Ron Arad is founder of Ron Arad Associates, an architecture and design practice in London. Born in Israel, Arad has designed furniture and products for many of the world's leading companies, including Alessi, Artemide, Cassina, FedEx-Germany, Kartell, and Vitra, and has been commissioned for corporate, residential, and institutional structures around the globe, including the New Tel Aviv Opera in Israel. Arad serves as professor of product design at the Royal College of Art in London and is a frequent lecturer at universities and design schools worldwide.

Andrea Cochran is principal and founder of San Francisco-based Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture. Her wide-ranging design work has garnered numerous awards and been widely published and recognized internationally. A leader in her local design community, she currently serves as a commissioner in civic design on the San Francisco Arts Commission and on the executive board for the Architecture and Design Forum at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Li Edelkoort is chairwoman of The Netherlands' prestigious Design Academy Eindhoven and founder of the Edelkoort Group, one of the world's most renowned trend forecasters. Studying the links among art, fashion, design, and consumer culture, the Edelkoort Group analyzes and reports on future trends in concepts, colors, and materials in a wide range of sectors, from cosmetics to cars, telephones to public transportation, food and flowers to bricks and paper. Edelkoort was named one of the world's "25 Most Influential People in Fashion" by Time magazine in 2003.

David Rockwell is founder of the Rockwell Group, a New York-based architecture practice with more than 200 built projects, including set designs for film and Broadway musicals, designer hotels, and dozens of restaurants. Rockwell studied architecture at Syracuse University and has been honored with Interiors magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Design Award for the Grand Central Terminal renovation, and Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame.

Jeff Speck is director of design for the National Endowment for the Arts, and also directs leadership initiatives that teach design skills to community leaders nationwide. Speck received a Master's degree in architecture with distinction from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and also holds a Master's in art history. Before joining the NEA, Speck was director of town planning at Duany Plater-Zyberk and Co., a leader in the international New Urbanism movement, which promotes alternatives to suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment.

Frank Stephenson is the recently-appointed director of design for Fiat and Lancia. A graduate of the Art Center College of Design with a degree in automotive design, Stephenson has worked for the Ferrari Group, as a concept designer for General Motors and Ford, and for BMW Group, notably as chief designer of the MINI Cooper. His designs have won numerous distinctions, including the 2003 North American Car of the Year Award, the 2003 Industrial Designers Society of America Gold Award, the 2004 Best Car in Show Award, Geneva, and the 2004 Best Car in Show Award, Paris.

Nadja Swarovski, vice president of international communications at Swarovski, is the fifth generation of the Swarovskis to work for the family business. Based in London, she set up the firm's first international Creative Service Center and implemented a new marketing communications strategy for Swarovski crystals which has brought the company name to the forefront of the fashion and jewelry industries. Most recently, she has helped the company break new ground in the home décor/lifestyle arena with the revival of the crystal chandelier.

Michael Vanderbyl established Vanderbyl Design in San Francisco in 1973 as a multidisciplinary firm with expertise in graphics, packaging, signage, interiors, showrooms, retail spaces, furniture, textiles, and fashion apparel. He is dean of design at the California College of the Arts and has gained international prominence as a practitioner, educator, critic, and advocate of design. Vanderbyl is president of the National American Institute of Graphic Arts and holds a position on the design advisory board and the architecture and design accessions committee at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Michael Volkema, chairman of the board of Herman Miller, Inc., directs the Herman Miller Creative Office, which is aimed at commercializing innovations for the built environment. Volkema advocates Herman Miller's enlightened environmental and business practices, employee ownership, and design leadership. He serves as chairman of the board for Kids Hope USA and is a member of the Michigan Business Roundtable and Applebee's International board of directors.