Aline Odara is a scientist, educator, ethnic-racial relations researcher, Candomblecist, passionate about Afro-Brazilian culture, and an activist in the fight for Racial Equity. She is the creator and Executive Director of the Agbara Fund, the first philanthropic fund for Black Women in Brazil, whose mission is to fight for Economic Justice for Black Women. She is the winner of the Folha de SP 2023 Social Entrepreneur Award, one of the 100 innovative women by Época Negócios 2023, winner of the Black Women Give Back 2023 (USA), and a finalist for the AVON/UOL 2023 Inspiring Women Award.

Philip W. Yun’s career has spanned the private and public sectors for the past 40 years, with experience in security affairs, foreign policy, diplomacy, international development, law, business, politics, and philanthropy. He is currently Co-President and Co-CEO of Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California (CCWA) and of Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF).

Previously, Mr. Yun was the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Ploughshares Fund. Before joining Fund, he was a vice president at The Asia Foundation (2005-2011), a Pantech Scholar in Korean Studies at the Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center at Stanford University (2004-2005), and a vice president at the private equity firm of H&Q Asia Pacific (2001-2004).

Mr. Yun was a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of State (1994-2001), serving as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to government service, he practiced law in firms in San Francisco and Seattle, and also served as a legal consultant in Seoul, Korea.

Mr. Yun attended Brown University and Columbia University School of Law. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an emeritus member of the Board of Governors of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

Sergio Fausto is General Director of Fundação Fernando Henrique Cardoso, he is co-director of the Project Plataforma Democrática and he is co-editor of the book series “O Estado da Democracia na América Latina”. He is a member of the Gacint-USP (International Conjuncture Analysis Group of the University of São Paulo). Under Cardoso´s two terms in office (1995-1999 and 1999-2003), Fausto served as advisor to the Ministry of Planning and Budget, of Development and External Trade and of Finance. In 2012, he was awarded with the Gus Hart Fellowship, a prize annually given by the Chicago Council of Global Affairs to academics and policy-makers for their contribution to democracy and development in Latin America. Among Fausto´s publications are: Difícil Democracia (Paz e Terra, 2011), editor; Brasil y América del Sur: Miradas Cruzadas (Siglo XXI, 2012), editor and author; and Brasil y América Latina: que liderazgo es posible (Plataforma Democrática, 2013), editor and author; Internet y Movilizaciones Sociales: transformaciones del espacio público y de la sociedade civil (Plataforma Democrática, 2015), editor; Political Activism in the Era of the Internet (Plataforma Democrática, 2016), editor. He is also the author of the chapter “Modernization under Democracy” in the book Concise History of Brazil, by Boris Fausto, released by Cambridge University Press in 2014.

He is a member of the advisory board of the Instituto Palavra Aberta and a member of the board of partners of the Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning).