Zackie Achmat
HIV/AIDS Activist Zackie Achmat served as the director of the AIDS Law Project between 1994 and 1997 before launching the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a leading HIV/AIDS activist organization in South Africa. At the risk of arrest, Mr. Achmat led the TAC’s defiance campaign against patent abuse by Pfizer to bring life-saving treatment for infections into South Africa. The TAC also opposed HIV denialist positions within government and successfully campaigned in the South African Constitutional Court hearing against the Minister of Health for access to antiretroviral medicines for pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS. Mr. Achmat was arrested in August 2006 during a civil disobedience action while protesting against the death of an HIV-positive prisoner who had been denied access to healthcare. He joined the African National Congress in 1990 and remains an active member. Mr. Achmat was awarded the first Desmond Tutu Fellowship in 2001. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary Masters Degree by the University of Cape Town and received an Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Natal in 2003. In 2007, he received a second Honorary Doctorate in Law from Rhodes University. Mr. Achmat has been honored with numerous awards including the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights and the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. He was elected TIME Europe’s Hero of the Year in 2003; was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004; and received the International Alexander Langer Award for Human Rights in July 2007. He has researched, written and directed numerous documentaries including Law and Freedom.

Mano Aghali
Hon. Mano Aghali is a Nigerien Touareg leader, a Pan-African Parliament Member and President of the Nigerien NGO HED-Tamat. He has fought for equal rights for the nomadic Touareg people in Niger, and was the co-recipient of CARE Germany’s 2007 Millennium Prize on behalf of HED-Tamat. HED-Tamat is also involved in building schools, health centers, wells and supporting small enterprises in the Nigerien desert. Aghali holds numerous educational degrees, and his experience spans work with USAID, CARE and other humanitarian organizations.

Manuela Alvarado
Manuela Alvarado is a former member of the Guatemalan Congressional Commission on Women, Minors, and the Family. Ms. Alvarado, a Maya Quiché, is dedicated to the Guatemalan peace process and the broadening of the social and political participation of women and the Mayan people. A nurse by training, Ms. Alvarado has also worked to advance better health care in rural, underserved areas of Guatemala. Among her many achievements is being a founder of PRODEM, a women’s rights organization that focuses on community and women’s health. She challenges status quo by declaring, “How can we deny that raising children, making food, selling goods, sharing and teaching religion, isn’t the exercise of leadership in the home, in the family, in the church? We want the women to recognize this and value their innate ability and channel this ability to bring about change.”

Marija Andjelkovic
Marija Andjelkovic is co-coordinator of ASTRA, a non-governmental organization dedicated to eradication of all forms of trafficking in human beings, especially in women and children. Ms. Andjelkovic has served as a trainer at more than 200 workshops, trainings and seminars in Serbia and abroad for students, professionals and representatives of local NGOs on trafficking in human beings; formed the methodology of work at the SOS hotline for victims of trafficking; and is one of the founders of the Regional NGO ACTA (Anti Corruption Anti Trafficking Action), organizing ASTRA anti trafficking media campaigns. Previously, she was a trainee at the Third Municipality Court and Magistrate Court in Belgrade from 2002 to 2005, where she analyzed cases related to family violence and prostitution and trafficking in human beings in Belgrade. Before that, she served as project manager at the NGO SOS Hotline and Center for Girls from 1998 to 2002. Ms. Andjelkovic graduated from the Faculty of Law, Belgrade University, and is a 2008 Master Candidate on Child Rights, Faculty of Law Union, Belgrade. She has published a number of articles related to human trafficking.

Michael Anthony
Michael Anthony is spokesperson of Allianz SE and a member of the Sustainability Strategy Team of the Group. He has been co-authoring the climate change strategy of Allianz SE and is facilitating the Group’s initiatives on microfinance with different partner organisations. He is also responsible to coordinate the group-wide communication strategy on climate change and other CSR issues. Michael joined Allianz in 2002. He holds a Masters degree in International Relations. Previously, Michael has worked as a managing director of journalists.network and as a journalist for several German publications, reporting mainly from the Middle East.

Jo Beall
At the London School of Economics since 1994, Jo Beall previously taught at University College London and University of Natal in South Africa where she currently holds a visiting professorship. A political sociologist, her teaching is focused on development policy and management, local governance and the social dimensions of development. Research interests include urban development and local governance, particularly in war torn cities. She is author of Local Funds for Local Governance (ITDG Publications, 2005) and Women in the City: Housing, Services, and the Urban Environment (OECD, 1995); co-author of Uniting a Divided City, Governance and Social Exclusion in Johannesburg (Earthscan, 2002 with Owen Crankshaw and Susan Parnell) and Sustainability (Open University Press 2002 with Ben Crow, Sandrine Simon and Gordon Wilson); and editor of Fragile Stability? State and Society in Democratic South Africa (special issue of Journal of Southern African Studies 2005 with Stephen Gelb and Shireen Hassim) and A City for All (Zed Books, 1997).

John Chiahemen
Since February 2007, John Chiahemen has been Editor of Reuters Africa, the Thomson Reuters award-winning news portal. He led the launch of the website to showcase the wealth of Reuters investing and political news from and about Africa. The site was voted Best Africa Website at the Diageo Africa News Reporting Awards 2007, five months after it was launched. A journalist with over 25 years experience of covering Africa, Mr. Chiahemen was previously Reuters chief correspondent for Southern Africa, based in Johannesburg. A Nigerian by nationality, he has reported from many countries across the region during his career. In the 1970s he followed the liberation struggles in Southern Africa–South Africa, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Angola, Mozambique and Namibia. He has also conducted a number of reporting assignments in East Africa and West and Central Africa, including covering civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). While covering fighting in Sierra Leone he was among a group of journalists and foreign civilians targeted by rebels whilst staying in the Mama Yoko Hotel. Mr. Chiahemen is an active member of the journalistic community in Africa and is currently chair of the Foreign Correspondents Association of Southern Africa. Before joining Reuters he was head of national network news for Nigerian Television. He won a special Nigerian Television award for his coverage of the end of the nationalist war in then-Rhodesia and its transition through elections to become the independent state of Zimbabwe. Mr. Chiahemen obtained a BSc in political science from the Ahmadu Bello University in northern Nigeria in 1974. He studied film and television in Britain and belongs to the British Kinematograph, Sound and Television society. He speaks French and English.

Jerry Coovadia
Hoosen (Jerry) Coovadia has distinguished himself over many years as a leading pediatric immunologist, a leader in the struggle for a democratic South Africa, a national and international figure in the pediatric world and, more recently, a world authority in the field of HIV/AIDS, both as a researcher ands as a powerful force in shaping policy with respect to the disease. In 1990, he became Professor and Head of the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Natal, a position he held until the end of 2000. In 2001 Professor Coovadia was appointed Victor Daitz Professor in HIV/AIDS Research, and Director (Biomedical) of the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of Natal. He subsequently became the Scientific Director of the Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, at the University of Kwazulu/Natal. Professor Coovadia was appointed by the National Department of Health a Chairperson of the National Advisory Group on the HIV/AIDS and STD Programme from 1995 to 1997, while his international stature in the area of HIV/AIDS led to his election as Chairperson of the XIIIth International Conference on AIDS in July 2000. His national leadership positions have included serving as Deputy Chairperson of the Transitional National Development Trust of South Africa, Trustee of the Independent Development Trust, and Chairperson of the Commission on Maternal and Child Health Policy. He is also a founder member of the South African Academy of Sciences and has authored or co-authored more than 300 articles in peer reviewed journals, many of them leading international journals. He is co-editor of Paediatrics and Child Health, a textbook used widely used by medical students and junior doctors throughout Southern Africa, and has received numerous accolades and awards for his contributions to society.

Karen Cvitkovich
Managing Director, Global Talent Development. Karen Cvitkovich has worked in intercultural consulting, coaching and multinational teambuilding for over a decade. Karen knows first hand the challenges of managing virtually and globally from leading a team of over sixty staff and contractors located throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. In her position as Managing Director of Aperian’s Global Talent Development group, she has designed and facilitated seminars for intact teams, team leaders and individual contributors on subjects including cross-cultural competence, multinational teambuilding, global leadership and virtual communications. In addition, she has worked closely with executive leadership teams to build team operating principals that link to organizational strategy. Prior to her work with Aperian Global, Karen worked for two years as Director of Training for United Way of Massachusetts Bay. In addition, Karen worked for four years with EF Education, a Swedish-based non-profit organization, providing language and culture immersion courses for individuals coming to the United States. As Northeast Regional Director, she worked closely with the sales offices in over twenty countries and conducted training throughout the United States, Europe and Canada. In all, she has worked in 14 countries throughout the world. Karen has a Master's of Science degree in Training and Organizational Development from Lesley University and a Bachelor’s in Business and Human Resources from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has experience with a number of psychometrics and is certified on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the Hay Group Leadership/Climate instrument. She is a member of SIETAR (International Society of Intercultural Education, Training and Research), Women in World Trade, the OD Learning Group and ASTD (American Society of Training & Development).

Will Day
Will Day started his career in the early 1980s working with Save the Children and OXFAM in Uganda, Ethiopia, and the Sudan, managing large scale humanitarian responses to the consequences of famine and war in the region. He was involved in the establishment of Comic Relief, a fundraising and grant making organisation, and as its first Grants Director was responsible for setting up its grants programme for Africa. As well as involvement in the production of Comic Relief’s television and radio documentaries, he had previously spent time as a producer and presenter for the BBC World Service for Africa. After leaving Comic Relief he was the first full time Director of Opportunity Trust, a specialist micro credit NGO and then Chief Executive of CARE International UK for 8 years. Since 2004 he has held a portfolio of roles, and is currently Special Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, where he is a faculty member of the Prince of Wales’s Business and Environment Programme. He is Chairman of Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), a non-profit company bringing together private sector and NGO organisations to pursue the MDG for water and sanitation. Most recently has been appointed Sustainability Advisor to Pricewaterhouse Coopers in the UK. He sits on the Board of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). Until July 2008 Will was Chairman of the BBC Children in Need Appeal, the largest grant giver for disadvantaged children in the UK, and an independent assessor for the public appointments process of the DCMS.

Jacqueline Dembele
Featured in the film A Powerful Noise, and known as “Madame Urbain” to locals, Jacqueline fights forced labor practices and illiteracy in the slums of Bamako, Mali. Having escaped the dangers of urban migration by attending school herself, Madame Urbain stands up for the rights of powerless girls who are often abused in the workplace or on the streets of the big city. At education centers throughout the city, Madame Urbain’s organization, APAF, provides girls a basic education, teaches them vocational skills, and places them in good jobs to earn money. The group mentors graduates of the centers and provides grants so they can start small businesses as tailors, clothes designers and soap makers. Madame Urbain’s ability to protect and educate rural girls has begun to change perceptions about the importance of education and the role of women in Malian society.

Thomas Deve
Thomas Deve is currently employed as a Policy Analyst for the Africa office of the United Nations Millennium Campaign, based in Nairobi, Kenya. His work focuses on economic policy with special emphasis being placed on highlighting citizen’s perspectives in order to address their marginalisation in policy formulation and implementation. He is a Pan-Africanist whose past engagements has seen him play a key role in the critical engagement with organisations and movements working on Media, Millennium Development Goals, Regional Integration, Multilateral and Bi-lateral trade negotiations, African Union, Social Forum processes, and finally preparation of popular education material, research and position papers on issues emerging from the African civil society dialogue on social and economic issues.

Kanak Mani Dixit
Kanak Mani Dixit began his journalism career in 1971. He is now publisher of Himal (Himalyan magazine, which covers South Asian news, political and development). He served as editor from 1987 through 1998. Mr. Dixit also worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York from 1982 to 1990. He is a member of Himal Association (Film South Asia, Himal Books, Centre for Investigative Journalism, Shikshak magazine); Chair, Film South Asia festival of Southasian films; member, Social Science Baha; member Secretary, Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya archives; chair, Film South Asia documentary film festival; director, Rato Bangala School and the Rato Bangala Foundation; and chair, Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Center. In addition, Mr. Dixit is the author of children’s books: Adventures of a Nepali Frog, The Leech & I and Other Stories, The Kathamndu Treaty); co-editor, State of Nepal compendium; Translator, Atamabrittanta: BP Koirala's Late Life Reflections. Mr. Dixit received a Bachelor of Arts, Tri Chandra College, Kathmandu 1975; Bachelor of Laws, Delhi University, 1978; Master of International Affairs, Columbia University, 1981; and Master of Science in Journalism, Columbia University, 1982. He is married with two children.

Paula Donovan
Paula Donovan began working in international relations 20 years ago at the US Fund for UNICEF, where she was Director of Communications. She subsequently joined UNICEF's international headquarters as manager of communications and advocacy for a joint UNICEF/World Health Organization global campaign to end the illegal promotion of infant formula and protect women’s rights to breastfeed. Paula's next position was as Executive Aide to the Deputy Executive Director responsible for UNICEF’s worldwide programmes and external relations. In 2000, she was posted to Nairobi, first to create the post of UNICEF Regional Advisor on HIV/AIDS for the 23 countries of east and southern Africa, and then as UNIFEM's Africa-wide Gender and AIDS Advisor. In 2003, Paula conceived of and independently organized the "International Women's AIDS Run" in Kenya, Africa 's first all-women's long-distance road race – now an annual event — designed to raise awareness of the millions of women who care for those sick or orphaned by AIDS. Prior to co-founding AIDS-Free World, she was Senior Advisor in the Office of the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa through December 2006. Paula holds an MA in Corporate and Political Communication from Fairfield University.

Celia W. Dugger
Celia W. Dugger is co-bureau chief for the New York Times based in Johannesburg, covering southern Africa and global poverty issues. Ms. Dugger was an Edward R. Murrow Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2002 to 2003. Ms. Dugger was a co-chief of the New Delhi bureau from August 1998 to July 2002, after joining The Times as a metropolitan news reporter in March 1991. Before that, she was a reporter for The Miami Herald from 1984 and was a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1980 to 1984. She interned at The Washington Post in 1979 and 1980. Ms. Dugger received a B.A. degree in history, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1980. In 2007 Ms. Dugger was the co-recipient, along with Donald McNeil, of an Overseas Press Club Award and the grand prize from the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards. They received both awards for their series “Diseases on the Brink,” which documented how tens of millions of the world's poorest people continue to be subject to diseases that could be inexpensively cured or prevented. She also won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for international reporting in 2005. She was awarded the Livingston Award for local reporting in 1992, and in 1983 she received the George Polk Award. Ms. Dugger is married to Barry Bearak, who is co-bureau chief with her in Johannesburg and was co-bureau chief with her in India. They have two children.

Nicole Fouche
CARE Action Network State Chair, North Carolina, USA. Nicole Fouche graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa with a MS in Chemistry, having been awarded a full scholarship by the Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa. Nicole then attended the acclaimed South African computer programming school Van Zyl & Pritchard, after which she moved to the United States and began working as an Information Technology consultant. In 2001 Nicole purchased and ran a multinational Virginia-based computer consulting company. At the same time, Nicole attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she completed a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics. Most recently, Nicole was the vice president of operations for the North Carolina branch of CXI, a management and technology-consulting firm. Nicole also ran the Staffing division of CXI, the largest of their four divisions. Nicole is now one of four managing partners for the ERP, BPM, and Data Management start-up IT Consulting Firm, Genesis Consulting. Nicole lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her daughter Carys. Volunteer work is very important to her, and she has been a court-appointed child advocacy volunteer, termed Guardian Ad Litem, since 2002. Nicole has also been a member of the ONE campaign since 2005, and is currently the North Carolina state chair for the CARE Action Network. In her spare time, Nicole enjoys skydiving and SCUBA diving and she has also earned her private pilot certificate.

Helene D. Gayle
Helene D. Gayle joined CARE USA as president and chief executive officer in 2006. She received her MD from the University of Pennsylvania and her MPH from Johns Hopkins University. After completing her residency in pediatric medicine at the Children's Hospital National Medical Center in Washington, DC, she entered the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a training program in epidemiology at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, followed by a residency in preventive medicine, and then remained at CDC as a staff epidemiologist. At CDC, she studied problems of malnutrition in children in the United States and abroad, evaluating and implementing child survival programs in Africa and working on HIV/AIDS research, programs and policy. Dr. Gayle also served as the AIDS coordinator and chief of the HIV/AIDS division for the US Agency for International Development; director for the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC; director of CDC's Washington office; and health consultant to international agencies including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank and UNAIDS. Prior to her current position, she was the director of the HIV, TB and reproductive health program for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, responsible for research, program and policies related to HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, reproductive health issues and tuberculosis. Dr. Gayle has published numerous articles on public health, especially related to HIV/AIDS, and has received many awards for her scientific and public health contributions. She attained the rank of rear admiral (assistant surgeon general) in the U.S. Public Health Service. She is also on the boards of the Institute of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Robert Glasser
Dr. Robert Glasser is the Secretary General of CARE International, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Glasser is responsible for coordinating work of the Confederation, which is composed of 12 national members engaged in emergency relief and long term development work across the globe.  Dr. Glasser joined CARE in 2003. From 2003-2007, he was the Chief Executive Officer of CARE Australia, managing aid programs in countries including Cambodia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Jordan. Prior to joining CARE, he was Assistant Director General/Director at the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) with responsibility for the Papua New Guinea, Mekong, Corporate Policy Branches, and the Infrastructure and Environment Group. Dr. Glasser has also worked on international energy and environmental policy for the US Department of Energy and on matters of peace and conflict at a number of institutions, including the Cornell University Peace Studies Program and the Center for International and Strategic Affairs at UCLA in Los Angeles. He has published on a wide range of topics, including environment, peace and conflict, and development.

Stephen Golub
Stephen Golub is an adjunct law professor and consultant with over 25 years of international experience regarding: the rule of law, legal reform, access to justice, democracy, governance, civil society, human rights, accountability and anti-corruption initiatives, non-state justice systems, gender, refugees, post-conflict situations and project evaluation. His particular area of expertise is legal empowerment; in addition to editing an upcoming book and upcoming journal section on the topic, Mr. Golub has conducted numerous relevant consultancies and research assignments. His field experience embraces work in more than three dozen countries across the globe. Mr. Golub has led consulting and research teams, numbering up to 20 members, for DFID, the Ford Foundation, the Asia Foundation, the ADB, Amideast, USAID, UNDP and the Public Interest Law Institute. He is an adjunct professor at Central European University and a lecturer at Boalt Hall Law School of the University of California at Berkeley, teaching courses on legal empowerment and international development. He serves on the Board of Editors of the Hague Journal on the Rule of Law. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he has written 30 published papers on legal empowerment, the rule of law, judicial and legal reform, democracy, social development, civil society, post-conflict situations, refugees and monitoring and evaluation for policy, advocacy and academic outlets.

Sheila C. Johnson
Sheila C. Johnson is a successful entrepreneur and impassioned philanthropist. As a partner in Lincoln Holdings, Ms. Johnson is the only African-American woman to have ownership in three professional sports teams, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Ms. Johnson is President and Managing Partner of the Mystics. As CEO of Salamander Hospitality, a company she founded in 2005, Ms. Johnson oversees a growing portfolio of luxury properties. The Woodlands Resort & Inn, in Summerville, SC, is one of only three resorts in the United States to receive the prestigious Mobil five-star rating for both lodging and dining. In 2008 Travel + Leisure selected The Woodlands as the #1 hotel for service in North America and #3 in the world (it was the only US hotel ranked in the Top 10). In 2007, Ms. Johnson acquired Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club, a 900 acre, 72 hole PGA tour golf course in Palm Harbor, FL. In 2008, the company started construction on Salamander Resort & Spa in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Middleburg, VA, which is poised to become one of the most unique and sought after retreats in the world when it opens in early 2010. Ms. Johnson is a partner in ProJet Aviation, a comprehensive aviation service company specializing in aviation consulting, aircraft acquisitions, management, and charter services based in Winchester, VA. She is also a partner in Mistral, the makers of fine bath, body and home products. Ms. Johnson has long been a powerful influence in the entertainment industry as a founding partner of Black Entertainment Television (BET) and most recently as a film producer. In partnership with other investors, her first film, Kicking It, premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. She served as sole executive producer on her second film, A Powerful Noise, which premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. In 2006 Ms. Johnson was named global ambassador for CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty by empowering women because they have the unique power to help entire communities escape poverty. “Sheila’s I Am Powerful Challenge” was instrumental in helping raise funds for CARE’s important work. Ms. Johnson is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She received a Bachelor of Arts in music from the University of Illinois, as well as honorary degrees from numerous other institutions. Ms. Johnson lives in Middleburg, VA, is married to the Honorable William T. Newman, Jr. and has two children.

Dr. Mukesh Kapila
Dr. Mukesh Kapila is currently the Special Representative of the Secretary General International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He formerly served as a Director in the Department of Health Action in Crises at the World Health Organization in Geneva. He was the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, and the UNDP Resident Representative for the Sudan in 2003-2004. While stationed in Sudan, he was outspoken in his condemnation of the human rights abuses being committed in the western region of Darfur and his reports succeeded in bringing Darfur world media attention for the first time. Previously he was Special Adviser to the United Nations from 2002-2003, latterly to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and earlier to the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Afghanistan. In 2003, he was honored with a CBE by Her Brittanic Majesty, The Queen, for international service. Dr Kapila has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the International Peace Academy (IPA). He has worked extensively in relation to crisis and conflict management, humanitarian aid, disaster reduction, and post-conflict recovery in relation to many countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, leading or participating in several international missions. He is also a member of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Co-ordination (UNDAC) system. His educational background is originally in medicine and public health, and subsequently in international development, with qualifications from the Universities of Oxford and London.

Madeleine Klinkhamer
Madeleine Klinkhamer, Director, Resident Technical Advisor Unit, Ayani, is a seasoned development finance expert with 15 years of experience in microfinance, SME, rural finance, and broader inclusive financial sector building programs.  With significant experience living and working on the African continent—including 1 year in East Africa, 1 year in West Africa, and 7 years in Southern Africa—Ms. Klinkhamer has a deep understanding of the diversity of regional contexts and the significant variety and depth of financial sectors. One of her key competencies is assessment and evaluation services. She also supervised and backstopped an inclusive financial sector project in Sierra Leone from 2004 until 2006 that grew from zero to five profitable MFIs and exceeded its targets. Madeleine holds Masters degrees in Economics and in Anthropology and an MBA from Duke University.

Stephen Lewis
Mr. Stephen Lewis is Co-Director of AIDS-Free World, a new international advocacy organization that works to promote more urgent and more effective global responses to HIV/AIDS (www.aids-freeworld.org). Among several senior UN roles that spanned over two decades, Mr. Lewis was the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from June 2001 until the end of 2006. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Lewis was Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. From 1984 through 1988, Stephen Lewis was Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations. In addition to his work with AIDS-Free World, Mr. Lewis is a Professor in Global Health, Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and is the chair of the board of the Stephen Lewis Foundation in Canada. Mr. Lewis holds 28 honorary degrees from Canadian universities and is a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest honour for lifetime achievement. In 2007, the Kingdom of Lesotho invested Mr. Lewis as Knight Commander of the Most Dignified Order of Moshoeshoe. The order, named for the founder of Lesotho, is the country's highest honour.

Francisco Casas Mabaso, Jr.
Francisco Casas Mabaso, Jr., is co-founder and partnership manager of the Agri-Aqua Development Coalition (AADC), Mindanao, Philippines. AADC is organized as a Mindanao-wide coalition of people's organizations who are committed to the vision of creating sustainable rural communities in the region. Mr. Mabaso, a farmer, has dedicated more than two decades to poverty alleviation, with a strong background in community organizing through people’s organizations and cooperatives. Before he became AADC Partnership Manager in 2007, Mr. Mabaso was elected Vice Mayor, a position he held for three years. Prior to that, he served as Commissioner, National Anti-Poverty Commission, Office of the President, from 2002 to 2004, and previously worked in local government legislature as an elected councilor from 1995 to 2004. AADC seeks to pursue coalition building and steer collective action when solving community problems; develop programs and other appropriate interventions at the community level; create venues where government and communities can interact and work for the common good; and build a culture of solidarity in communities and within AADC while promoting unity, trust, and interdependence.

Mokhantso Makoae
Mokhantso Makoae is a research specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council in the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development Programme. Her research interests include family caregiving, HIV and AIDS care policy and child abuse and neglect.

Hon. John Manley
The Honourable John Manley is Senior Counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Canada’s premier law firm. He formerly held several senior level positions in the Canadian Government, including Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Industry. For the role he played following the September 11, 2001 attacks, he was named TIME Canada’s “Newsmaker of the Year.” In 2005, he co-chaired an independent Task Force on the future of North America for the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. In 2007, Mr. Manley was named chair of the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan by the Prime Minister. He is a Director of Nortel Networks, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Canadian Pacific Railway. He is Chairman of the Board of Optosecurity Inc. He also sits on a number of advisory Boards and not-for-profit organizations including CARE Canada, MaRS, the University of Waterloo, the National Arts Centre Foundation, the Conference Board of Canada and the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). Mr. Manley is a graduate of Carleton University (BA, 1971) and University of Ottawa (LL.B., 1976) receiving the gold medal of his graduating class. He articled as a law clerk to the Rt. Hon. Bora Laskin, Chief Justice of Canada, and was called to the Ontario bar in 1978. He was granted the designation C. Dir. (Chartered Director) by McMaster University in February 2006 and has received Honourary Doctorates from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University.

Emmanuel Nsabimana
Emmanuel Nsabimana is the director of Burundi's African Public Radio, which has defied government bans and intimidation to become one of war-torn Burundi's most popular radio stations. RPA was launched in early 2001 at a time when Burundi was seeking to end a devastating eight-year conflict between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis. The station has sought to promote peace by hiring both Hutus and Tutsis, including ex-combatants, to work on the editorial team. The station's courageous investigative reporting and grassroots approach to issues affecting ordinary Burundians has earned it the nickname "the People's Radio." RPA has achieved this in a region where many view private radio with suspicion because of the incendiary role that neighboring Rwanda's RTLM radio played in the 1994 genocide there. RPA has been in the forefront of the fight for the freedom of expression, in peacemaking and in the promotion of good governance. It is reknowned for its investigative reporting on sensitive issues such as human rights abuses and corruption. As RPA’s leader, Mr. Nsabimana, has been arrested several times and also endured threats to his life. Born in 1968, Mr. Nsabimana received his B.A. degree of Arts and Social Sciences from the University of Burundi in 1993. His career in journalism began in 1998 with the Burundian National Radio and Television network (RTNB). Two years later, he was in the small team that launched RPA station, along with Alexis Sinduhije, RPA’s founder and first director. In April 2007, Emmanuel Nsabimana took over from Mr. Sinduhije. He is the Deputy Chairman for the Burundian Union of Broadcasters. Mr. Nsabimana is married with four children.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is currently a Managing Director of the World Bank. From September 2006 to November 2007, she was Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Brookings Institution. From June to August 2006, she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, overseeing Nigeria’s External Relations and from July 2003 to June 2006 she served as Minister of Finance and Economy of Nigeria and Head of Nigeria's much acclaimed Presidential Economic team. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is a member or chair of numerous boards and advisory groups, including ONE Campaign, the World Resources Institute, the Nelson Mandela Institution, Friends of the Global Fund Africa, and the African Institutes of Science and Technology as well as the Center for Global Development (CGD). She has served as the board of the Clinton Global Initiative and as adviser to several international investment groups working in emerging markets and lectured on Africa and development all over the world. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was the founder of the first ever indigenous opinion research organization in Nigeria (NOI-Gallup Polls) in partnership with the Gallup organization, which strives to strengthen democracy and accountability in Nigeria. She was co-founder of the Makeda Fund, a US$50 million private equity fund designed to invest in women-owned and women-influenced small and medium enterprises in Africa. She founded the Center for the Study of Economies of Africa (C-SEA), a development research think-tank based in Abuja, Nigeria. She was recently named a member of the Danish-Government led commission on Africa and a member of the World Economic Forum Global Leadership Council on Transparency and Corruption. She is also a member of the renowned Commission on World Growth led by Nobel Prize winner, Professor Michael Spence. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Harvard and has a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is fluent in French, Ibo and English with working knowledge of Yoruba. She has received numerous awards, including Honorary Doctorate of Letters from University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland, 2007, Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Colby College, 2007 and Brown University, USA, 2006, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica, 2005, Time Magazine’s European Hero of the Year Award, 2004, for her work on economic reform in Nigeria, Euromoney Magazine Global Finance Minister of the year, 2005, Financial Times/The Banker African Finance Minister of the year 2005, This Day (one of Nigeria’s premier newspaper) Minister of the Year award 2004 and 2005. In 2006, she was named by Forbes Magazine as one of 100 most powerful women in the world. She has just been profiled in the Conde Nast International Business Intelligence Magazine called Portfolio as one of 73 “Brilliant” business influencers in the world of business and public service.

Hari Roka
A Nepali national and political activist, Hari Roka currently serves as a member of the Constituent Assembly and Legislature Parliament of Nepal. Mr. Roka has been politically active for almost thirty years, beginning in 1978 as President of the Nepal National Federation of Students. Mr. Roka spent seven and a half years in prison for his involvement in political movements against the Autocratic Feudal Regime of the Shah dynasty, formerly the ruling government of Nepal. Mr. Roka has earned advanced degrees in Philosophy from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and in Business Administration from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal. He has published hundreds of political and economic articles in both Nepali and English newspapers, magazines and journals.

Nick Roseveare
Nick Roseveare MBE is Chief Executive of BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development), the UK's largest network of voluntary organisations working on international development. Mr. Roseveare has 20 years of experience in international development, most recently as Humanitarian Director for Oxfam and as Deputy Director of Oxfam’s International Programme. He has a wide range of high level experiences on a global scale, including in the UK and Africa, where he spent 10 years working in Sudan, Ethiopia and Mozambique. In 1997 he was awarded was awarded an Order of the Member of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Aid/Development in Mozambique. Mr. Roseveare served for five years on the Management Board of The SPHERE Project (the sector-wide initiative on common principles and standards) and was a founder member of the innovative US/UK collaborative alliance, the Inter-Agency Working Group. He is also a Trustee of the Diana, Princess of Wales, Memorial Fund.

Ramesh Singh
Ramesh Singh, Chief Executive, ActionAid, has worked with the organization for over 20 years, initially in The Gambia, then as Country Director in Ethiopia, Nepal--where he was born--and Vietnam, as Asia Regional Director in Bangkok, as Operations Director in London and as ActionAid International's Chief Executive since December 2003. Most of his working life has been spent working first hand with development issues in Asia and Africa. He was trained as an agronomist-seed technologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and came to ActionAid with a depth of experience in agricultural research. He now leads ActionAid's process of internationalisation and the delivery of the organisation's strategic objectives of Rights to End Poverty. ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency working in over 40 countries, taking sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has led a distinguished career spanning nearly four decades in the private and public domain in Liberia and internationally. Fondly called the "Iron Lady" by her supporters, she has been leading, healing, and rebuilding Liberia as its president since 2005. From serving as a Liberian Cabinet Minister in the 1970s, senior UN administrator in the 1990s and now President, she has never stopped working for democracy for her country. Upon opposing the military rule of Samuel Doe, she was imprisoned before eventually fleeing. After years of fighting for freedom, justice and equality in Liberia, spending time in jail and being forced into exile more than once, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is now entrusted with the most challenging task any Liberian leader has ever faced—rebuilding a post-conflict nation. Her years in exile afforded her valuable international experience. As Africa’s first elected female leader she is bold and courageous, unfazed by the enormous challenges she faces, and surprisingly optimistic about her chances for success. In 2007, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor bestowed by a U.S. president, and is also the recipient of numerous awards and honors. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has served on many advisory boards and committees, was a founding member of the International Institute for Women in Political Leadership and has written widely on financial issues, development and human rights. She attended the College of West Africa in Central Monrovia, and holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She has received seven Honorary Doctorate degrees from universities around the world and is founder and chief supporter of Measuagoon, a community development NGO in Liberia.

Ingrid Srinath
Ingrid Srinath is Secretary General of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an international alliance of civil society organizations. Previously, Ms. Srinath was the Chief Executive of Child Rights and You (CRY), based in Mumbai, India. CRY is an Indian trust started and managed by Indians in 1979. Its mission is to enable people to take responsibility for the situation of the deprived Indian child and motivate them to confront the situation through collective action thereby giving the child and themselves an opportunity for full potential. Prior to working with CRY, Ms. Srinath worked extensively within the private sector, as a manager and vice president for a number of corporations based in India. Ms. Srinath holds a BA from Elphinstone College in Mumbai and a PGDM from International Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Alastair Stewart
Alastair Stewart presents a range of programmes for ITV News including "The ITV Lunchtime News," "The News At Ten-Thirty" and ITV’s flagship London news and features programme “London Tonight.” Alastair returned as an anchor on the ITV News Channel for the 2003 Iraq War, the channel’s Local Government Elections coverage and a special programme on the European Single Currency. He went on to present his own news and interview strand "Live With Alastair" for which he won the Royal Television Society's Presenter of the Year Award in 2005. For eleven years, before the 2004 ITV merger, he presented a range of news and current affairs programmes for Carlton-Granada’s London News Network (LNN). Before joining LNN, he was a presenter of ITN’s “News at Ten,” a role he resumed in 1991 following a year in the United States as the ITN Washington Correspondent. He originally joined News at Ten in May 1989 from ITN’s “News at 5.40,” which he had presented from September 1986. Before that he spent three years as a presenter and reporter with ITN’s “Channel Four News” and was also the presenter of ITN’s “The Parliament Programme” for Channel Four. Alastair co-anchored ITV’s network coverage of both the 2005 and 1997 General Elections with Jonathon Dimbleby, the 1992 General Election with Jon Snow; and the 1987 General Election with Sir Alastair Burnet. In 1994, he presented “Alastair Stewart’s Sunday” for BBC Radio 5 before hosting “Alastair Stewart’s Sunday Programme” for GMTV which he presented until July 2001. In 2002, he won “The Face Of London” award from The Royal Television Society and in 2005 the “Presenter Of The Year” award again from The Royal Television Society. In 2006, he was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his work in broadcasting and for charity. In 2008, he was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Bristol.

Dr. Jean Swanson-Jacobs
Dr. Swanson-Jacobs comes from the Western Cape and has a long history of campaigning for the rights of women and children since the 1980’s. She was expelled from the University of the Western Cape, for political activities in 1973. She fled to London to avoid being subpoenaed to be state witness in the trial of Sach Cooper and 12 others for 'terrorist activities'. The then, Jean Swanson returned home in 1980. Dr. Swanson- Jacobs served on the Education and Culture Policy Development Committees of the ANC as well as coordinating the Western Cape Language Policy Development Committee (1988-1992). She served the African National Congress at executive level from branch to regional and provincial level. Dr. Swanson-Jacobs was the first Chairperson of University of the Western Cape Association of Democratic Educators (UWCADE) (1980's). She served as a member of the UWC Appointments Committee; was elected Member of UWC Senate, first elected Head of Department for Psychology and Member of UWC Transformation Forum (1986–1996). Dr. Swanson –Jacobs was a Senior lecturer in Social Psychology at UWC until she was called to do duty in the First Democratic Government in South Africa in 1997. Dr Swanson-Jacobs holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The University of North East, London (1980); Master of Science from University of Cape Town (1984); and Doctorate of Philosophy in Social Psychology from University of the Western Cape (1996). Dr. Swanson-Jacobs became a Member of Parliament in 1997 where she served as a member of the following Portfolio committees: Education, Arts and Culture, Quality of Life and Status of Women (1997–1999), Trade and Industry (1999-2002), Public Enterprises (2002–2004), the Joint Rules Committee and the Language Policy Committee of Parliament. Dr. Swanson-Jacobs was appointed as Deputy Minister of Social Development in 2004 and her deployed Constituency office is based in Calvinia in the Hantam Municipality, Northern Cape. Her Presidential node is Galashewe, Northern Cape Province.

Miguel Tiago
CARE partner Miguel Tiago, a native of the village of Mutai in the province of Uige in northern Angola, currently resides in Luanda, in the peri-urban municipality of Kilamba Kiaxi. In 2000, he worked with CARE Angola to identify the social problems of his community. He was elected as coordinator of the Organisation for the Development of the Area (ODA) of his neighbourhood, and later also elected as ODA Secretary at the Municipal level. He has participated in various social projects, included the construction of water distribution points, schools run by the community, footbridges, and the Municipal Development Fund of Kilamba Kiaxi. He currently participates in an action research on the engagement between community based organization and the local government.

Ranvir Trehan
Mr. Trehan is a technologist, entrepreneur, and more recently a philanthropist based in Washington DC. Currently he is the Vice Chairman of Apptis Holdings, Inc., a professional services company with offices worldwide and revenues exceeding $800M. Prior to that, Mr. Trehan was CEO of SETA Corporation, which is the platform company for Apptis. Mr. Trehan founded SETA in 1987 to provide high-end technology consulting in internet-based communications systems. Under his leadership, SETA grew to nearly $100M in revenue and over 600 highly qualified professionals by 2004 and was highly reputed for its excellence and innovation. Mr. Trehan has published numerous research articles, and has taught graduate courses in engineering. He has been an invited speaker for many organizations including the Commission of the European Communities and the National Academy of Sciences. He has been featured on the Voice of America (VOA) worldwide programs as an immigrant success story, and has been a guest on VOA talk shows for other countries. Mr. Trehan also serves on the Board of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and is active in several charitable and cultural organizations.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s vigorous anti-apartheid activism in his native South Africa first propelled him into the international news media spotlight, yet today he is revered as a "moral voice" to end poverty and human rights abuses. While he is an Anglican Archbishop emeritus who is steadfast in his religious beliefs, Archbishop Tutu places great value on religious inclusiveness and interfaith dialogue. Born in Klerksdorp, near Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1931, Archbishop Tutu initially followed his father's example and obtained teaching qualifications. However, following the introduction of Bantu education in 1958, he decided to enter the ministry. He was ordained in Johannesburg three years later. Following further theological studies at King’s College in London, Archbishop Tutu held several positions in teaching and theological work in southern Africa. In 1978, he was persuaded to leave his job as Bishop of Lesotho to become the new General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC). In this position, which he held until 1985, Archbishop Tutu became a national and international figure. The SACC was committed to fulfilling the social responsibility of the Church, and as its chairperson, Archbishop Tutu led a formidable crusade in support of justice and racial conciliation in South Africa. His tireless work was recognized in 1984, when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Following a short stint as the Bishop of Johannesburg, he was elected Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986, an office he held until his retirement in 1996. In 1996, Archbishop Tutu was appointed by President Nelson Mandela to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up to probe gross human rights violations during apartheid. Archbishop Tutu has been a visiting professor at Emory University, Atlanta, the Episcopal Divinity School, Boston and the University of North Florida, Jacksonville. He has published several books, including God Has a Dream.

Elaine Venter
Elaine Venter is the Director of International Development Co-Operation (IDC) for the South African National Treasury. Since 2004, Ms. Venter has managed the South African Government development cooperation relationship with more than a dozen nations and intergovernmental entities. For ten years, Ms. Venter has worked with aid agencies, and currently represents South Africa as a member of the OECD DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness. She is also a member of the global management team overseeing the Evaluation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. In 2004, she received the “Chevalier de L’órdre National du Merit” from the President of France for role in Development Co-Operation. Ms. Venter has advanced degrees in Development Studies from Cambridge University and in Law from Rand Afrikaans University.

Everjoice J. Win
Everjoice J. Win is International Head of Women’s Rights with Action-Aid International. ActionAid works in over 40 countries globally; Ms. Win responsible for leading the organization’s work on women’s rights. A feminist from Zimbabwe, Ms. Win was educated at the University of Zimbabwe, where she graduated with Honours in Economic History. Most of her working life has been in the women’s movement in Zimbabwe and the African continent. Notably, she has served with the Women’s Action Group as editor of their popular education publication, SPEAK OUT/TAURAI/KHULUMANI as Programme Officer with Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), a pan-African women’s rights NGO, using the law as a tool for development. Ms. Win served as a Commonwealth Advisor to the Commission on Gender Equality of South Africa. She was a founding member of the National Constitutional Assembly of Zimbabwe and served as spokesperson for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition. Ms. Win also serves as a board member on the Women and AIDS Support Network, the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), and the Center for Civil Society at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. She is a regular columnist and contributor to newspapers, magazines, and journals.