Beth A. Brooke is Global Vice Chair of Public Policy, Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement at Ernst and Young and a member of the firm’s Global Management Group and its Americas Executive Board. Beth has public policy responsibility for the firm’s operations in 140 countries and relations with regulators, policymakers, and capital market stakeholders. During the Clinton Administration, she worked for two years in the US Department of the Treasury.

Dr. Rola Dashti is a winner of Council of Europe South-North Prize in 2010, Global Citizens Award in 2009, and King Hussein Humanitarian Award in 2005, listed among “The Top 20 Businesswomen in the Arab World” by Financial Times and “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arabs” in 2007 and 2008 by Arabian Business, and was a member of advisory council for Arab Human Development Report for 2009 (Human Security in the Arab World).

Rola Dashti earned her Ph.D in Population Economics from Johns Hopkins University in 1992, where she lectured, conducted, and managed research in development and applied economics particularly in regard to the country’s recent quest for modernizing its economic, financial, and social processes.  She held key positions in RandD institutions, such as the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (Manager, Economics Department), and worked for major local and international financial and development institutions, including be Senior Economist at the National Bank of Kuwait and consultancy to the World Bank. She managed all the contracts signed on behalf of the government of Kuwait for the Emergency and Reconstruction Program during the invasion-to-post liberation period in 1990 and 1991.

Dr Dashti is a leading activist in the MENA region advocating democratic reform and fighting for gender equity and increasing role for women in public life.  She lobbied for the May 2005 decree allowing Kuwaiti women to vote and run for parliamentary elections for the first time and was the first woman to file her papers at the election department. In the 2009 parliamentary elections, she and three other women won seats to become the first women to enter the Kuwaiti parliament. Dr. Dashti’s next challenge is to open up another platform for women in government: the legal system. To her, it is very important to open the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary platforms of the government to incorporate women as part of the decision making process, real partners in the development of the nation, and effective players in deepening the democratization process.

Dr. Dashti was the first woman to chair the Kuwait Economic Society, whose mission is to advocate competitive and transparent economic reform policies, empower a generation of professionals and entrepreneurs, and build informed knowledgeable community. In addition, Dr. Dashti is a member of the Executive Committee of Young Arab Leaders-Kuwait Chapter, a network of empowered Arab men and women triggered change by spreading modern leadership values and bridging the awareness gap between the Arab region and the international community at large.

Marcos Nascimento, Co-founder of Instituto Promundo, an NGO which seeks to promote gender equality and to end violence against women, children, and young people. Mr. Nascimiento has 15 years of experience in youth outreach, program development and research in Brazil and other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. His specialties include gender, sexuality, masculinity issues and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a grassroots humanitarian and development organization helping women survivors of wars rebuild their lives. Since 1993, the organization has helped 250,000 women survivors of wars access social and economic opportunities through a program of rights awareness training, vocational skills education, and access to income generating opportunities, thereby ultimately contributing to the political and economic health of their communities.

Ambassador Sally Shelton-Colby, Served as Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Global Programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and as U.S. Ambassador to several countries in the Eastern Carribean and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mu Sochua, Member of Parliament, Cambodia. One of her country´s leading advocate for human rights to stop human trafficking, domestic violence and worker exploitation. She joined the newly formed government, eventually becoming the Minister of Veterans and Women´s Affairs - and one of only two women serving in the Cabinet. While serving in the government, Mu negotiated two international agreements with neighboring countries to help curtail human trafficking in Southeast Asia. She launched a campaign to bring NGOs, law enforcement officials and rural women into a national dialogue and education program to help protect women and girls victimized by trafficking and boost prevention efforts nationwide.

Kah Walla, CEO of a management and marketing consulting firm that is based in Douala, Cameroon. Created 15 years ago, STRATEGIES! has since become an international consulting firm competing in markets throughout Africa, Europe, Asia and the USA. As a woman-owned and run firm, STRATEGIES! is known for designing programs that empower professional women and for its work as a strong advocate for women´s entrepreneurship and political participation.

Tom Watson, Journalist, author and consultant who worked at the confluence of media technology and social change. Founder of CauseWired Communications, Changing our World and publisher of onPhilanthropy.com. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy.