The Welcome Conference

A social scientist and one of the world's leading authorities on human happiness, Arthur C. Brooks, PhD, is a professor, Free Press columnist, podcast host, and CBS News contributor. He is the author of 16 books, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers The Meaning of Your Life and Build the Life You Want (with Oprah Winfrey). He lives with his family in Virginia. Photo: Jake Rosenberg.

A best-selling cookbook author and food columnist for the New York Times, Melissa Clark writes the popular column A Good Appetite and has starred in over 100 cooking videos. She's written 46 cookbooks, including the award-winning Dinner. Her latest, The Big Book of Dinner, publishes in November. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she lives there with her family. Photo: Amy Dickerson.

Dex Hunter-Torricke has advised some of the world's most influential tech leaders including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Eric Schmidt. In 2025 Dex left Big Tech to launch the Center for Tomorrow, a global nonprofit working to build more humane  and sustainable societies in the age of AI. He has been profiled by TIME, the Wall Street Journal, Politico and others, and is writing his first book.

Author of the New York Times bestselling memoirs The Book of Alchemy and Between Two Kingdoms, Suleika Jaouad writes The Isolation Journals, the #1 Literature newsletter on Substack. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and Vogue. A three-time cancer survivor, Emmy Award–winning journalist, and nationally exhibited visual artist. Photo: Sunny Shokrae.

A Nigerian cookbook author and writer, Yéwándé Komolafe is a staff columnist, recipe developer, and video host for the New York Times. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two kids. Photo: Lanna Apisukh.

A dynamic speaker, New York Times bestselling author, and CEO of a modern research company, Ryan inspires millions to embrace the life they were meant to live through his podcast and social media following.

The most followed mentalist on the planet, Max Major’s viral mind-reading videos surpassed 1 billion views in 2022. He turns his innovative techniques in hypnosis, body language, and influence into unforgettable experiences, on national television and for private audiences around the world.

Chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin, an acclaimed restaurant holding three Michelin and four New York Times stars, Eric Ripert is a bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning television host known for mindful cooking, explored in his book. Photo: Nigel Parry.

Chef, restaurateur, and podcast host Ruth Rogers co-founded The River Cafe in London in 1987, which has held a Michelin Star since 1997. She has authored 15 cookbooks — including her recent Squeeze Me and Table 4 at The River Cafe — and hosts Ruthie's Table 4, now in Season 5, with guests like Paul McCartney, Stanley Tucci, and Tina Fey. She holds an OBE and a CBE.

As Head of Innovation and Creativity at Disney, Duncan Wardle helped Imagineering, Lucas Film, Marvel, Pixar, and Disney Parks innovate. He now brings that experience to audiences worldwide through a unique Design Thinking approach, teaching Master Classes at Harvard and Yale. He's a multiple TedX speaker and contributor to Fast Company and Harvard Business Review.