Johanna Higgs is from Perth, Australia. She is working on her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, focusing on the militarization of child soldiers in Colombia. She has worked in the development sector in various countries, including the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uganda. Higgs is the director of Project MonMa, an international nonprofit group focused on improving women's lives. She speaks English and Spanish.

Liga Rudzite is a Marie Curie fellow, working on her Ph.D. in economics at Tallinn University in Estonia, focusing on efficiency of international development cooperation programs in Central Asia. She has been involved in the community development sector in Latvia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia through designing educational and social programs and serving as a development policy adviser at Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation.