The brainchild of astrodynamicist Moriba Jah, co-founder/chief scientist at Privateer and associate professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas, the Diverse Dozen is the exclusive ASCEND community of thought leaders and activists whose intellectual and emotional commitment to building a sustainable off-world future knows no bounds.

“D12 is centered on the belief that we’re more similar than we are different, and action is best when born from compassion,” says Jah, a space environmentalist advancing our ability to understand how human objects in space create both services and risks of collisions.

In an effort to address this topic, and coming from a place of honoring and respecting the relationships and relatedness among all things, as well as of acting with compassion, Moriba Jah has partnered with ASCEND to create a one-of-a-kind annual event that invokes diverse and unique voices from humanity to tell the world about salient issues in space safety, security, and sustainability.