Beyond the AI hype, Building Radical Futures of Hope with Young People

Cat Zuzarte Tully leads the School of International Futures (SOIF), a not-for-profit international collective of practitioners based in the UK who use futures thinking to inspire change at the local, national and global levels. SOIF has worked with organisations like the UN, Omidyar, NATO, the Royal Society and national governments to build a sustainable and fairer world for current and next generations. SOIF also supports a growing network of Next Generation Foresight Practitioners.

Previously, Cat served as Strategy Project Director at the UK Foreign Office and as Policy Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. She is a non-resident fellow at the US Government Accountability Office’s Center for Strategic Foresight and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Chilean Council of Foresight and Strategy. She is also a board member of Teach The Future, British Foreign Policy Group and Academics Stand Against Poverty.

Cat’s mission is to inspire people, communities, organisations and governments to play with time and steward transformation by being inspired by the future.

Keertan Kini is a Board Advisor of the App Inventor Foundation, where he bridges his background in technology, policy, and education with global impact. He has taught technology, economics, and public policy at Stanford, MIT, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University; advised California on AI regulations; and crafted federal technology policy in Congress. A former founder and McKinsey strategist, he built autonomous-vehicle safety systems, published research on debiasing AI models, and partnered with Bay Area nonprofits on financial literacy–combining deep engineering expertise with policy innovation to shape responsible AI and resilient systems. He received his B.S. and M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, and his MBA and MPP from Stanford University.

Madhura Ghane, aka Mahi G, is a rapper and poet from Kalyan, Maharashtra.
She uses her voice to spotlight real, raw, and often ignored issues. Her rap reflects the pulse of the people — from environmental justice to tribal identity and gender inclusivity.
Mahi G dropped her debut track “Jungle Cha Raja” just three years ago, with music by Rapboss. The song is a powerful anthem celebrating the spirit and struggles of Adivasi communities. It resonated widely, earning retweets from artists like Badshah and Vishal Dadlani, and was also shared by Raftaar, Dia Mirza, and IncIndia’s official page. Rooted in themes like Jal, Jungle, Zameen, the track refuses pity and instead celebrates resilience.

Dr. Natalie Lao is the Executive Director of the App Inventor Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by professors and engineers at MIT and Google with the mission of empowering students to create meaningful technologies that can transform their lives and uplift their communities. She also serves as Expert on Mission for UNESCO’s AI & the Futures of Learning project, where she co-authored the United Nations’s AI Competency Framework for School Students. She received her B.S., M.Eng., and Ph.D. in EECS from MIT at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), where she led research on developing user-friendly AI tools and constructionism-focused education programs across the globe. She was also Co-creator and Instructor of MIT’s Deep Learning Practicum course, and led the trajectory team for the MIT Inclusive AI Literacy and Learning project.