Diana Ayton-Shenker

Diana Ayton-Shenker serves as CEO, Leonardo/ISAST (the International Society of Art, Science, & Technology); ASU Professor of Practice (jointly appointed at School for the Future of Innovation in Society, and School of Art, Media, Engineering) and Executive Director of Leonardo-ASU. Her four books include, A New Global Agenda: Priorities, Practices, & Pathways of the International Community, and Tumbalalaika: A Collection of Poems. She produced New Babel, a 10-story-tall A.R. installation (Union Square Park, NYC) with The New School XReality Center and artist William T. Ayton, her creative partner and husband. Their A.R. collaboration, New World City, received The 2112 Foundation’s 2020 Visionary Award, and was the 1st A.R. art published by MIT Press, and Leonardo. Recently, their Interplanetary VR Sustainable Futures art environment was previewed at Espronceda Institute for Art and Culture (Barcelona), and premiered at Ars Electronica 2022 (Linz) together with War Room VR.

As founder and CEO of Fast Forward Fund and Global Momenta, Diana was honored by President Bill Clinton, named #1 of “25 Leading Women Changing the World” (Good Business NY), and featured among “31 Inspiring Women in Nonprofit Management” (UNC). She has received fellowships and residencies (Wharton, The New School, Bard); worked with the UN, Human Rights Watch, P.E.N, Mercy Corps; and taught at Bard, American University of Paris, and Hunter College, where she directed the 1st undergraduate Human Rights Program in the US. Diana has given talks at numerous events and venues including the UN, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Penn; she holds an LLM (University of Essex Law School) and BA (University of Pennsylvania) with honors. Currently, she is privileged to serve as Senior Global Futures Scientist, and as an Interplanetary Scholar at ASU.