Alta is Executive Director, Quality & Development at the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) where she is responsible for global accountancy profession development initiatives, including: accountancy capacity building and Accountability. Now.—an initiative focused on transparency and accountability in the public sector; quality and membership, including the IFAC Member Compliance Program; and human capital and intellectual property management. She joined the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) in 2002, and served as deputy director before transitioning to IFAC, where she has served in various executive roles, including governance and nominations; strategic planning; risk management; finance; operations & information technology, human resources; and intellectual property. She has also overseen activities in relation to professional accountants in business and those working in small practices, as well as the IFAC Global Knowledge Gateway. From 1997 through 2002, she worked at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), becoming its Technical Director in 2000. In 1996, she worked at Amalgamated Banks of South Africa where she was responsible for professional development of the internal audit function. Prior to that, she worked in the national technical and training office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Alta is originally from South Africa, qualified as a Chartered Accountant (SA), and holds a Master’s Degree in financial management.

Francesco Prota is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Italy. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Environmental Economics.

His research interests include regional economics and international economic integration; development economics; public policy evaluation; innovation economics.

Francesco is the author of several articles in economics journals, including World Development, Regional Studies, and the Journal of International Development.

He has also a long track record of collaboration with international organizations (United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Joint Research Centre, European Commission) and different Italian government departments and agencies (Public Investment Evaluation Unit of the Department for Development Policies and Economic Cohesion; Department for the Planning and Coordination of Economic Policy - Presidency of the Council of Ministers; Formez; Sviluppo Italia; Unit for the Evaluation of Public Investments of the Apulia Region).

José A. Puppim de Oliveira is a full professor in the Department of Public Management at the São Paulo School of Business Administration of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV EAESP). He is also Professor of Climate Governance and Global Development at the University of Manchester, UK. He is a collaborating professor at the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (FGV EBAPE) and the Institute for Global Public Policy (IGPP) at Fudan University, China. He was Assistant Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Sustainability at the United Nations University (UNU-IAS) in Japan (2009-2015).

Dr. Puppim has more than 20 years of experience in universities; Companies; Think Tanks; and government and international bodies in: research, teaching, training and academic management. He has been an instructor, consultant and researcher for several organizations such as different United Nations agencies, the OECD, the World Bank, sub-national and national governments, and various NGOs and small and large firms.

Dr. Puppim holds a PhD in Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, a Master’s degree in environmental science from Hokkaido University, Japan, and a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica, Brazil.

Nigel's career spans the breadth of the global shipping industry, highlighted by key roles such as Chief Commercial Officer at Maersk Line in Copenhagen and CEO of Container Inland Services within the AP Moller-Maersk Group. He further distinguished himself as CEO of The Maersk Company Limited (UK) and Non-Executive Chairman of INTTRA. Nigel's leadership prowess extended to his tenure as Chief Commercial Officer at Inchcape Shipping Services.

Prior to his time with AP Moller-Maersk, Nigel played pivotal roles at P&O Nedlloyd and P&O Containers, including positions such as Corporate Finance Director and Managing Director of Southern Africa. With his wealth of experience, Nigel is an accomplished maritime authority, driving innovation and excellence throughout his career.

Head Brussels Office Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers VNO-NCW (Netherlands) and Permanent Delegate VNO-NCW at BUSINESSEUROPE Chair of BIAC Investment Committee Winand Quaedvlieg is Head of the Brussels Office of VNO-NCW and responsible for the overall EU lobby of VNO-NCW. Before he was Deputy Director International Economic Affairs in VNO-NCW and responsible for international trade and investment policy and international corporate social responsibility. He has been Chair of BIAC’s Investment Committee since 2012. He is also a former Vice Chair of the BUSINESSEUROPE International Relations Committee. He was a member of the Commission on European Integration (CEI) of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) of the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs and lecturer on EU External Economic Policy, Master Programme European Union Studies of Leiden University. He studied Dutch and European law in Nijmegen (NL) and Nancy (FR). He was nominated Officer in the French Ordre National du Mérite in 2011.

Deirdre Quaid is one of three Directors of Audit in the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, SAI Ireland, having joined as a trainee auditor in 2005. She represented Ireland on the audit commission of the European Space Agency based in Paris for four years. She has a Master of Accounting from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and is a fellow of the Chartered Accountants Ireland and a member of the Irish Tax Institute. As Director of Audit, she is responsible for all performance audits across the Irish public and civil service and several financial audits. She is also the Chair secretariat of the INTOSAI Performance Audit Subcommittee since 2022, responsible for maintaining the performance audit standards. 

President Carlos Alvarado is the 48th President of the Republic of Costa Rica. He was inaugurated into office on May 9, 2018. He was born in San José, Costa Rica on January 14, 1980, and is a professor, politician and author. He studied journalism at the University of Costa Rica, and holds a master’s degree in Political Science from the same university and has a master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of Sussex in England.

President Alvarado is an expert in communication, public policy and public-private partnerships with five years of experience in political communication and parliamentary advisory. He has taught communication at the School of Social Science at the University of Costa Rica and the Latina University of Costa Rica. He also served as an advisor to the Citizen Action Party's group in the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica from 2006 to 2010.

During the Solís Rivera administration, Alvarado served as Minister of Human Development and Social Inclusion and Executive President of the Joint Social Welfare Institute, institution charged with combating poverty and giving state aid to the population of scarce resources. Then in 2016, Alvarado was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Security.

Kurba-Marie Questelles is a Peace and Security Specialist and a certified Restorative Justice Practitioner who has previously briefed the United Nations Security Council. She is a qualified Trainer of Trainers with areas of expertise in crime and violence prevention, preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) and Peacebuilding. Kurba-Marie serves as the Caribbean Coordinating Ambassador at One Young World and in 2019, was inducted as a 30 Under 30 Emerging Caribbean Leader by the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Washington D.C. Her areas of interest include youth development, National, regional and international peace and security. 

Dr. Thong Q. Ho is an applied economist, lecturer, and coordinator of Blue Resources for Development (BlueRforD) at School of Economics; Economy & Environment Partnership for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA); University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH).

His recent work addresses key environmental and climate change challenges, with an emphasis on measuring performance, efficiency, and pro-environmental behavior. Dr. Thong has led several randomized controlled trials and field experiments to study decision-making, social capital, and pro-environmental behavior.

Through his interdisciplinary work, Dr. Ho contributes to a deeper understanding of how economic behavior interacts with sustainability goals, particularly in rural and coastal contexts. His research supports evidence-based policymaking and fosters collaboration across academic, policy, and practitioner communities.