Speakers

Marisa Hamamoto

Transformational Movement Artist, Speaker, and Changemaker

The first professional dancer to be named People Magazine “Women Changing the World”, and named InStyle  Magazine Badass 50, adidas "women reimagining sport," CBS News “People Making a Difference”, and featured on Good Morning America and NBC Today, Marisa is an award-winning Transformational Movement Artist, Speaker, and Changemaker dedicated to creating a more inclusive just world where we can each feel alive, not just survive.

Marisa’s lived experiences of her body repeatedly not being accepted as a dancer, her Japanese American identity not fitting the box in many spaces and surviving a stroke that initially paralyzed her from the neck down, eventually led her to create Infinite Flow in 2015, an award-winning nonprofit dance company that advocates for disability inclusion. A few years into devoting her life to disability inclusion advocacy, Marisa was diagnosed with two invisible disabilities: PTSD (2021) and Autism (2022). The diagnoses brought much clarity to challenges she’s coped with throughout her life.

Marisa is passionate about transforming forward-thinking businesses through keynotes, performances, and content that inspire inclusivity and move hearts, bodies, and minds, so that their teams become more connected, purpose-driven, and alive. She has shared the stage with Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, and has brought unique unforgettable keynote presentations and performances, to some of the biggest enterprises in the world, including Google, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, Red Bull, NBCUniversal, Deloitte, PayPal, International Monetary Fund, Farmers Insurance, Kaiser Permanente, Porsche, McKinsey & Co, Clifford Chance, amongst other brands. 

Since 2015, Marisa has led Infinite Flow to perform at over 200 events, from large global events to local school assemblies & community festivals. Heading the creative & artistic direction, Infinite Flow’s videos have tracked over 100 million views across social media. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Marisa spearheaded Infinite Flow to turn its in-person elementary school assembly program into a virtual program, launching Scoops of Inclusion, a 47-minute short film celebrating diversity and empowering kids to take an active role in creating a more inclusive world where we each feel we belong.

Marisa is bilingual and bicultural. She completed her BA & MA from Keio University, Tokyo. She is an Honorary Member (Distinguished Artist) of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. She is a speaker, thought leader, performing artist, and multi-dimensional creator on the rise, seeking to creatively inspire inclusion, innovation, and transformation through movement, dance, and storytelling.