“Our new Director’s Fellows initiative creates a way for these extraordinary individuals to take part in Media Lab research alongside our faculty and students,” Ito wrote in a blog post introducing the fellows. “We’re bringing a cohort of characters from a broad range of sectors and geographies to join us in doing collaborative research and to expand our growing global community. The fellows will not only work with the Lab’s students and faculty, but also with each other.”

Here’s the full list of the first class of Director’s Fellows:

Director/producer J. J. Abrams;

Chess grandmaster Maurice Ashley;

Fashion designer Christopher Bevans;

Nairobi-based technologists/activists David Kobia and Juliana Rotich;

Open education advocate Philipp Schmidt;

Detroit community activist Shaka Senghor;

Maker movement advocate Jeff Sturges; and

Author and comedian Baratunde Thurston.