The Baret 2025-2026 cohort has finished the first half of their journey around the globe. In the spirit of the great explorer Jeanne Baret, the first woman the circumnavigate the world, they have been attending to all they see and do with camraderie and open-mindedness.
We know that the Baret journey can be a dizzyingly diverse experience to digest, so compiled here is a list of all the speakers they met, site visits they went on, and Fellowships they experienced, replete with links to documentaries, student blogs, and more!
North America
New York City, San Francisco, Mexico City, Washington D.C., and more...
Baret began by taking a bite out of the Big Apple. As their first Home Base City, New York was our Scholars’ first chance to immerse themselves in one of the world’s great cosmopolitan melting pots—and this adventurous cohort, hailing from 28 countries, had a bracing first month.
MORNING PROGRAM
At our Morning Program, they heard from:
The acclaimed screenwriter Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3)
Pitched their business ideas to an experienced executive, Andrew Essex, co-founder of Droga5, the agency named AdAge and AdWeek’s “Agency of the Decade,” as well as author and consultant, who also provided one-on-one advising
Went on ecological excursions through bayous and swamps in Charleston, S.C. with Coastal Expeditions.
And visited the headquarters of Google and AirBnB in San Francisco.
South America
São Paulo, Patagonia, Cusco, the Amazon, and more...
In just one month in South America, Baret went to the ends of the Earth. In their time in the bustling metropolis of São Paulo, they heard from a dazzling array of experts and changemakers from a variety of disciplines and careers:
MORNING PROGRAM
A political scientist from the USP - Universidade de São Paulo, Christian Lohbauer
A visit to Itaú Unibanco, one of Latin America’s leading financial institutions.
A chance to volunteer at the Brazilian Red Cross.
One-on-one advising with Eduardo Pires, founder of his own boutique investing firm.
A collaborative Morning Program with the Beacon School, a progressive education institution, where students from the school and Baret were brought together for a day of learning.
And of course, no shortage of fun: Jiu-Jitsu training, days traversing buzzing markets, and even a little bumper car driving.
Paris, Seville, Bologna, London, Warsaw, and more...
Our Scholars began their time in Europe in the City of Lights, lighting it up with their insights and curiosity. They wore many hats in Paris, and avoided beret puns as much as they could.
They did it all: the Louvre, The Champs-Élysées, the Left Bank, the Musée d’Orsay, Luxembourg Gardens, the Eiffel Tower, and of course no shortage of camembert, brie, baguettes, and croissants. When they weren’t exploring its twenty arrondissements, they were in dialogue with truly a dazzling array of speakers: artists, curators, journalists, and finance leaders. In just three weeks, they heard from:
MORNING PROGRAM
Bryan McCormack, a Irish contemporary artist best known for his social art project Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow
Filip Peters, the founder and CEO of Acorai, a pioneering medtech company developing AI-driven heart monitoring technology
Susanna Malcorra, the co-founder of GWL Voices and a distinguished leader in global governance
Vincent Guiot, a sound ecologist and composer whose work explores the intersection of audio naturalism and indigenous sound traditions
Josefa Karmy, the founder of uLern, an AI-powered platform transforming the way students study and engage with learning materials
Sara Berkai, a founder of Ambessa Play, investor, and educator exploring how play and making can build self-efficacy in children
Nicolas Dubreuil, an explorer and documentarian whose work in Greenland examines the relationship between people, climate, and tradition
Eliot Higgins, a leading voice for transparency and accountability and the founder of Bellingcat, the investigative journalism collective that uses open-source intelligence to uncover truth in global conflicts
Elli Kotzamani, a veteran Cypriot-Greek journalist and the News Director of ANT1, one of Greece’s leading television networks
Amada Maxwell, Head of New Business at WGSN and former Associate Director of Gallery Partmerships at Artsy
Bin Zhou, an accomplished finance leader with over 15 years of international experience across treasury management, financial reporting, and corporate controlling
Alice Aurand a painting conservator at Musée du Louvre where she works at one of the world’s most prestigious conservation studios preserving artworks that span centuries of art history
Pauline Coste, a humanitarian consultant dedicated to designing and implementing effective responses to global crises
And two artists in conversation: Pier Stockholm, a Peruvian-French artist whose work explores the relationship between geometry, architecture, and the emotional structure of cities, and Marlon de Azambuja, a Brazilian visual artist known for his site-responsive installations that critically engage with architecture and the politics of space.
SITE VISITS & AFTERNOON OPTIONS
Paris has no shortage of galleries and museums. Here is a selection of what they journeyed through:
The Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, a space dedicated to one of the most iconic photographers of the 20th century and a pioneer of street photography.
The Albert School, a Paris-based “Data, Business and AI” school preparing future leaders in technological transformation.
The Musée Rodin, a true gem in Paris dedicated to the incredible works of the famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin.
One group took to their wheels as they biked through the diverse ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada and Andalucía.
Still others explored the past and future of London through visits to the Tate Modern, a seminar from Nicholas Stern at the London School of Economics, and a workshop on sustainability with Gautier Houel, founder of The Green Londoner.
We hope this look into the Baret year has been enlightening and heartwarming. There will be more learning and adventure commencing in just a few short weeks.
