He worked on television, radio, online publications, non-governmental organizations and
the commercial sector. He has about 20 years of experience in journalism. One of the
founders and head of the online magazine Vlast - an analytical publication, which
implemented a paywall system - online subscriptions for the first time in Kazakhstan.

Albert Tsukrenko is a Ukrainian journalist, musician, radio personality. He started his career in
media after 10 years of working as a physician. He was the journalist and editor in various
online and printed magazines & newspapers - FHM Ukraine, Time Out Kiev, Kapital etc., and
the editor-in-chief of the most popular Kiev online city guide Nash Kiev. At the moment he is the
chief editor of the largest Ukrainian Internet online magazine about culture - Cultprostir.ua. In
2016 Cultprostir.ua created an encyclopedia of the modern Ukrainian culture "The Best", which
is issued in Ukrainian and English. In 2017 Cultprostir.ua held a large-scale modern art plener
Kyiv Art Fort at the Kiev Fortress, where the celebration of the Day of Europe with the
participation of the Ambassador of the E.U. In Ukraine and the ambassadors of the European
countries took place. In 2017, Albert launched https://ofr.fm/zemlya/ - the first online radio,
which only broadcasts new Ukrainian music, he conducts radio programs and is the editor of
this radio. Also, Albert Tsukrenko is a member of the Ukrainian duo Hamerman Znyschuye
Virusy (HZV), which works at the junction of music, actionism and contemporary art.

Alexander Plyushchev well known under the nickname ‘plushev’ is a Russian journalist, editor
and columnist.

He studied at Russian Chemical-Technological University (not graduated) where he was an
editor and youth editor-in-chief at the university newspaper Mendeleevets. Soon after that he
has worked at Echo Moskva radio as a news editor, news presenter and talk show host. He has
an experience working as news editor, columnist, show host at various news media, such as
NTV TV-channel, Vedomosti newspaper, Lenta.ru, Russia-24 TV-channel, ITV online-TV-
channel, RIA NOVOSTI - online edition and GeekTV online-TV channel. In 2002 - 2003 he was
a project editor at Axel Springer Russia. Since 2017 Alexander has worked as a columnist at
Deutsche Welle (Russian edition). He is an author of the book The Whole Plushev (2007).
Alexander was a jury member of the Best Of Blogs by Deutsche Welle (2007, 2011 and 2012).

Artur Gurau - digital communication strategist. From 2011 CEO of Granat. After launching
Rockit Conference in 2014 co-founded Rockit Academy, Planable, KOMETA and most recently
X42 - an app for short and meaningful video comments. Interested in startups, social
entrepreneurship, tech, media, political communication and football.

Attia Nasar is a Digital Media Advisor in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs as the
U.S. Department of State. She is responsible for supporting U.S. foreign policy objectives with
public diplomacy products and services, including online and in-person interactive engagement
with international publics in South and Central Asia. She provides social media strategy,
consultative services, strategic guidance and hands-on assistance to staff working at U.S.
Missions overseas.

Attia graduated from the Public Diplomacy program at Syracuse University where she received
a M.S. in Public Relations and a M.A. in International Relations. She is a 2008 graduate of Utica
College in NY, where she earned her B.S. in Public Relations and Journalism Studies.

Bektour Iskender is an independent news publisher from Kyrgyzstan. He is the co-founder of Kloop Media, an NGO and leading news publication in Kyrgyzstan, committed to freedom of speech and to training young journalists to cover politics and culture. Most journalists at Kloop are between the ages of 14 and 25, and have broken stories about government corruption, social issues and discrimination along with covering breaking news and international affairs. Bektour is the first ever Central Asian who gave a TED talk. He plans to start expanding Kloop internationally with the launch of the Ukrainian edition in the end of 2017.

David Applefield is a seasoned communications specialist, editor, writer, publisher, and media strategist who has spent his career developing creative and innovative solutions for business leaders, heads of state, ministries, NGOs, and other not-for-profit foundations. Mr. Applefield has lead workshops and provided one-on consultations on business media topics, to include: creating commercial strategies for content, increasing revenue streams, strategic distribution, synergy with local business, building community through content, and the development of marketing and advertisement. Since 1998, Applefield has worked for the Financial Times as its commercial Special Representative for Africa, the Middle East, and Emerging Markets, developing special reports on countries and themes including Investing in Nigeria, Mauritania, Senegal, and Leading Business Women in Emerging Markets. Applefield has lived in France for decades, and works across Europe, North America, and Africa, where he has been advising and training leaders and media professionals for 20 years.

Dodie Kharkheli is the head of Digital Communications at Chai Khana (chai-khana.org) and OC Media (oc-media.org). She works with an international team of media managers, journalists, filmmakers, photographers, documentarists across the region and puts their work in the spotlight using digital tools and social media.

She has 10 years of experience in the field, having conducted trainings for UNAG, IWPR, PH International, GAU PR School, TSU, GIPA, and many many more. She was a cofounder of a digital agency, "Digital Avenue" and worked with top Georgian and several international brands with their digital marketing and content management.

Erden Zikibay – animator, designer, illustrator, educator. Work experience: Zhurgenov Kazakh National Art Academy, "Exclusive.kz" business magazine, "Stalker" film school, advertising and mass media, animated, documentary, and feature films, electronic textbooks. Education: New Media Art, George Mason University (USA). Volunteering in the "Kazakh Aul of the United States" organization, "Bas Qosu" Kazakh language conversation club, and TEDxAbayStWomen conference.

Editor-in-chief of the online version of Esquire magazine, author and columnist of Azattyq.org, Kazakh edition of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Graduate of the Faculty of Philology of KazNU. She has been working as a journalist since her student years. She worked as a correspondent for the newspaper "Caravan", the main producer of the "Informburo" program on channel 31, editor-in-chief on the TAN TV channel. She also managed one of the largest projects of Internews - "Open Asia" and during three years (1999-2002) had been making reports for the programs of the Russian service of BBC - "Radius" and New Day. In different years she had professional trainings in the USA, University of Missouri. In 2013, she was recognized as the best blogger at the Central Asian conference, organized by Yvision media platform. In 2016 – she was rated as the Publicist of the Year according to Vlast.kz media platform.

John is the Head of Politics & Government for Instagram. He works with public figures, global institutions and governments to help them use Instagram to connect with the global community.

Before joining the Facebook and Instagram, he served as the Digital Communications Adviser to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He began his career in the film and television industry and worked as a commercial photographer.

John is a graduate of the University of Melbourne in Australia, where he received a double degree in Commerce and Media & Communications. An avid traveler, he can often be found exploring his favorite cities across the globe with his favorite Nikon camera in hand.