Nashiru Abdulai, a Ghanaian diplomat, is Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Director at the Embassy of Ghana in Ethiopia, Ghana's Permanent Mission to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Nashiru has over 20 years’ experience working across education, banking and finance, business development, diplomacy, international relations and leadership. He enjoys a high degree of analytical thinking, strategic insight and has a proven track record of success in communication and people relations, negotiation, and financial and management systems.

Dadhi Ram Bhandari is a diplomat in the Nepal Foreign Service currently serving as Director for Internal Administration and Human Resources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Nepal. His primary role is to plan and conduct training and capacity building programmes for Nepali diplomats and make their strategic placement in line with the country’s foreign policy priorities. He provides policy feedback to the Foreign Secretary and Division Chief in the management and deployment of manpower and other resources and ensures there is smooth coordination between the Ministry and Nepali diplomatic missions across the world.

Shahid Iqbal Choudhary is a career civil servant from India. He is the Secretary to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir region and CEO of Mission Youth, where he works extensively for the empowerment of ethnic tribal communities and youth. His initiative using technology and public communication for Covid-19 management in Kashmir won the top position in national awards. He led Project Rahat under which 170 mountain bridges were constructed in nine months leading to improvement in school enrolment in the hilly Udhampur region. Shahid’s electoral education initiative led to the historic participation of 84 per cent of the electorate in the 2014 elections to India’s Parliament, up from previous highest of 32 per cent. His Rural BPO initiative in North Kashmir was inaugurated by the Prime Minister.

Andra Costache works for the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs as the deputy prefect of Galati County. She is the youngest person to hold this position, having previously served as the youngest secretary of state in post-communist Romania at the Ministry of Youth and Sport. Andra's work primarily focuses on youth engagement in the electoral process and other decision-making spaces at all levels of society, and she strives to develop youth policies made by young people, for young people. She is the founder of Romania's National Youth Council, an institution composed of government representatives and youth organisations that provides pathways for young people to become involved in civic matters. In addition to being a youth advocate, Andra is an outspoken champion for women and people with disabilities.

Budisatrio Djiwandono is a politician from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) who currently serves as the Vice Chairman of Commission IV in the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, which oversees 3 ministries: the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Budisatrio has been a member of parliament representing the people of East Kalimantan since 2017. Through the House Commission IV's supervisory, legislative, and budgetary authority, he continues to strive to voice the interests of the people, as well as delivering tangible programmes to improve the livelihood of many East Kalimantan societies.

Kow Abaka Essuman is Legal Counsel to the President of Ghana, qualified to practise in three jurisdictions: England and Wales, New York State, and Ghana. In addition to his role as Legal Counsel, he sits in Cabinet and is responsible for the Cabinet's Infrastructure Committee. He was a senior associate in Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa and Ankomah, one of Ghana's largest law firms, representing top corporate clients. Kow is a former Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in England and currently serves as a conciliator on the Panel of Conciliators for the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank. He is a founding board member of the State Interests and Governance Authority and the Minerals Income Investment Fund. 

Liana Ghukasyan joined the Delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to the United Nations (UN) in January 2018. She successfully led IFRC engagement in annual meetings of ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment, Highlevel Political Forum, Security Council, the UN General Assembly, and other meetings such as the Global Compact of Migration, Universal Health Coverage, UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit, Special Session on COVID-19, and the International Migration Review Forum. She has held a range of roles at the IFRC country and regional offices and in Geneva, and has worked closely with WHO, OCHA, IOM, WFP, FAO, UNHCR, UNICEF, and the Asian Development Bank. 

Milena Grecuccio is both the Chief of Staff and the Chief of the Management and Strategy Division of the UN International Computing Centre (UNICC), the leading provider of information technology and digital business solutions within the United Nations system. She provides direction and guidance around the delivery of the UNICC Mandate, covering strategy implementation, business performance, HR, strategic partnerships, external relations and overseeing procurement & administration, in strict adherence with applicable rules, regulations and audit requirements.

In the European Commission, Matthieu Hébert is in charge of communicating EU economic and financial policy initiatives to stakeholders, the public and other EU institutions. Prior to taking up this role in June 2021, Matthieu spent 12 years with the Commission, alternating communication roles – communication advisor to the EU chief Brexit negotiator, deputy head of communication on financial services, speechwriter to the EU Commissioner for internal market and financial regulation – and policy development jobs as a policy analyst on EU free movement of capital and an evaluation officer in employment and social affairs.

Ewelina Jelenkowska-Lucà is the head of the Communication Unit and Deputy Director of Policy Strategy and Outreach in DG CNECT at the European Commission. She is an advocate, a member of the Bar in Lublin (Poland) and, in 2023, joined the European Court of Justice. She has served as the Deputy Head of EC Representation in Poland, during the Polish Presidency of the EU, Head of Media and Commission Spokesperson in Italy, and DG COMP at the European Commission.

Aleksandra Kulas is a civil servant at the European Commission. As Head of Unit for Corporate Governance and Business Continuity in the Secretariat-General, she leads a team overseeing corporate policies in areas such as HR, IT, cybersecurity, data management, and greening. Prior to her current post, Aleksandra held management positions in the areas of evidence-based policymaking and crisis management. She has a background in economics, holding degrees from the University of Warwick and the College of Europe.

Simon Mantiri is Special Staff to the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia, and was involved in the Food Reserve project as a part of the President’s direction to the ministry in anticipating the FAO’s warning regarding food crisis triggered by the Covid 19 pandemic. He also serves as the CFO of PT Indonesian Defence and Security Technologies, the Deputy Treasurer and a member of Supreme Leadership Council of Gerindra Party and the Treasurer of Koperasi Garudayaksa Nusantara (KGN), a cooperative affiliated to the Party.

Doncha O’Sullivan is the Deputy Secretary in the Irish Department of Justice with responsibility for the Civil Justice pillar of the Department. He leads on access to justice, civil agency governance, and immigration and international protection processing. He has previously held senior roles as Head of Corporate and of EU Affairs in the Department, incorporating responsibility for Brexit contingency planning, and the Justice sector’s Covid response. In 2019, he oversaw a major organisational design transformation within the Department and more recently led on policing modernisation and the establishment a Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence agency. 

Neerav Patel is Director of the Cabinet Office Assessments Staff, overseeing strategic assessments for the UK Prime Minister and National Security Council on national security and foreign policy files. Over a 20-year career in the UK government, he has served in a number of diplomatic roles, including Cairo as Deputy Ambassador, Tel Aviv as First Secretary and later Charge d'Affaires, and in Kabul as First Secretary. He has worked in the National Security Secretariat and in the Prime Minister's Policy Unit in 10 Downing St, where his responsibilities ranged across foreign and domestic policy briefs.

Dominik Porvažník is Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic. He served as the UN Youth Delegate of Slovakia from 2018/2019 and worked for the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Slovak Ministry of Finance, the Office of the President of the Slovak Republic, and at the EU Commission. Dominik volunteered as the Director of an NGO focused on countering disinformation, as a country leader at V4SDG – Visegrad for Sustainable Development Goals – and analysed disinformation strategies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington D.C. 

Fiona Ramsey is Head of Unit for Team Europe and Effectiveness in DG International Partnerships in the European Commission, previously working in the EU Delegations to Cambodia, Fiji and the Central African Republic to implement European development cooperation programmes. Before joining the European Commission, Fiona worked for the UK Department for International Development as an Urban Development Expert and was in this capacity seconded to the United Nations Urban Development programme in Sub-Saharan Africa where she served in regional offices in the Ivory Coast and South Africa.

Alessandro Reichert is the Planning Director at Infra S.A., a public company responsible for preparing transport plans for the federal government and for structuring PPPs for highways, railways, waterways, ports and airports. Alessandro previously worked in the National Land Transport Agency as a regulation specialist, and at the Ministry of Infrastructure as Director of Road Transport.

Efraín Arturo Rodriguez Lozano is the Director of Insurance and Private Pension Markets at the Peruvian Ministry of Economy and Finance. She is a former Director and General Director in Peruvian ministries such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion, and the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Population. He is interested in projects relating to social policy, social security, and economic development.

Federico Sersale is an Argentinian lawyer with experience working in legal, policy and management positions in multilaterals such as the United Nations, the Organisation of American States, and the World Bank, in addition to experience working for the Argentinian Government and civil society. He has worked in the Americas, Africa, and Asia and with UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has been working mostly in conflict and violence affected areas in Colombia and Myanmar. In his current role as Head of Office of UNHCR in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar he is responsible for representing, leading, and managing the organization and team in this area which is home to the Rohingya people currently going through an armed conflict.

Murtaza is an Online Safety Principal at Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator. Ofcom currently regulates online video sharing platforms established in the UK. He is responsible for leading and delivering Ofcom’s regulatory approach to online hate, terrorism, and other illegal harms. He was previously Senior Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, where he drafted the ‘Effective Guidelines on Hate Speech, Social Media and Minorities’ and led on engagement with social media companies. He was also Co-Director of Averroes, a think tank focusing on religious hatred, counter-extremism and integration. 

Aleksander Siemaszko works as Deputy Director at the Department for International Trade and Cooperation, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology of Poland, where he seeks to strengthen the trade relations between Poland and her key partners. Prior to his current position he worked in the Ministry as Head of Unit for European Bilateral Relations and European Parliament, where he advised the senior ranking member on international issues. 

After serving as an officer in Indonesian Army for 4 years, Sugiono made the transformation into the civilian world. Sugiono ran as a candidate for Indonesian national parliament in 2019 and won a seat from the constituency of Central Java, Indonesia and is currently serving as a member of the House in the committee for Defense, Foreign Affairs, Communication and Intelligence.

Mukhtaar Tijani was appointed General Manager of the Lagos State Electricity Board, the implementing agency  responsible for improving energy access and power projects development for the State in 2019. In 2015, he was appointed the Special Assistant on Power to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Prior to venturing into public service in 2015, he held various senior positions in oil, gas and mining companies with operations in the United States, Gulf of Mexico region and Australia.

Yvonne White is a member of the Department of Transport’s Management Board. As Chief Operations Officer, her current responsibilities include strategy, department governance and stewardship of a range of agencies, central policy, communications, reform, finance, risk, HR and IT. Yvonne has driven change initiatives, developed policy leading to legislative change, and carried out diplomatic initiatives in a range of settings.

Silkie Whitworth is an experienced policy professional and manager. She currently runs the Office of the Chief Secretary of the New Zealand Treasury and is one of her key strategic advisers. Prior to this, Silkie led the Treasury’s work on COVID-19 related business support, including designing a multi-billion dollar support programme. Silkie moved to New Zealand from the UK Government where she worked on local industrial strategy policy in the Cities and Local Growth Unit. She has held policy roles at the UK Trades Union Congress, working on issues including labour market and collective rights policy and industrial strategy.