With expertise spanning artificial intelligence, linguistic science, strategy development, and innovation management, Federica blends a content-driven approach with strategic planning in experience design and delivery.

She honed her skills through high-stakes World Expos, advising the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) as Chief Counselor, where she guided key management and communication strategies for events like Zaragoza 2008 and Shanghai 2010, while overseeing the BIE's rebranding efforts. 

In 2012, she played a pivotal role in the successful bid for Expo 2020 Dubai, leading theme development and later serving as Senior VP of Visitor Experience to bring the Expo’s vision to life for millions of visitors.


Federica integrates her background in natural language processing and semantic theory with design, neuroscience, and architecture to provide insights into experience planning and decision-making. 

She leverages her understanding of how people interact with space and content to craft compelling narratives, organising 
content in impactful ways across various media.


Her diverse portfolio includes major commercial real estate projects, large-scale public parks, and intimate exhibitions celebrating art, culture, and sustainability. 

A published author, Federica holds a PhD in Computer Science from Brandeis University and a master’s degree in management of technology from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Mark Woodward is a designer and strategist specialising in the human experience of places and has worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands to achieve this.

Over the last three decades, he has helped shape brands, destinations, and cultural projects across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, from global airline brands to world expos and major urban developments. He has founded multiple design firms creating household names in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. 

He was part of the leadership team responsible for the visitor experience strategy at Expo 2020 Dubai, which welcomed 24 million visitors.


Mark’s work focuses on connecting master-planning, storytelling, and environmental design to create places that people instinctively understand and remember.


As a multi-disciplinary designer and strategist he advises on all phases of design, execution and delivery for experiential and cultural projects – providing the bridge between master-planning, environmental design, storytelling and operations. 

His current research explores how neuroscience and architecture can help designers create environments that influence how people feel, move, and engage with the world around them.

He is currently studying for his Master MSc in Neuroscience of Architecture and is currently collaborating on a book about Human Space Design.

Robin is a seasoned technology entrepreneur and innovation professional. Starting from a background in theoretical physics his career has since spanned highly successful positions at all stages of the technology development lifecycle: as a founder and inventor in multiple early-stage startups, as a partner in private equity funds and as a technology executive and innovation leader in global blue chip companies.

Possessing a strong strategic vision and ability to make insightful connections, Robin thrives on building successful delivery teams to guide new concepts to market and brings to the BW team a wealth of experience in effective innovation and project and process delivery.

Robin lives in Dubai with his family and two dogs, is an active and competitive cyclist and he explores his creativity in wood and other materials when he can.

Antony describes himself as a Brand Architect and seasoned marketer.

Compelled to dig deep into the soul of a project to create strong foundations and brand principles that give substance and meaning to a brand experience from the narrative to the visual and beyond.

Graduating from St Martins School of Art, London with creativity and ideation at his heart he evolved through advertising, branding to marketing and has worked both agency and client side so has a strong understanding of projects both side of the fence.

Spending the last 21 years in the Middle East across Hospitality, Real Estate, Entertainment and Destination Building holding senior Marketing positions at Jumeirah Hotels, TDIC, Dubai Holding and NEOM where he spent four years in KSA developing THE LINE strategy and Brand, that became recognised globally.

Inspired by all things creative from art, film, music and dance, he is also a father of six, with a Swedish wife and home is divided between a farm in Gothenburg and a City apartment in Dubai. Also, an apiarist (Beekeeper) and keen hiker, yachtsman and padel tennis player. The Middle East is my true calling, and I try to live up to my namesake, Lawrence of Arabia.

A third culture kid raised in Dubai, she brings a naturally global perspective to everything she designs, somewhere between grounded practicality and quiet curiosity about how people live, move, and feel in a space.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and is a registered and licensed architect from the Philippines. Over the past decade, she has built her career in Dubai, with a strong focus on interior design. Her portfolio spans luxury villas, offices, and commercial spaces, with a focus on creating environments that feel considered, functional, and effortlessly refined.

Over the years, she has grown into a project and design manager, leading teams of architects and coordinating across multiple disciplines, balancing creativity with the realities of getting things built (on time, and with minimal drama).

Her favourite architectural style is brutalism, she’s drawn to the honesty of raw materials and how they can be reinterpreted in modern, more refined ways.

Outside of work, she likes to say she travels, but in reality, you’ll just as often find her at home on the weekends, happily doing nothing with her dog. It’s all about balance.

With extensive experience in architecture and urban planning globally, Robert has worked as both a consultant and client-based design director and technical advisor.

His expertise spans design management, urban planning, urban design, placemaking, design guidelines, and public realm design.

At Expo 2020, Robert led the design of the Expo and District 2020 master plans, created third-party development controls and guidelines, integrated public realm installations and developed design-driven policies to enhance the visitor experience. He also contributed his expertise in urban planning and placemaking to the development team.

A published contributor to architectural publications and a regular presenter at international conferences, Robert has conducted extensive research in urban placemaking, focusing on the perceptual and psychological aspects of how people interact with physical spaces.