Rick Tumlinson​

Founder, EarthLight Foundation
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Rick Tumlinson is widely recognized as the “godfather” of the commercial space movement — the architect who helped shift space exploration from a government monopoly to an open frontier powered by enterprise and purpose. He co-founded the Space Frontier Foundation, served on the founding board of the XPRIZE, signed the first private astronaut to the ISS, and founded SpaceFund, a leading space venture capital firm. He is the author of Why Space? and the founder of EarthLight.

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​Rick Tumlinson is Chairman and CEO of SpaceFund Inc., a top-rated space venture capital firm, and author of Why Space? The Purpose of People. Widely recognized as one of the architects of the modern commercial space era, he has been dubbed the “godfather” of the commercial space movement — a leading visionary who helped change the conversation from government-only exploration to an open frontier powered by enterprise, innovation, and purpose.

A six-time witness before the U.S. Congress, Rick testified as early as 1995 that transportation to and from the International Space Station should be provided commercially — an approach now reshaping low Earth orbit. He helped lead the MirCorp effort to commercialize Russia’s Mir space station, signed the first private astronaut to fly to the ISS (Dennis Tito), and was part of the team that helped initiate the first mission to detect evidence of water on the Moon.

Rick co-founded the Space Frontier Foundation, served on the founding board of the XPRIZE, and launched pioneering ventures spanning private space stations, commercial space suits (Orbital Outfitters), and asteroid resources (Deep Space Industries). He later founded SpaceFund and created the EarthLight Foundation — producer of the New Worlds Faire and the Space Cowboy Ball — bringing together founders, investors, and cultural leaders shaping humanity’s next era.

His commentary has appeared in Scientific American, SpaceNews, and Space.com. He has been honored with a World Technology Award (alongside Craig Venter) and the 2024 Future of Humanity Lifetime Achievement Award.

​​Leah Cheli Doolittle

Executive Director, EarthLight Foundation

Leah Cheli Doolittle is a Florida attorney specializing in corporate governance, risk and compliance, nonprofit management, and space law. She earned her Master of Laws in Air and Space Law from the University of Mississippi’s Center for Air and Space Law and is an active member of the National Space Society. A frequent presenter on space law and policy, she holds a JD from Stetson University College of Law.

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Leah Cheli Doolittle serves as Executive Director of the EarthLight Foundation. She is a Florida attorney whose work centers on corporate governance, risk and compliance, nonprofit management, and space law. She earned her Master of Laws in Air and Space Law from the University of Mississippi’s Center for Air and Space Law in 2026 and is an active member of the National Space Society. Leah is a frequent presenter on space law and policy and on corporate governance-focused legal careers.

Leah serves as Assistant Secretary for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Board of Trustees and has served as Corporate Affairs Manager at AAA, Inc. since 2016, supporting the Board of Directors, conducting research and training, and developing the association’s information governance program.

She is an alumna of the University of Florida and earned her Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law. She lives in Orlando, Florida, is fluent in Spanish, and is learning Mandarin Chinese.

​Junaid Mian

Director, EarthLight Foundation
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Junaid Mian came to the space movement through pharmacy. His years at the intersection of human biology and longevity science convinced him that the cislunar economy is one of the most powerful forcing functions humanity is creating to extend human healthspan — a conviction that led him to invest early in Axiom Space and a growing portfolio of NewSpace ventures. At EarthLight, he leads DreamScopes and hosts the Biomed Vector at New Worlds Faire.

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Junaid Mian came to the space movement through an unusual door: pharmacy. As a Pharmacist, he spent years at the intersection of human biology, longevity science, and the systems that keep people alive. That work convinced him that the cislunar economy is one of the most powerful forcing functions humanity has ever created for extending human healthspan on and off Earth. The research accelerating in microgravity, the biotech convergence happening in orbit, and the life sciences investment following the frontier will compress decades of longevity science into years. That conviction led him to invest early in Axiom Space and a growing portfolio of NewSpace ventures.

It also raised a harder question: if the cislunar economy will change how long and how well humans live, who’s building the culture that gives that longer life its purpose?

That question brought him to the EarthLight Foundation, where he serves as Director alongside founder Rick Tumlinson and Executive Director Leah Doolittle. His core intellectual contribution is the argument that SpaceCulture — the cultural operating system for the cislunar age — must precede the space economy, not follow it. Civilizations don’t expand into frontiers by accident. Someone builds the culture first.

At EarthLight, Junaid leads DreamScopes, a national high school telescope competition, and hosts the Biomed Vector at New Worlds Faire — bridging the life sciences community and the cislunar frontier.