How are people future-proofing their employment? What kind of support do parents need to prepare Gen Alpha for their career journeys? How is anti-work sentiment shaping better office environments? And what do employees want from gender equity measures?
Dr. Christos Makridis is passionate about the ways in which technology shapes the ways we work and live and how to promote human flourishing. He serves as a research affiliate and professor at Stanford University, Columbia Business School, Arizona State University, and Baylor University, as well as a senior advisor on the National AI Institute at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has also written for Forbes, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal, has a Web3 start-up focused on the arts and multimedia production, and holds dual doctorates and master's degrees in economics and management science and engineering from Stanford University.
Sonya Barlow is an entrepreneur, inclusion expert, travel and lifestyle content creator, author, and presenter. She is the award-winning founder of LMF Network, a global community and edtech platform to build women's confidence, capabilities, and careers through masterclasses, mentorship, and community. Since launching in 2018, the social community has grown to over 50,000 and up-skilled more than 15,000 people. Sonya is valued for her public speaking skills, including delivering two TEDx talks, being recognised as a Linkedin Changemaker and Top Voice, and being a radio host for the BBC's The Everyday Hustle. As well as receiving multiple awards and being showcased in Forbes, Business Insider, and The Telegraph, Sonya is also the best-selling author of Unprepared to Entrepreneur.
Dr. Hiroshi Ono is a professor at the Hitotsubashi University Business School. He writes and speaks extensively on the relationships among motivation, happiness, and productivity in the workplace. He has a special interest in the interplay between demographic change and labour market dynamics in Japan. His latest research focuses on enhancing the quality of work, integrating digital technology in the workplace, and increasing labour productivity.
Anastasiia Fedorova is a senior insights editor at Canvas8. A writer, curator and cultural strategist, she specialises in art, fashion, design, technology and visual culture. Her personal work explores sexuality, identity and queer communities while interrogating our place in a world shaped by rapidly changing technologies. As an avid sci-fi fan since teenage years, she is always interested in thinking about multiple and diverse futures.
Rebecca Smith is the Head of Toolkit at Canvas8. With a background in psychology, she has worked with global clients such as Google, Nike, and Mars, exploring everything from what people want from a fake tan to Gen Z’s relationship with social media. Outside of work, you’ll find her binge-watching reality TV, listening to hyperpop, or with her nose buried in a fantasy novel.
Shom Mabaquiao is a Junior Editor for APAC at Canvas8. He’s currently taking his master's in Social Psychology at the University of the Philippines, where he inspects universal human behaviour through the lenses of his local folkways. Outside Canvas8, he writes personal essays that have been published in Adelaide Literary Magazine, Tint Journal, Rappahannock Review, and Katitikan: Literary Journal of the Philippine South, among others. When he’s not working, he’s busy doing stand-up comedy for his therapist after cry-dancing to Taylor Swift.
