Aminata Cairo works as an independent consultant and researcher in the field of diversity and inclusion, and in that capacity advises various higher education institutions and organisations in the Netherlands on inclusive leadership and inclusive education. Previously, she was, among others, a professor in Inclusive Education at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, diversity officer at Leiden University, Associate Professor at the Anthropology Department of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and has been involved in numerous research projects on anthropology, diversity and the creation of inclusive and safe learning and working environments. She has several publications on diversity and inclusion to her credit and is involved in several idealistic foundations and organisations as an advisor and board member. In 2013 she received the International Faculty Achievement Award and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. In 2016, she was knighted in the Order of the Palm for her contribution to culture by the government in Suriname. In 2018, she was nominated for 'Professor of the Year'.

Rosa te Velde is a researcher, designer and teacher. The Decolonial Summer School, led by Rolando Vàzquez and Walter Mignolo, which she attended in 2016, has been decisive for her work and thinking. She edited Vàzquez’ book Vistas of Modernity: Decolonial Aesthesis and the End of the Contemporary (2020). She recently published Drafting Futures: Remembering a Building, a research into segregation, gentrification and the ‘politics of forgetting’ in Amsterdam Nieuw-West, commissioned by De Appel. She initiated and coordinated Hear! Here!, a platform for dialogue and critical pedagogy for tutors and staff at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie/Sandberg Instituut. Currently, together with Rana Ghavami, she is conducting research into ‘design’ and ‘material culture’ as a Research Associate at the National Museum of World Cultures, and teaches at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.

Madieke Hupperets works as a teacher and coordinator for education institutions. In the past, she coordinated projects with young adults and Amsterdam based high schools at Foam's education department, with an emphasis on citizenship and closing the gap between the canon and youth culture. She is used to operating within a network of students, teachers, artists and institutions and likes to make sure that everybody has a seat at the table. 

Madieke completed her bachelor's degree in Fine Arts Education and her master's degree in Art Education at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. She works as a coordinator of the SJ&DA lectorate and as a teacher/coach at the AUAS (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Sport studies).

Gabriela Acosta Camacho works as a coordinator, teacher of dance, educational pedagogy and research skills in higher vocational education and as a project leader and program maker in the cultural sector. She makes diversity and inclusion an integral part of her teaching and work practice. She connects different target groups and organizations with each other and believes it is important to convert policy into concrete actions: into practice and onto the floor!

Gabriela has completed the Bachelor's degree in Dance in Education and the Master's in Art Education at the Amsterdam School of the Arts (AHK). She works for the AHK, Codarts and with various cultural institutions.

Tayfun Balçik is a freelance historian (graduated on the Armenian genocide), journalist at the Kanttekening and anti-racism activist for peace, equality and brotherhood.

He was born in Amsterdam to a Turkish working-class family. From 2015, he has been involved with The Hague Peace Projects to promote dialogue between Armenians, Kurds and Turks. He is also a critical follower of news about 'the Muslims' and/or 'Islam' and has written two reports on the subject (Mosllms in Dutch newspapers and Muslims on TV).
Since 2021, he has opposed gentrification with housing cooperative De Bundel and the citizens' initiative Nieuw-West Resistance.

A born and raised ‘Amsterdammer’, Camiël Kesser is as diverse as the city in which he lives. Football was not enough to satisfy curiosity about the magic of human behavior. After a mental and physical journey of discovery across the world, he found a landing in cultural social education (CMV). This study intertwined creative and cognitive aspects and has become the foundation of Camiël’s professional career.

While working as a Parent and Child advisor Camiël’s passion was ignited in 2020 to immortalize authentic conversations. His goal is to share through a podcast with the public why the power of the story deserves a timeless place.

Paulina Trejo Méndez is an independent researcher and artist with a PhD in development studies from Erasmus University. Their work focused on the politics of knowledge and decolonizing healing, looking into forms of resistance against embodied erasure (epistemicide and feminicide).
They have been teaching at the University of Bonn in Germany.
Their art and research projects bring together art, Latin American feminisms, decoloniality, healing, medical gaze, and endometriosis.
They collaborated with the self-managed publishing house Cooperativa Editorial Retos bringing together works by rebellious WOC, trans, indigenous, black activists, academics and artists.

Chris Kaspar de Ploeg (1994) is a grassroots organizer, speaker and investigative journalist, and has published in Follow the Money, De Groene Amsterdammer and OneWorld, among others. Chris wrote the book Ukraine in the Crossfire and is co-founder and core organizer at Aralez, a grassroots organization for decolonization, and at Arts of Resistance, a coalition bridging social movements and the arts.

Chris writes, speaks and organizes on various social justice topics, including (neo-)colonialism, climate justice, racism and capitalism. You can find his work on his website: www.chrisdeploeg.com.

Chadiedja Buijs is a teacher, writer, curator, and creative producer based in Amsterdam.
She has worked in the visual arts scene in Cairo, Egypt after which she obtained an MA in contemporary Islamic art and cultures at Leiden University.  Her current practice is focused on art productions within alternative institutions of democratic inclusion.

The past five years, she has worked for multiple artists and organizations such as the international literature festival Read My World, Urban Resort, the municipality of Amsterdam, Theatre collective Adelheid + Zina, and the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.  Chadiedja currently teaches Culture, Justice and Aesthetics (‘cultuurbeschouwing’) at the Institute of Performative arts in Maastricht (Toneel Academie Zuyd).

Layzmina Emerencia is a dance teacher, culture coach and a creative maker.
In 2014 she moved from Aruba to study Dance in Education at the Amsterdam University of the Arts (AHK).
Layzmina is a researcher who likes to look for adventure. So she decided in her graduating year (2019) to do an internship in both Israel and Ghana.
At the moment, Layzmina mainly works in primary and secondary education as interdisciplinary dance teacher with West African dance principles as expertise.
Since 2021 she has also been following the Master's program in Art Education at the AHK. During this study, two themes are central to her; representation in education and decolonization.