Solutions For A World Without Borders Where Women Thrive

Helen is a historical novelist and a trailblazer in XR, and in the literary world, being the first novelist in the world to have created a Virtual Reality space inspired by one of the settings in her own novel. Her VR space, The Foremothers Café, not only pays homage to her novel Sour Milk in Sheep’s Wool and the café within its storyline but also serves as a thriving cultural center in VR. 

Helen’s historical fiction novels are set during pivotal times in history. Readers are taken back to the activism and debates of the early reproductive rights, suffrage, and abolitionist movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as to the harsh reality of the Sorcery Trials in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries. Grounded in scholarly research, Helen’s novels portray history in vivid detail, with unforgettable characters and relationships that stay with readers long after the last page is turned. 

Dee Dee Chainey-Jones is a storyteller designing immersive experiences and engaging communities across folklore and heritage. As director of The Cultural Futures Foundry consultancy, she runs The Cultural Futures Hub VR Community Centre. She led a conference exploring inclusive engagement and storytelling in the cultural sector at the Hub in March 2025 and now hosts regular VR folklore events. Dee Dee’s recent VR projects include ‘Enter the Maltaverse’, an exhibition of Maltese prehistoric architecture as part of European Heritage Days 2025. In 2024, she launched a browser-based XR experience at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum that brought the medieval poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, to life, allowing conference attendees to step beyond museum walls into legendary local landscapes. With a background in archaeological engagement, Dee Dee previously founded the #FolkloreThursday project, gathering a 60k-strong global community to share tales and traditions. She is co-author of the Treasury of Folklore books from Batsford and National Trust Books. The series explores how the stories we tell about our landscapes unite us all through shared fears, hopes and dreams — irrespective of where we come from. Dee Dee spoke about inclusive community building for the Library of Congress, and her work has been discussed in The Economist, Times Literary Supplement, and featured on BBC Trending.   

Website: https://culturalfuturesfoundry.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dee-chainey-jones/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deedeechainey/ 

Paige Dansinger leverages immersive technologies to create innovative, participatory solutions for sustainable smart cities, museums, and communities. Paige is the Director of the XR Women Museum and Gallery. She is the founder of Better World Museum, Horizon Art Museum, and Women in Horizon.  

Anju Bhargava, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist for Persistent Technology, Inc. (PTI). She’s an expert in digital health, with her work spanning from early ideation and establishing proof of concept, to implementation and regulatory clearance. She’s served as a consultant for PTI for over two years, participating in the design, development, and research of Reflect XR, an Immersive Arts for Wellness tool. She’s a former employee of the Defense Health Agency and Curio Digital Therapeutics.