Annette Gerlach from Berlin is a bilingual journalist and TV host for ARTE, the European cultural channel she joined when it was founded in 1992. She presents the daily news programme as well as prestigious live music events from La Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, the Paris Opera, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Salzburg Festival, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, the Bolshoi in Moscow and the Savonlinna Festival in Finland. She is also in charge of developing Educ'ARTE and ARTE Campus in Germany, ARTE's educational tools for schools and universities. Annette Gerlach is a regular speaker at conferences, round tables, symposia or award ceremonies for the Council of Europe or the European Parliament, among other institutions and associations. She also does coaching for television and stage presentations.

Alex Taylor is a European journalist. He has produced and presented TV and radio programmes for 30 years, mainly on French TV and radio (France Télévisions, France Inter), but also for international broadcasters (Euronews, TV5 Monde, ARTE, BBC). He was Programme Director for Radio France Internationale in charge of implementing the current 24 hours news format. Parallel to journalism, he has hosted some 1 500 international conferences on a wide variety of topics, especially environmental issues. He has also written a best seller on his passion, languages, of which he speaks (more or less) 7. He also once worked as a camel trainer in a circus.

Previously, he was Costa Rica’s Second Vice President and Minister of National Planning; Secretary for Political Affairs at the Organization of American States; Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; and National Coordinator of the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report. He holds a Law degree from the University of Costa Rica, a Masters in Government from the University of Essex, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Oxford. He has authored several studies on campaign finance, elections, democratization, citizen security and civil-military relations in Latin America.

Kateryna Ryabiko is ODIHR’s (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) First Deputy Director. Previously, she served with the US Agency for International Development, Freedom House, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and other public and private entities, leading projects and teams, as well as providing technical assistance and policy advice. On top of her strong project management skills in international settings, she possesses expertise in the fields of democracy, human rights and elections. Kateryna’s work has been recognized by multiple awards, including for outstanding achievements in promoting democratic development and her leadership in guiding democracy assistance efforts. She holds an MPA from the State University of New York at Binghamton, is a Stanford University Draper Hills Fellow for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, and graduated from the Stanford’s University Leadership Academy for Development.