Aaron Maniam is a policy planner, poet and youth activist enthusiast interested in the intersection between government and technology.

Damian Palin is developing a way to use bacteria to biologically "mine" minerals from water -- specifically, out of the brine left over from the desalinization process.

BCG's Amane Dannouni explores how technology impacts established business models and how digital enablers can unlock greater economic and social value.

Niki Okuk is working to create social and economic justice and worker dignity.

Through his books, diplomatic work and research, Kishore Mahbubani reenvisions global power dynamics through the lens of rising Asian economies.

TED Senior Fellow Yana Buhrer Tavanier explores human rights innovation at the intersection of activism, art, tech and science — and its potential to instigate change.

Harish Manwani joined Unilever as a management trainee in 1976; he is now the company's chief operating officer.

Farish Ahmad-Noor believes that we can never truly escape history but we need not be victims of it either.

With simple lines and pointed jokes that skewer injustice, Patrick Chappatte's editorial cartoons view the tragic, the farcical and the absurd through a lens of unfettered humor.

Martin Jacques is the author of "When China Rules the World," and a columnist for the Guardian and New Statesman. He was a co-founder of the think tank Demos.

Carlo Ratti directs the MIT SENSEable City Lab, which explores the "real-time city" by studying the way sensors and electronics relate to the built environment.

TED Fellow Sonali Prasad is an artist who bends traditional and creative media practices to build narratives fit for our age.

Honor Harger explores the cultural impact of scientific ideas and how technology shapes society.

Through exploratory and human-centered research, Niti Bhan discovers and makes tangible pragmatic opportunities for sustainable and inclusive value creation.

Sarah Kay is a writer, performer and educator from New York City.

MORROW's founding chairman Liu Thai Ker is widely recognized as the "architect of modern Singapore" for his extensive contributions to the country’s housing and urban landscape.

Ole Scheeren designs buildings that generate both functional and social spaces.

Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, of Handspring Puppet Company, bring the emotional complexity of animals to the stage with their life-size puppets. Their latest triumph: "War Horse."

BCG’s Lana Mazahreh wants individuals, companies and countries to take action against the fast-growing water crisis.

Stuart Oda is an indoor urban farmer with a passion for innovation and sustainability. His goal: democratize access to fresh and nutritious food by democratizing the means and knowledge of production.

Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the global research firm.

Tomás Saraceno invites us to consider the impossible, like spiders that play music or cities in the sky.

Electrical engineer

Designer

Biological miner

Artist

Musician + sound architect

Hospital entrepreneur