Snežana Samardžić-Marković is since 2012 Director General of Democracy at the Council of Europe, in charge of the Organisation’s action promoting democratic innovation, governance, participation and diversity. Her responsibilities include the policy areas of education and youth, local democracy, cultural policies, election assistance, the protection of human dignity, gender equality, children’s rights, and the rights of minorities, societal defences against discrimination, democratic citizenship, social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and democratic responses to crisis situations. Previously, Snežana has held numerous positions in the Serbian Government including as Deputy Director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Neighbouring Countries; Assistant Minister of Defence (2005-2007) and Co-President of the Serbia-NATO Defence Reform Group; member of the Foundation Board of WADA, Minister of Youth and Sports (2007-2012) and President of the Fund for Young Talents.

In 2000, Rosemary Bechler, co-founded and chaired Peaceworkers UK, later absorbed into International Alert, while helping to pilot an innovative online global discussion forum, openDemocracy, in which she became European, then International Editor. In 2006 Counterpoint, the internal think-tank of the British Council commissioned her to write Unbounded Freedom: a guide to creative commons thinking for cultural organisations. She edited The Convention on Modern Liberty: The British debate on fundamental rights and freedoms (Imprint Academic 2010) in the year in which she became Editor of openDemocracy. She has a Cambridge doctorate on eighteenth century literature.

Lyn Carson is a professor in applied politics with the University of Sydney Business School. She has convened, facilitated, researched, designed or evaluated many innovative projects including: Australia's first Consensus Conference, Australia's first two Deliberative Polls, Australia's first Citizens' Parliament, numerous Citizens' Juries and Community Summits. Her introduction to formal politics and the challenges of active citizenship began as an elected representative in local government. She has published widely: books, book chapters, and articles on related topics, and is a director of the newDemocracy Foundation (nDF), currently involved with overseeing many deliberative projects for local and state governments.

Graham Smith joined the University of Westminster in November 2012 as Professor of Politics in the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), Department of Politics and International Relations. Previously he was Professor of Politics and Head of Department at the University of Southampton where he worked from 1999. From 1997 to 1999 he was a Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde. For five months from Feb 2010 he was a Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence; and in the Fall Semester 2013, Senior Visiting Scholar on the Democracy Program at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School.

Thorbjørn Jagland is the 13th Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Mr. Jagland was elected in September 2009.  In June 2014, he was re-elected, and his second term in office commenced on October 1, 2014. The former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Norway, Thorbjørn Jagland, was also the President of the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) and the leader of the Norwegian Labour Party. He is a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.