The Edges of Possibility Open Call is guided by a diverse and deeply thoughtful jury whose expertise spans systems transformation, leadership, social innovation, community organising, design and the arts. Together, they bring decades of experience working across cultures, disciplines and movements, united by a shared commitment to nurturing ideas that challenge convention and expand what’s possible.
Part of Unearthodox’s Critical Minds for the Exploration Co-Lab
Daniel Buchbinder is the Founder and CEO of Alterna, a social innovation platform that has supported over 6,000 entrepreneurs and launched impact initiatives across in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. An Ashoka and Skoll Fellow, he serves on multiple boards and holds degrees from ITAM, Imperial College, and UNAM.
Part of Unearthodox’s Critical Minds for the Exploration Co-Lab
Diego Parra is a transformation agent with nearly two decades of experience in nature conservation, innovation, sustainable business, and community building, currently leading The Nature Conservancy’s Agility Lab for Latin America to accelerate systemic change. Passionate about regeneration and systems thinking, Diego help teams, organisations and communities thrive as living systems, applying holistic, regenerative approaches that enable human activity to flourish alongside a vibrant planet.
Member of the Unearthodox Board
Elizabeth Tolu Ojo joined the African Leadership University (ALU) from African Wildlife Foundation’s (AWF) Conservation Management and Leadership program. At AWF, she designed an environmental education framework, as well as a monitoring and evaluation system for the Classroom Africa programme.
In 2016, she joined ALU as a consultant to launch the University’s School of Wildlife Conservation (SOWC). Over a five-year period, she served in pivotal leadership roles for the School, building it into a thought leader for the business of conservation in Africa while recruiting 300+ students from 32 countries, awarding over $2m in scholarships across three academic programmes, hosting three successful editions of the Business of Conservation Conference, and running a conservation entrepreneurs’ incubator programme in collaboration with the Luc Hoffmann Institute and WWF. She now serves as the University’s Director of Talent Management, ensuring that the university has the right people in the right roles and at the right cost.
She received her undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the University of Lagos, a master’s in Environmental Management from Yale School of the Environment, and an MBA at the ALU School of Business.
Part of Unearthodox’s Critical Minds for the Exploration Co-Lab
Dr Holly Dublin is a hands-on practitioner working at the interface of functioning natural systems and the well-being of their inhabitants. While preferring to work intensively with communities from Africa to the Amazon, Holly has held senior positions in global environmental governance and corporate sustainability. She has a proven track record of deeply understanding the issues, thinking analytically, connecting the dots in creative ways, and putting lessons from diverse realms into operational practice.
Dr Kimberleigh Tommy is the Executive Director, Africa, at the National Geographic Society, where she supports a continent-wide community of Explorers. A biological anthropologist focused on Africa’s origins and heritage, she has previously led major palaeoscience institutions, including serving as CEO of the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) and as Curator of key visitor centres in the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site. Her research links human evolutionary history to modern health and, as a dedicated science communicator, she works to bridge science and society. She has been recognised as one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans and is a L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science South Africa awardee.
Marion Osieyo offers wisdom and storytelling that honours the profound relationship between biodiversity, cultural diversity and justice - the relationship that sustains life on Earth. She is the founder of Black Earth, a multimedia platform and award-winning podcast amplifying the leadership and knowledge systems of Black women shaping regenerative Earth futures.
Through storytelling, events and impact collaborations, Black Earth explores and creates transformative approaches to living with and responding to the climate and biodiversity crises. Marion has held fellowships across several institutions, including as Storytelling for Social Change Fellowship at the University of Arts London and a Next Generation Foresight Practitioner position at the School of International Futures.
Nadja Skaljic is a lawyer, corporate strategist and systems thinker recognised for advancing innovation at the intersection of law, finance, technology and sustainable transformation. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Foresight Network and The Club of Rome, the world’s leading systems-change think-tank.
Nadja designs next-generation legal and investment frameworks that enable the shift toward sustainable and inclusive economic models. As Chief Legal and Strategy Officer at a Swiss innovation company, she oversees the development of platforms, products and institutional architectures that support new forms of prosperity within planetary boundaries.
Noor Noor is an interdisciplinary sustainability practitioner based in Cambridge, England. He is a Programme Officer at UNEP-WCMC supporting the co-production of policy-relevant biodiversity knowledge and strengthening the consideration of human rights and equity in ecosystem assessments and decision-making. Noor is also a musician and aspiring time-traveller.
Part of the Inaugural Cohort of the Exploration Co-Lab
Website: samyuktamanikumar.com
Instagram: @samyuktamanikumar
LinkedIn: Samyukta Manikumar
Part of the Inaugural Cohort of the Exploration Co-Lab
