Arne Fjortoft is a Norwegian citizen with a strong international commitment. He has broad communication and journalist experience, including print media, radio and television, and the newest digital communication technologies. While working at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation as a foreign correspondent, he specialized on North/South issues and the human drama dominating the development process. He spearheaded new program formats, using television as a conscious tool in providing information to create better understanding of major global issues. As a follow up of the first declaration for a new International Information. Order by the Heads of State of the Non Aligned Countries in 1976, and later at the General Assembly of the United Nations and UNESCO, he initiated an international non governmental organization, Worldview International Foundation, with the purpose of strengthening people's right to free flow of information by training and development of new communication capacities in developing countries, and to use information and communication as a tool to help the poor and disadvantaged in solving problems related to basic needs. Mr. Fjortoft served as the Chairman of the Liberal Party of Norway for four years. During his leadership, the party widened its political agenda with a global commitment to sustainable development. He has written several books and has been honored with national and international awards for his achievements. Worldview has implemented projects in 28 countries and created 16 national media centres and a number of media initiatives, such as Young Asia Television, Mandate the Future, International Worldview College, Worldview Institute, Worldview Rights, Thai Worldview Foundation, Boats 4 Life, Paradise Farm and others.

Bremley started his journey in Sustainable Development back in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit. That experience left him convinced that working towards helping people build a better life through social, environmental and economic development was what he wanted to do. So he joined the Consortium of Indian Scientists for Sustainable Development in 1993 and worked on a project to combat decertification and regenerate the desert ecosystem in Rajasthan, India. In 1997 Bremley received the WWF Prince Berhnard Scholarship for Environmental Leadership from Geneva which inspired him to later Pedal for the Planet with Bike Aid traveling 3700 miles by bicycle from San Francisco to Washington D.C. and raising half a million dollars to fund environmental projects in 53 developing countries. In 1999 he joined the Global Environment Facility Division of UNDP and worked on the Gulf of Mannar biodiversity protection project in Tamil Nadu, India after which he moved to New York and joined the Commission on Sustainable Development Secretariat at United Nations and worked with different the major groups of Agenda 21. Bremley was later appointed by the Prime Minister to represent his country at the historic United Nations Millennium Summit where he addressed the 2000 Millennium Assembly. In 2001 Bremley joined the Permanent Mission of India and worked with the UN Ambassador's office and after graduating from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in 2002 with a degree in Environmental Policy Studies he worked with the World Environment Center developing their Corporate Social Responsibility protocols to guide business and industry reach their triple-bottom-line and sustainable development goals. Later that year he participated in the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development completing his 10 year journey working on global sustainable development projects. Bremley then joined the Environment Department of the World Bank in 2003 and worked on linking poverty reduction and environmental management by analyzing policy challenges and opportunities, a project funded by DFID, European Commission, UNDP and World Bank. Later he worked as Program Manager at the Education Development Center in Boston developing and managing projects of the 75 country network of the Youth Employment Summit Campaign. Bremley completed his post graduate research work on analising the relationships between Sustainable Forest Management and Rural Livelihood Strategies at the Development Studies Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2007. He is the Co-founder of the Global Youth Action Network and sits on the Board of Directors of PCI Media Impact.

Bertrand is a financial expert interested in using his skills to support social and environmental projects in the developing world. He has the proven ability to analyse complex financial issues and identify ways to solve them while coordinating the implementation of projects and communicate & liaise effectively with all key participants, partners & stakeholders; to ensure a successful outcome for parties involved. Previously, Bertrand was a Director at Deutsche Bank in London working in the Strategic Equity Transactions Group for 10 years. He was part of a team that structures equity related transactions for the bank’s corporate, private & strategic European clients, specialising in monetisation strategies, equity financing, employee incentives, M&A derivatives, share buy-backs and tax/accounting related structured transactions. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Bertrand worked as an IT business analyst for Lehman Brothers where he was hired via the 1st IT graduate progamme in the summer of 1995. Bertrand originates from Belgium from a French father and Dutch mother. He holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Bristol and a M.Sc. in Management Science and Operational Research. Bertrand love the outdoors and is a keen yogi, windsurfer, sailor, skier, snowboarder and cyclist. In 2004, he took a 6 months sabbatical to travel overland along the Silk Route from the Caspian Sea to Beijing.

Raymond Mason is a business strategist and serial entrepreneur with a verifiable history as a professional in the areas of financial and economic analysis, business modeling, utility regulation and accounting, strategic planning, business planning and development, and a specialist in the practice areas of regulatory and investment filings, financial and tax impacts on regulated utilities, business change management, and related information management systems design. Ray has demonstrated extensive proficiency in analyzing business situations, especially in the context of their regulatory and legal environments, and in the development of response strategies. He is globally recognized for his exceptional persuasive skills polished by years of professional experience as an expert witness in administrative law proceedings and interaction with top executives both internally and externally. Is a successful negotiator and source for sound professional business and policy advice, being sought after as a mediator for conflict resolution by executive echelon, management and staff. He has a proven track record for improving business performance through progressive leadership, business process optimization and performance measurement. Ray currently serves as on the Board of Directors of several private entities and not-for-profit organizations that are focused in the Green Renewables, Telecom, Investment, Non-Violent Conflict Resolution and Sustainable / Transformative Economics. He also holds interests in numerous other ventures globally. He was most recently Principal Senior Consultant in the Enterprise Management Solutions Division of Black & Veatch. Prior to joining Black & Veatch, Mr. Mason served as interim CEO of a privately held Telecommunications Technology Company, High Speed Video Holding Corporation, for three years where his role was to oversee and direct the executive management of the firm in expanding its presence in the marketplace while establishing a business culture conducive to an early stage technology company. Previously, Ray was Vice President of Governmental & Regulatory Affairs for Citizens Communications, a S&P 500 firm (previously Citizens Utilities Company). As an entrepreneur he has worked as a consultant for several international investment firms. Ray continues to work with contacts in business, government and technology segments of several Latin American, African, Asia, Middle East and European countries. He continues to work with both governments and multi-national firms in the areas of utility privatization, regulatory policy frameworks and related strategic economic / foreign trade planning.

Tore is the Special Representative for Sport and Environment, United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP. He Initiated UNEP’s Sport and Environment Outreach in 1992. He is Member, Commission for Sport and Environment, The International Olympic Committee, IOC since 1996 and Advisor, Global Sports Alliance, Japan. He is a member of the organizing committee in Norway for UNEP’s International Children’s Conference on the Environment in Stavanger 2008. He is a Board Member, The Environment Fund and was UNEP’s Spokesman/Director, Communications and Public Information (1988-2002). He was Director, United Nations Information Centre, UNIC, Nairobi, covering Kenya, The Seychelles and Uganda (1995-2002). He was Member, United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace (2002-2003). He was Chairman, Joint United Nations Information Committee, JUNIC (2000-2002). He was a member of the working party on Education, Awareness Raising and Training, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED, Rio de Janeiro (1992). He was Trustee, Television Trust for the Environment, TVE (1989-2002) and Director of Information, Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, working closely with UNHCR and UNRWA (1981-1988). He was Acting Chief and Deputy Chief of Information, Norwegian Agency for International Development, NORAD (1967-1988) and Founding member of Inter Press Service, IPS Norway. He was Development Attaché/Assistant Resident Representative, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Dar es Salaam (1974-1976) and served as Welfare and Press Officer with the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces in The Middle East, UNEF (1963 and 1965). Tore has travelled widely, written numerous articles for newspapers and magazines. He has produced films and TV-programmes and started a UN “edutainment” soap opera for broadcast in Africa. He is an experienced photographer and has won international awards. Tore initiated and was responsible for UNEP’s International Photographic Competitions on the Environment: “Focus on your World” (1991-92,1994-95 and 1999-2000).

Tom has a background working in corporate engagement and strategy in the UK and the US on climate change. He has been at CarbonSense since 2005 where his role as a principal consultant is to take senior people at UK based companies through a framework that they call the "carbon journey". They do this so that they begin to really understand the impacts that their company is having both directly and indirectly through their supply chain. They pride themselves on walking the path between NGOs and traditional consultancies in that they are challenging but non-confrontational and inspire business leaders to make the changes because they realise it is the right thing to do. Ultimately, they believe this means challenging the business models and the very principle of consumption but that is very hard for these people to hear! Apart from this Tom is also a Trustee of the Earth Charter UK and he Chairs the Business Policy Engagement section of this. This is an area that he finds very exciting and believes he could have a powerful role to play. He is also finishing off a Masters at Schumacher College in Whole Systems Science in which he is taking a systemic view of society and seeking leverage points for change around climate change. Prior to these things his background is very diverse. He was a professional craftsman for 3 years and a Buddhist monk for 2 years.

Fraser Durham has a BSc in Economics and Mathematics, and has recently made the transition from finance, where he spent ten years advising global investment funds on derivative and alternative asset transactions, to climate change and sustainability - inspired by developments in sustainable finance whilst travelling in Asia. Fraser co-ordinates client strategies involving a high technical input, as well as developing the use of film, animation and new media to leverage the communication aspects of climate change and sustainability. He lives in Totnes where he can develop his passions for rock climbing, surfing, home grown cooking and the Transition Town movement.

Katherine Tubb set up and runs overseas volunteer agency, 2Way Development, an organisation which places volunteers to work in a skilled capacity alongside locally run civil society organisations involved with poverty reduction worldwide. Katherine was a volunteer herself (VSO) in Nepal for one year, working for an environmental NGO in 1999/2000. Katherine then started her career working in the tourism industry, primarily as a researcher and published work relating to eco and sustainable tourism. She has a masters in development studies from the London School of Economics, and has conducted in depth research into the links between international volunteering and local movements in the development sector in primarily East Africa and Central America, published on www.gapyearesearch.org. Katherine is a part time travel writer and has co authored a Lonely Planet publication entitled ‘Volunteering – making a difference around the world’ released worldwide in July 2007. She recently set up her own working ‘hub’ in London called 2Way Space – a shared working space for small businesses and freelancers.

Camilla joined Africapractice in May 2007 as a consultant for corporate citizenship. Her clients are multinational companies who operate in Africa and seek advice on how to devise and implement an effective corporate citizenship strategy or project relevant to the African context within which they are working. Before africapractice, she was working for a corporate governance and corporate social responsibility consultancy in London - Pensions Investment Research Consultants (PIRC).Prior to working at PIRC, she completed a masters from the London School of Economics in Environment and Development and read Human Geography at the University College London at undergraduate level. Between these two degrees, she worked as the communications officer for the World Youth Peace Summit, a youth-led NGO based in Bangkok, Thailand. She was selected back in 2004 as a UNESCO Youth Delegate for the Decade for the Education of Sustainable Development, travelling to Japan for a conference. She was also selected to attend the UN Youth Assembly in New York also in that same year. Though a British national, she was born and raised in Thailand, consequently having a strong affinity to the country and Asia as a region.

Tamara is a senior fashion designer and consultant who provides design services to fashion companies after having gained work experience with luxury companies such as Bally in Switzerland for over 8 years. Subsequently she has worked for internationally acclaimed Italian and French luxury companies for over 6 years in Milan, Italy. In addition to her fashion career over the past two years she has worked as a lecturer for international degree students at the internationally renowned fashion institute 'Istituto Marangoni' in London, UK. Tamara speak several languages and she has been travelled extensively through many developing countries where she has started to consult with individuals in order to support them in starting and building up their own businesses within or related to the fashion and manufacturing industry. She actively participates in international fashion events around the world and she has delivered an array of seminars and workshops targeted for different clients in the fashion industry. Tamara brings her expertise in the creative side to the company which includes product design, manufacturing and branding.

Monaqui Porter Young is President and CEO of MPGlobal Connect Inc., a start-up company launched to advance Monaqui’s vision of economic empowerment through sustainable development. MPGlobal Connect Inc. is the exclusive import and distribution company for Paradise Farm, a 90-acre rainforest in the mountainous region of Sri Lanka. Monaqui received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She studied International Trade Management at Pace University’s School of International Trade and Commerce, specializing in import rules and regulations. Monaqui recently graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, becoming a certified Holistic Health Practitioner specializing in digestive disorders and primary foods. She also received certification in Integrative Nutrition at Teachers College Columbia University. Monaqui has published articles and presented interactive workshops, guest lectures, and keynote speeches at universities and business organizations throughout the United States and abroad. Most recently, she was a guest speaker for the United Nations International Women’s Day in Bangkok, Thailand, where she spoke on commonalities of women - Strengthening the international relationship among women through commonalities. Monaqui currently serves as a board member for Equal Trade for Sustainability, and as a board member of Paradise Farm.