Adán B.F. García, (he/him) Academic Chair, Memory and Tolerance Museum, Mexico City

Internationalist, with a Bachelor degree in Foreign Affairs from the Iberoamerican University, Mexico City campus (UIA). He holds a Master of Science degree in Sociology  with honors. He is an alumnus of The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands, and of the Law School of the University of Salzburg in Austria. Since June 2014, he is the Academic Chair of Museo Memoria y Tolerancia in Mexico City, and in 2012, he was a founding member of the NGO Semillas de Justicia, where he serves as president. He has been a keynote speaker in diverse academic fora at national and foreign institutions. He was granted the Doctor honoris causa degree by the Instituto Mexicano de Líderes de Excelencia in 2017 and he was knighted Eagle Knight in 2019 in merits of his work for the Memory and dignity of the Mexican indigenous populations. 

Palina Louangketh, (she/her) Founder & Executive Director, Idaho Museum of International Diaspora and Professor of Multicultural Studies, Boise State University

Palina Louangketh is an entrepreneur and educator. She is a former refugee from Laos in which she and her family resettled in Idaho in 1981. Her family’s two-year journey to Idaho from war-torn Laos during the Vietnam era conflict inspired her vision to honor human journey stories across the world. As the Founder and Executive Director of the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora (IMID), she is passionate about connecting communities to the cultures of the world through creative platforms. She holds a Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree from Regent

University in Virginia with a concentration in Strategic Foresight. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Health Science from Boise State University and teaches in the College of Health Sciences and University Foundations Program. She designed courses aligned to the IMID’s Global Diaspora Curriculum in the Honors College at Boise State and teaches as a Professor of Multicultural Studies.

Grace Wong, Board Chair, Chinese Canadian Museum Society of British Columbia

Grace Wong is the Chair of the Chinese Canadian Museum Society of British Columbia (CCM), a newly formed non-profit organization with a mandate to establish a provincial hub museum in Vancouver Chinatown with a network across BC to honour Chinese Canadian history, contributions and living heritage. CCM’s mission of “connecting to the Chinese Canadian story, addressing inclusion for all” guides their work in bringing invigorating and transformative experiences for present and future generations. 

Grace Wong’s professional experience includes serving as Senior Advisor International in the Office of Provost and Vice President Academic, and Assistant Dean in the Sauder School of Business at The University of British Columbia. Born in Vancouver and grew up in Chinatown, Grace serves on multiple boards and projects in the community. Grace has been recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the BC Community Achievement Award.

Ulrike Al-Khamis, (she/her) Director and CEO, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto

Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis is a well-known museum professional and academic in the field of Islamic art, with over 25 years of experience as a curator and senior advisor for museum and cultural projects. She currently serves as Director and CEO of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada, after acting as Director of Collections and Public Programs from 2017 to 2021. Before coming to Toronto, she worked as Co-Director of the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization as well as Senior Strategic Advisor to the Sharjah Museums Department in the UAE from 2007 – 2017. She began her career in Scotland, where she worked as Principal Curator for South Asia and the Middle East at the National Museums of Scotland from 1999 to 2007 and Curator for Muslim Art and Culture at Glasgow Museums from 1994 to 1999. Dr. Al-Khamis holds a PhD in Islamic art from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

Sascha Priewe, (he/him) Associate Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships, Royal Ontario Museum; Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art, University of Toronto, and Adjunct Associate Professor in Cultural Studies, Queen’s University

A Co-Founder of the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative, Sascha Priewe is the Royal Ontario Museum’s (ROM) Associate Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships. In this role, he works on cross-departmental programs and projects that support the ROM’s strategic vision, and develops and manages new institutional partnerships with other cultural and academic institutions.

Previously, Sascha was the Managing Director – Culture Centres at the ROM and charged with sharing and making relevant the riches of the museum’s art and culture collections and curatorial research in archaeology, art history, anthropology and conservation. Before joining the ROM, he was the Curator of Chinese and Korean collections at the British Museum and served as a diplomat in the German Foreign Office. With a PhD in archaeology from the University of Oxford, his research has focused on Chinese art and archaeology, Korean art, museum studies and cultural diplomacy.

Sascha is currently cross-appointed as an Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art at the University of Toronto, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University. He is also a Senior Fellow of Massey College and a 2019-21 Research Fellow of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Simge Erdogan-O’Connor, (she/her) Ph.D. candidate in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University, Research Fellow at the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative (NACDI)

Simge is a Ph.D. candidate in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University and a Research Fellow at the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative (NACDI). She is also the Manager and Curator at the Murney Tower Museum National Historic Site of Canada. Simge obtained her MA degree in Museum Studies from the University College London (UK) and her BA degree in History from Bogazici University (Turkey). She has over a decade of international experience working in museums, art galleries, and heritage sites across Turkey, the UK, and Canada and she has been involved with several academic research projects with Mitacs, UCL Institute of Archaeology, and Science Museum London. Simge is the recipient of the European Union’s Jean Monnet Award, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey’s Academic Excellence Award, and the International Inclusive Museum Network’s Emerging Scholar Award. Simge’s academic interests encompass cultural diplomacy, museum studies, and global citizenship. Her interdisciplinary Ph.D. research examines the impacts of contemporary museum practice on intercultural knowledge and global citizenship.