professor at Harvard GSD, UCLA, University IUAV Venice, the Escola da Cidade in Brasil, and the PUCP in Perú, among others.

S.Vishwanath is a Civil-Engineer and Urban Planner based out of Bengaluru, India. With a focus on sustainable water systems, his work over the last 36 years has encompassed working with communities, schools and the state in the design of rainwater harvesting, wastewater recycling and groundwater management systems. His work straddles small projects at local schools to technical advise on city-wide water and wastewater reuse projects. He works with the Biome Trust, teaches at a University and used to write a weekly column for a national newspaper for 12 years.

Ilias Halbgewachs is the Distribution and Communications Lead at Secrid in The Netherlands. In his role, he is responsible for developing the Secrid brand commercially. Over the past 7 years, he has helped bring Secrid from start-up to a global market leader. With a background in history and economics, he has a broad perspective on the role business, and in particular the creative industry, plays in large societal development. He’s driven by the unique potential of business to contribute to a better world.

Joab Jimenez is a Mexican creative, entrepreneur, problem-solver and nomad. He has helped more than 500 creative crowdfunding projects and has promoted 300 creative and social ventures with the purpose of turning them into projects with positive impact; he has been a mentor in entrepreneurship programs including two previous WDCD Challenges as well as Emprende con Inclusión of META, Creative Bootcamp of the British Council and VC4A.

He co-founded Chingos de Impacto to contribute to the access and distribution of opportunities for vulnerable communities through social innovation with the purpose of building an integral society for all.