The following are panelists for the Whitestone Foundation’s Thought Leader Symposium #1 entitled “The Existential Crisis of Learning and the Future of the Knowledge Economy” on Nov. 12, 2025.
Dani Chesson
Dani has guided organisations through regulatory crises, accelerated stalled digital transformations, and turned a failing business into a $34M success story. Her work has impacted 20M+ customers across enterprise transformations ranging from $15M-$30M at Bank of America, HSBC, and major New Zealand organizations. She has led transformations for teams of up to 15,000 employees across the globe. Dani is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver. She is also the co-host of the Design Thinker Podcast, with listeners tuning in from 90+ countries around the world. With her PhD in organizational and behavioral science and 15+ years of corporate experience leading large-scale change across three countries, Dani established the Design Thinker Institute in 2022 to help leaders unstick their organizations. You can learn more about Dani here or connect with her on LinkedIn.
Darryl Meekins
Darryl Meekins (Ph.D., North West University) is a seasoned leader in the cultural competency space. He is the CAO at Lightbox Consultants a learning design consultancy he co-founded in 2022 and has started several leadership programs aimed at increasing learning in the CQ and multinational leadership arenas. Originally from South Africa, Darryl has lived and taught across four continents and has been helping students and organizations navigate the complexities of the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world for nearly two decades. A specialist in Cultural Intelligence and Learning Experience Design (LXD), Darryl loves to engage learners of all backgrounds and vocations in a multi-modal, multidisciplinary journey of learning and discovery.
Erik Raschke
Erik Raschke (MA, City College of New York) has taught for over 30 years both in higher education and in high school. He also taught for many years in New York City, then later the University of Amsterdam. He currently is a high school instructor in the Netherlands. He is the author of two novels and dozens of articles in international news media such as the Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, Psychology Today, and Volkskrant. He is currently involved in a startup company in AI.
Erec Smith
Erec Smith is a former Associate Professor of Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania and a research fellow at the Cato Institute, where he does research in “Politics and Society.” He is also the co-founder of Free Black Thought, a website dedicated to highlighting viewpoint diversity within the African American population. Although he has eclectic scholarly interests, Smith’s primary work focuses on the rhetorics of anti-racist activism, theory, and pedagogy. Smith’s recent writings include several op-eds as well as his books, A Critique of Anti-Racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment (2020)
Justin Taylor
Justin Taylor is the author of the novel Reboot, a New York Times Notable Book of 2024 and a Washington Post best novel of the year. He is also the author of the memoir Riding with the Ghost, the novel The Gospel of Anarchy, and the story collections Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever and Flings. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, N+1, Granta, and Best American Short Stories. He is a contributing writer to the Washington Post Book World, and the director of the MFA program at Sewanee, the University of the South. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Victor Taylor
Victor Taylor has service in higher education for three decades as a professor and college administrator. He is author of numerous books including Para/Inquiry and Divisible Derridas. He is also co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Postmodernism. He is currently president of the Whitestone Foundation.
Paul Wolfe
Paul Wolfe served as Head of School for the Cambridge School of Dallas until June 2024, and currently holds the title emeritus. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees for West Dallas Community School (K-8), which primarily serves under-resourced communities. From 1999-2009 he was Huber L. Drumwright, Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His original career was carpentry and home-building. He holds a PhD from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.