SPEAKERS 2025

Esther has built a career as a highly respected innovator, investor, journalist, and philanthropist. Esther sees more companies, deals, ideas, and IP than anyone we know, and her portfolio spans the world. Today, she is the executive founder of Wellville, a nonprofit project focused on improving equitable wellbeing. Over the course of her career, Esther has been a leading voice in technology, building her company EDventure Holdings with business partner (and fellow Penrose Steering Committee member) Daphne Kis. Her forthcoming book, Term Limits: A Design for Living in the Age of AI, will be released in 2026. At Penrose, we’ll get a unique view into her work-in-progress as it nears the final stages of writing and editing. 

Daphne Kis is a serial entrepreneur, CEO, and leader who has done work in a wide variety of emerging technology fields, with particular specialization in edtech. Daphne currently serves as President of WorldQuant University, which makes advanced, quality education accessible to capable students around the world by delivering completely free, accredited online degrees and certifications. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Future Skills Alliance and a board member of Young Audiences: Arts for Learning, furthering her commitment to empowering individuals with access to knowledge and resources. Onstage, Daphne will interview her dear friend and business partner of 18 years, Esther Dyson. 

Nick has spent his career exploring the future for globally renowned technology companies. While the Head of Design at Google X, he led a team developing a wide variety of nascent technologies, including brain-controlled computer interfaces, intelligent robotics, stratospheric internet balloons, and neighborhood-scale nuclear fusion.  In 2018, Fortune magazine described him as “one of the world’s foremost leaders in speculative design,” and in 2021, he was awarded the title Royal Designer for Industry. Nick will join us onstage to talk about key frameworks from his newest book: Could Should Might Don’t: How We Think About the Future. In it are consequential lessons for all of us in the science world, as we rethink almost every aspect of our system and make plans to achieve a flourishing future.

Joe is the CEO of Retro Biosciences, a company developing new therapies that have the potential to reverse age-related disease. Their goal is to add 10 years to the healthy human lifespan.Previously, Joe co-founded and ran the Health Extension Foundation, which funds innovators developing solutions for aging-related disease. Before that, he was an EIR at Playground Global and a Partner at YCombinator. The rest of his experience spans earth science, autonomous systems, and biophysics. Joe even built the world’s smallest personal computer. Joe will join us onstage at Penrose to grapple with the progress and  consequences of his work at Retro, with a particular focus on ethics and cultural implications. 

Terah has spent over a decade building and supporting organizations responsibly innovating in critical new domains at the frontier of AI technology research, development, and deployment. She is currently a Managing Director and the Global Head of AI and Data Policy at JPMorganChase, where she  drives the company's global strategy, engagement, and positioning on AI, data, and digital policy issues, and supports the Firm's AI governance and responsible AI strategy. She previously led AI and emerging technology policy for the Obama Administration White House, where she served in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and led the U.S. Government's work developing the first-ever country-level AI policy strategy.

Dr. Brachman is a pioneer in the field of preventative psychopharmacology, developing drugs to enhance stress resilience and prevent mental illness. Currently, Brachman is the CEO of IMPRINT, an FRO that is building forensic immunology tools to identify the causes of and cures for chronic disease. Her work at IMPRINT is based on her time as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where she discovered that immune cells carry a memory of psychological stress and that white blood cells can act as antidepressants and resilience-enhancers. Onstage at Penrose, Beck will talk to us about IMPRINT’s discoveries that illuminate the startling connection between the immune system and mental health.

Dr. Lynda Stuart is a renowned expert in immunology, global health, and product development, having spent her career advancing the research and creation of vaccines and antibody therapies in preclinical settings. Currently, Lynda serves as the President and CEO at the Fund for Science and Technology – a new private foundation focused on advanicing the fields of AI, bioscience, and the environment – a true interdisciplinary mover and shaker. Previously, Dr. Stuart played a pivotal role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she led the foundation’s global COVID-19 response and earlier directed its rapid-response platforms during the Ebola outbreak—mobilizing cutting-edge science in real time to confront global health emergencies. Lynda advocates for healthcare as a human right, and has spread her message as a leading voice in global health across the world.

Dr. Lee is co-founder and CEO of Cultivarium, a nonprofit engineering firm that helps biotech innovators harness the latent power of the microbial universe in record time. Cultivarium’s work allows the unique abilities of bacteria, archaea and fungi to be leveraged for breakthrough solutions in food systems, fuel, materials and medicine. Under his leadership, Cultivarium has reduced the time and cost of engineering non-model microbes more than tenfold. While training as postdoctoral fellow in Genetics at Harvard Medical School, he pioneered enzymatic DNA-synthesis methods that make DNA data storage possible. He has co-founded three startups, authored eight issued or pending patents, and co-chairs the BioMade strain engineering committee. Onstage, Henry will reveal some of Cultivarium's latest discoveries and visit with us about how we can better take advantage of the many untapped superpowers nature has already developed.

Jason is a serial entrepreneur in agriculture, who is CEO of PrairieFood, a company that has debuted a breakthrough product to revitalize the prosperous relationship between soil microbes and plants — an easy button for regenerative transitions. Jason has a long history in agriculture, starting his career as a commodity trader before becoming intensely focused on ag data. He is actively involved in the Kansas entrepreneurial and farming communities. He’ll speak with us about the shadow sides of the agricultural industrial complex, how to wean land from synthetic and toxic inputs, and what we can do to align farmers’ bottom line with climate goals once and for all. 

Dr. Sandeep Patel is an entrepreneur, scientist, advisor, and brand-new Seattleite who thrives at the crossroads of science, business, and global health security. Formerly the Executive Director of BARDA, Sandeep has a knack for turning bold health security ideas into real-world innovations. He co-founded KidneyX, a public-private partnership turbo-charging breakthroughs in kidney disease treatment, and helped launch a Presidential initiative to combat renal failure. At the US Department of Health and Human Services, he championed open innovation tools that invited fresh ideas from unexpected places. Along the way, he’s picked up honors like the American Society of Nephrology’s President’s Medal and the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award—and even spent time as a Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences.

Candice Nobles will join us onstage as Co-MC alongside Josh Jones-Dilworth. With over two decades in the heart of San Francisco’s tech and startup scene, Candice has been a catalytic force in marketing—helping organizations scale, innovate, and thrive. Equal parts strategist, storyteller, and healer, she brings a rare blend of sharp insight, boundless curiosity, and disarming warmth. Whether building companies from the ground up or channeling her energy through her Reiki practice, Candice is guided by a deep passion for making the world better, one bold question or healing touch at a time. 

Josh Jones-Dilworth, founder of JDI and co-founder of Penrose, is a preeminent storyteller of science across a wide variety of industries and domains. He’ll serve as our co-MC.