Melanie Kubin-Hardewig is Vice President, Group Corporate Responsibility at Deutsche Telekom. She is responsible for the group-wide design and execution of Deutsche Telekom’s Corporate Responsibility Strategy. This covers a wide range of issues from environmental to social aspects, including sustainable supply chains and finance as well as the development of Deutsche Telekom’s strategic targets. She also leads Deutsche Telekom’s top sustainability initiatives. Melanie has previously held various management roles at different entities of Deutsche Telekom. She is a trained lawyer and holds a Master of Business Administration. 

Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a climate justice activist based in Metro Manila, Philippines. She is the convenor and international spokesperson of the Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP) – the Fridays For Future (FFF) of the Philippines. She is also engaged  with FFF International and FFF MAPA (Most Affected Peoples and Areas), making sure that voices from the Global South are heard, amplified, and given space. She is committed to changing the system and building a world that prioritizes people and planet, not profit, through collective action. 

Hamzat Lawal is an activist with more than 15 years of experience in leading grassroots campaigns and working in the non-profit sector in over 40 African countries. Lawal is the Chief Executive of Connected Development (CODE), a civil society organization recognized with the ONE Africa Award and the Council of Europe Democracy Innovation Award. He is also the Founder of Follow The Money, a Pan-African grassroots data-driven movement, working with technology and innovation-driven campaigners to promote accountability and amplify the voices of marginalized communities across Africa. Follow The Money was a 2019 UN SDG Action Award winner in the Mobilize category. As a Malala Fund Education Champion, he is currently leading an education campaign to accelerate girls’ education and end child marriage in the northeast of Nigeria. Lawal was recently appointed as an Advisory Board Member of the Global Citizen Fellowship Program, powered by Beyonce’s BeyGOOD foundation. In 2018 and 2019, he was listed as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in digital government by Apolitical.  

Natasha Mwansa is the founder and Executive Director of Natasha Mwansa Foundation, which aims to see a world in which young people’s health, safety and development are a priority and invested in while their potential is unleashed, and they are given equal opportunity to share power with stakeholders and equipped enough to be the change they want to see. Natasha is the youngest recipient of the WHO Global Health Leaders award worldwide in recognition of her work towards adolescent health – particularly sexual and reproductive health and her speech on what young people want during the 72nd World Health Assembly opening. In addition, she was voted as Zambia’s most influential young person in 2020 and awarded a national Emerging Leaders award by PUSH Network. She currently works with WHO on their adolescent health flagship program and sits on the WEF Global Future’s and NALA feminist Councils. She is also a Social Accountability Monitor and a third-year student at University of Zambia studying Media and Communication Studies with a minor in Political Science.  

Sandra Uwera is the Global CEO of Fairtrade International. Previously, she served as CEO of COMESA Business Council, the leading Business Member Organization in Africa and a private sector institution of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which represents 34 business sectors across 21 countries. As part of Ms. Uwera’s work with CBC and COMESA, she has led projects and programs on sustainable solutions for small and medium enterprises, advocacy, technical capacity-building, industry competitiveness and market access, digital financial inclusion, and programs focused on women and youth empowerment. Ms. Uwera is also an Eisenhower fellow and sits on various Boards in Africa and internationally. She holds a Master of Science in Strategic Planning, a Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communications, and has undertaken advanced professional training in international trade policy and law, digital inclusion, and leadership for business sustainability.  

H.E. Mr. Khalifa Jassim Al-Kuwari is the Director General of the Qatar Fund for Development, managing the State of Qatar’s foreign aid and international development activities. Previously, he worked at the Qatar Investment Authority and at the Qatar Central Bank, and Ashghal & Urban Planning Authority, having in-depth experience in accounting, auditing, financial analysis and investment management. H.E. Mr. Al-Kuwari has been appointed to the boards of leading institutions, including Harrods, Volkswagen Group, Fairmont Raffles Group, Songbird Real Estate, Qatar Exchange, Katara Hospitality and Mowasalat. H.E. Mr. Al-Kuwari is the president of Qatar Leadership Centre Alumni Association Council, member of Qatar University Alumni Association, chairman of the Qatar Academy for Science and Technology Board of Advisors; he was also elected to the Board of Directors of Qatar Foundation for Social Work. H.E. Mr. Al-Kuwari holds an executive MBA in Business Administration from the London Business School in United Kingdom, an MBA in Accounting from Cleveland State University in the United States and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Qatar University. He graduated from the Leadership Development Program at Harvard Business School in the United States and Qatar Leadership Center. 

The Hon. Emma Theofelus is a young, 26-year-old Namibian born in Windhoek, who is currently a Member of Parliament and the Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology in the Republic of Namibia. Before her appointment, The Hon. Emma Theofelus was a youth activist for issues of gender, children’s rights, sustainable development and youth unemployment. She served as the Deputy Speaker of the Youth Parliament of the Republic of Namibia and the Junior Mayor of the City of Windhoek amongst other roles. The Hon. Emma Theofelus holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours Degree) from the University of Namibia, a Diploma in Business Management from Amity University and a Diploma in Afrikan Feminism and Gender Studies from the University of South Africa.    

Heidi Schroderus-Fox is the Director of the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), in which capacity she acts as the Deputy to the High Representative and oversees the management and the programmatic functions of the Office. During 2010-2011 she served as Head of Policy Issues for the Office of the President of the United Nations General Assembly (OPGA). Ms. Schroderus-Fox holds the rank of Ambassador in the Finnish Foreign Service. During her 24 years of work for Finland, she has made significant contributions in the areas of inter-governmental policy dialogue, partnership building and negotiations. Ms. Schroderus-Fox served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations in New York during 2006-2010. Prior to being posted to the UN, Ms. Schroderus-Fox held a succession of increasing leadership positions at the Finnish Foreign Ministry and in diplomatic postings to Paris, Washington DC, Tel Aviv, Geneva and Pretoria.

Jennifer Morgan was appointed  State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action of the German Federal Government in March 2022.  Some of her previous roles include Director of the Global Climate Campaign at WWF International, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Council for Sustainable Development of the Federal Government. Before assuming her current position with the Federal Foreign Office, she was from 2016 to 2022 the Managing Director of the environmental organization Greenpeace International. Ms. Morgan studied political science and international relations at Indiana University, Bloomington and at the American University in Washington, D.C.