Jodi Benson is blessed and honored to be the recipient of the prestigious Disney Legend Award and proud to serve The Walt Disney Company for the past 39 amazing years.

Jodi has received worldwide recognition as the beloved singing and speaking voice of Ariel in the Academy Award-winning Disney animated feature film, The Little Mermaid as well as the bubbly voice of Tour Guide Barbie in Disney Pixar’s Toy Story 2, winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. Ms. Benson is thrilled to be a part of the Oscar-winning film, Toy Story 3 as the effervescent voice of Barbie for Disney/Pixar. She also gave life to the spirited Weebo in Disney’s live-action Flubber co-starring the brilliant Robin Williams. Ms. Benson returned as Ariel with all of the Disney Princesses for the first time ever in Disney’s hit Ralph Breaks the Internet. For Warner Brothers, she created the title voice of Thumbelina, a Don Bluth animated feature with songs by Barry Manilow. Jodi recently made a special cameo appearance in the live-action feature for Disney The Little Mermaid.

Jodi’s other film projects include The Little Mermaid III, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea as Ariel, Lady and the Tramp II as Lady, 101 Dalmatians II as Anita, DreamWorks’s animated film Joseph: King of Dreams as his wife Asenath and in Balto II & Balto III as Jenna for Universal Studios. She appears as Sam (Patrick Dempsey’s Assistant) in Disney’s feature film Enchanted—as a real live person, with legs! Jodi was honored to introduce the Emmy-nominated 30th Anniversary celebration The Little Mermaid Live! ABC television special event.

Ms. Benson received a Tony Award and a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for creating the starring role of Polly Baker in the Tony Award-winning Broadway Gershwin musical Crazy for You. Jodi was thrilled to star as The Witch in Into the Woods and Dolly in Hello, Dolly! at the beautiful Steinmetz Hall in her second home of Orlando, Rose in Gypsy in Rochester at OFC as well as with the Gulf Coast Symphony playing opposite her brilliant daughter, Delaney, starring as Louise, and recently starred in Pen Pals Off-Broadway in NYC.

Other Broadway credits include creating the starring role of Doria Hudson in the Howard Ashman/Marvin Hamlisch musical Smile, Betty Bursteter in Cy Coleman’s Welcome to the Club, and Virginia in Marilyn: An American Fable. Internationally, Ms. Benson has had the honor of sharing the stage with her husband Ray Benson in the European premiere of Gershwin’s My One and Only, starring as Miss Edythe Herbert.

In LA, Ms. Benson starred in the critically acclaimed Reprise production of Babes in Arms as Bunny, Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, Flora the Red Menace (Pasadena Playhouse), Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, and as Florence Vassey in Chess, for which she won the Drama-Logue Award for Best Actress.

Her animated TV series include currently starring as Nia in The Wingfeather Saga for Angel Studios, the Emmy Award-winning Disney’s Sofia the First: The Floating Palace (Queen Emmaline & Ariel), Cartoon Network’s Camp Lazlo as the voices of Patsy Smiles, Jane Doe and Almondine, the Emmy Award-winning The Little Mermaid, Pepper Ann, Pirates of Dark Water (Hanna-Barbera), P.J. Sparkles, the Barbie primetime series as the voice of Barbie, Disney’s Hercules as the ever “perky” Helen of Troy, Batman Beyond, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The Wild Thornberrys and many others.

On the concert stage, Ms. Benson starred in the World Premiere of The Little Mermaid Live in Concert to Film at The Hollywood Bowl to a sold-out crowd of 18,000 fans per night for three concerts, as well as sold-out performances in Tokyo & Osaka with the brilliant Alan Menken. She fulfilled her childhood dream by singing at Carnegie Hall with the illustrious New York Pops. Jodi had the honor of appearing as the guest soloist at the Kennedy Center Honors for Miss Ginger Rogers. She performed at The Hollywood Bowl with conductor John Mauceri on several occasions including tributes to Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Gershwin Brothers and Walt Disney: 75 Years of Music. Jodi has performed with symphonies all over the world including The Philly Pops (Conductor Peter Nero), The National Symphony (Conductor Marvin Hamlisch), Toronto, Cleveland, Dallas, Tokyo Philharmonic, San Francisco and Chicago.

She starred in Disney’s premiere in Central Park with Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame premiere at the Superdome, and Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary Spectacular, and Disney’s 100 Years of Magic. Jodi was thrilled to be a part of the christening ceremonies and inaugural cruises for five of our Disney cruise ships. Ms. Benson is honored to be the D23 Fanbassador for The Walt Disney Company, ambassador for feature animation and a member of the Disney family for all these wonderful years.

Jodi is honored to narrate the Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World and has joyfully participated for many years. It is truly one of her most favorite Disney experiences to be a part of and holds such a special place in her heart.

Currently, Jodi plays Iris Maddox in the Netflix hit series Sweet Magnolias in Seasons 4 & 5.

Ms. Benson has her book available, Part of My World, with behind-the-scenes stories which highlight the many amazing people along her journey.

Jodi gives thanks and praise to God for her family, friends, for her loving husband of 42 years, Ray, and her amazing children; daughter Delaney and son McKinley & his wife Mackenzie.

Michael and Matthew Gardiner, known as the Gardiner Brothers, are five-time World Champion Irish dancers, global content creators, keynote speakers, and performers trusted by brands, companies, and organizations around the world. With over 10 million followers and 1.5 billion views across social media, they are known globally for creating high-energy, cinematic content that blends dance, storytelling, and modern culture, while also delivering powerful performances and keynote experiences centered on innovation, creativity, high performance, and building a digital brand. 

The Gardiner Brothers headline events worldwide, drawing on more than 15 years of experience as former principal dancers with Riverdance and as the creators and stars of their global touring production Unleashed. They deliver world-class storytelling, movement, and insight to both social media and the stage. Born in Denver, raised in Ireland, and now based in Nashville, they bring a global perspective, relentless work ethic, and genuine love for what they do to everything they create.

Dr. Sian Leo Proctor made history in 2021 as the first artist selected to fly as an astronaut, joining the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission as the first woman to pilot a commercial spacecraft and the only African-American woman to serve as a mission pilot. The spacesuit she wore is now on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

She is a poet, artist, and educator whose work reaches far beyond that flight. Her immersive planetarium experience EarthLight World invites audiences to see this planet the way she saw it, and from 2024 to 2026 she served as U.S. Department of State Science Envoy for Space. She speaks internationally, working with individuals and organizations to find clarity and momentum and let their EarthLight shine.

Kafi Pierre spent twelve years performing on Cirque du Soleil stages before the company brought her back on the other side of the curtain, as Associate Artistic Director, and that crossing from performer to maker shapes everything she has built since. She has produced for Canada's Got Talent and TO Live in Toronto, choreographed for the Luminato Festival, and served as Artistic Associate on Jazz Island, a new work commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

She started young, dancing on a Canadian children's television show before she was old enough to know it was a career, and nearly thirty years later she is still in the room where the work gets made.

David was one of the original writers on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. In 1995 (after 300+ shows), he moved to Los Angeles and began working on Tarzan for Disney Feature Animation. 

It’s there that Disney execs introduced him to a new, little known animation studio called Pixar (Toy Story would be released later that year). They hired him to help develop their second feature, A Bug’s Life. 

For the next decade, Dave worked on (almost) every Disney or Pixar animated movie in production, including writing the screenplay for The Emperor’s New Groove as well as co-writing Finding Nemo. He was nominated for an Oscar ad BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay for Finding Nemo, as well as a BAFTA for The Emperor’s New Groove.

Yoko Sen is a sound artist and founder of Sen Sound, a studio transforming sound in hospitals through human-centered design. An ambient electronic musician, she was shaped by her experience as a patient, exploring how sound can support people in moments of distress and care. 

A Citizen Artist Fellow at the Kennedy Center, she has collaborated with Medtronic, Philips, and hospitals to improve clinical sound design, earning Red Dot's Best of the Best and features in The New York Times and BBC. Her project My Last Sound invites people worldwide to share the last sound they wish to hear.

Over three decades and three continents, Simon Lythgoe helped build some of the most recognizable franchises in television, including American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, and Popstars, work that has reached audiences in more than a hundred countries and earned Emmy and Producers Guild nominations. More recently he produced Meet Me Next Christmas, Netflix's global number one film.

Today he runs Legacy Productions in Nashville, developing story-driven content for a media world that keeps changing shape underneath it, and he does it working from one belief that has held up across every format he has watched arrive and disappear. Great stories will always outlast the tools used to tell them.

Whitney Haggins studied sociolinguistics at Stanford, the science of how people actually speak to one another, and has spent more than thirty years since then working in the space where language meets voice. She has crafted communications for JPL and narrated NASA Earth-observing mission videos, lending her voice to the work of looking back at this planet and describing what we find.

Now she is launching Whink Media, built on the idea that a voice can work like a beacon. Illuminating. Empowering. Pushing back against the darkness.

Pat Hazell was one of the original writers for NBC's Seinfeld. He is a Tonight Show veteran, a playwright, and a producer who has spent thirty five years making funny things that are also true. His one man show The Wonder Bread Years aired on PBS, which called him America's Foremost Pop Culture Anthropologist. His newest show, Pat Hazell's Permanent Record, is touring the country. His comedy album Pat & Mic LIVE is on Apple and Spotify. 

As Chief Creative Officer of Sweetwood Creative in Austin, he has created seven original national tours and builds custom content for companies who want humor, heart, and humanity. He will tell you his best work is fathering two of the brightest stars in the universe, Tucker and Keaton.

Allen Clark is a creative strategist and branding visionary. Drawing on his rich history of shaping visual narratives for international brands and cultural icons, Allen specializes in big-picture creative direction. He blends artistic intuition with strategic ideation to build unforgettable brand identities and global advertising campaigns. 

Julie Valeriote is Head of Cruise Programs and Entertainment Operations for Norwegian Cruise Line, where she has spent twenty-seven years shaping what a vacation feels like for millions of guests. She has led teams onboard and ashore, building entertainment, youth, recreation, and guest programming across the fleet.

Nearly three decades in one of the world's most experience-driven industries taught her something she did not expect. The moments people carry home are almost never the ones on the run sheet. They come from thoughtful leadership, real human connection, and the small decisions nobody plans for.

She speaks the way she leads, with warmth and no pretense, drawing on stories from the ship and the shore. Her message holds up in any industry. The unscripted moment is where the impact lives.

Vinny Mraz is a multidisciplinary theater-maker based in New York. His work has been seen at En Garde Arts, The Vineyard Theatre, Golden Thread Productions, HERE Arts, La MaMa, New Ohio Theatre, The Tank, and Dixon Place, among others.

He recently directed Sister Act: The Musical with the women at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a production featured on Spectrum News NY1's "On Stage." He is a teaching artist with Rehabilitation Through the Arts, work that has shaped how he thinks about who theater is for.

With Jared Mezzocchi and Sona Tatoyan, he built the world premiere of AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf), named to KQED's Best of Theater 2025. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Theater at Manhattanville University. MFA, Sarah Lawrence College.

Ara Dinkjian is an Armenian-American composer and multi-instrumentalist, considered one of the finest oud players in the world. He graduated from Hartt College of Music with the country's first and only degree in the oud.

His group NIGHT ARK recorded four albums for RCA/BMG and PolyGram/Universal. He has performed in twenty-six countries, and his compositions have been recorded by singers in sixteen languages. His composition "Homecoming" was performed at the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

In 2013, at the Nevruz Festival in Diyarbakır, more than a million people sang his song "Picture" to welcome peace after years of conflict in the region.

He and his father Onnik, the iconic Armenian folk singer, are the subject of the documentary film Garod.

In 2019, Sona Tatoyan returned to her family's war-torn home in Aleppo and found 180 century-old shadow puppets, hand-painted on leather, that had belonged to her great-great-grandfather, an Armenian storyteller who carried them out through the genocide. She built a play around them. AZAD (the rabbit and the wolf) premiered to a sold-out run in San Francisco and was named one of KQED's best Bay Area productions of 2025, and the San Francisco Chronicle called it shattering theater.

A first generation Syrian-Armenian-American writer, performer, and contemporary hakawati, which is the Arabic word for storyteller, she was mentored by Maya Angelou and has spent her life on a single premise. Perception is trainable, and story is the technology that trains it.

Jeremy Cowart has photographed Taylor Swift, President Obama, and the Kardashians. His fine art has hung beside Warhol and Leibovitz in a London auction house. He won a Gold Clio for his visual work on Star Trek. None of that is the part he leads with.

He founded Help-Portrait, a volunteer movement that has served people in need across more than ninety countries. His newest project, If You're Breathing, partners with people in crisis to co-create art that funds their recovery. Each person becomes the hero of a story they did not know they were in.

He is building all of it while living with Friedreich's Ataxia, a degenerative disease that is the subject of his forthcoming documentary, The Light We Let In.

Paul is the founder of StoryLab at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA's first story accelerator, where he built JPL's strategic communications hub and helped teams turn complex science into mission-driven narratives that inspire. His "state of the art to a state of the heart" approach drove billions in new business across JPL's Earth, Solar System, Mars, and Astrophysics directorates. 

With twenty-five years in strategic communications, he specializes in narrative engineering that clarifies a just cause and drives measurable results. Paul has spoken on collective exploration with NASA HQ, the UNDP, Google X, Caltech, and SXSW, among others.

Kate Harris is a bestselling author, book coach, and sought after creative consultant who helps people break free from conformity to find their authentic power. Her work blends Viking wisdom with modern transformation strategy, anchored by the living manifestos she builds with clients.

She is CCO of Istoria, Head of Istoria Studio, and creative director for STORY, working alongside her husband of over twenty years, Harris III. When she isn't guiding rebellions or crafting live experiences, she's mom to Jude, Everly, and Mylo, baking sourdough at home in Nashville.

Paul Anleitner is a cultural theologian who writes and speaks on the role of culture and story in our quest for meaning. He is the author of Based on a True Story: Vibe Shifts, the End of Deconstruction, and the Reboot of Meaning and has been featured on NewsNation, Fox, CNN, USA Today, and numerous other media outlets and podcasts.

Paul is the President & CEO of Goodmakers—a national movement of leaders, builders, and creators committed to the project of cultural renewal. He is also a Religion and Culture Fellow at the Archbridge Institute.

Brad Montague is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of books for kids and former kids. He is the creator of the web series Kid President, the global social-good movement Socktober, and the picture books The Circles All Around Us, Fantastic Bureau of Imagination, and Fail-a-bration.

He is part of the team behind Zip and the Tiny Sprouts, a new animated series on YouTube Kids, with a world and characters he designed and direction and voices from the team behind Bluey. He hosted The Kindness Project for Magnolia Network.

His commitment to childlike wonder and joyful rebellion has led to work with Disney Channel, the Jim Henson Company, the Metropolitan Opera, and the United Nations. He lives in Tennessee with his wife and collaborator, Kristi Montague.

Shane McKenzie spent ten years helping build a business from startup to $32 million before his own team told him he was a cancer to the culture. That moment changed everything.

Today, as founder of Relevant Leadership and COO of Istoria, he coaches executives, entrepreneurs, and people leaders at companies like Team Penske, Honda Jets, and Chick-fil-A to make the shift from creating dependency to building teams that think, own outcomes, and succeed without them in the middle of everything. Healthy How is what he learned after everything he thought he knew about leadership turned out to be wrong.

Harris III is a top-rated speaker, award-winning illusionist, #1 bestselling author, and founder of Istoria. He has performed at 2,000+ live events for over 2 million people across 30+ countries. 

After making $1million by age 21 only to go bankrupt at 22, Harris spent a decade studying the stories we tell ourselves and how they drive behavior. That work fueled his comeback as creator of the Story OS and a consultant to leaders at Apple, Disney, Google, NASA, and beyond. Today he helps leaders 10x their influence. He and his wife Kate live in Nashville with their three kids.