Maria Deloria Knoll is a senior scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also serves as the associate director of science for the International Vaccine Access Center. Knoll is an epidemiologist with a focus in the technical analytical challenges of policy-driven research pertaining to the design, conduct and analysis of epidemiological studies and clinical trials that evaluate vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases. She directs the analysis of a 7-country pneumonia case-control study to determine the causes of pneumonia in developing country settings to guide the development of new pneumonia vaccines and treatment algorithms.

María Fernanda Espinosa, president of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly and former minister of foreign affairs and national defense of Ecuador, now is the president of Cities Alliance and leads GWL Voices as executive director. With over 30 years in academia and international diplomacy, Espinosa is a recognized authority on global governance.

Maria Helena Semedo is the Food and Agriculture Organization’s deputy director-general and is an economist and politician from Cape Verde. A leading expert in global development issues, she has worked in public service for over 30 years. Semedo gained valuable experience and insight in Africa, first as FAO representative in Niger, then as deputy regional representative for Africa and subregional coordinator for West Africa.

María José Romero is policy and advocacy manager focusing on publicly-backed private finance at the European Network on Debt and Development. Before joining Eurodad, María José worked for the Latin American Network on Debt, Development and Rights based in Peru, where she focused on tax justice and development finance. She was previously coordinator of the IFIs Latin American Monitor project at the Third World Institute, based in Uruguay.

Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri is the minister of climate change and environment of the United Arab Emirates. In this capacity, she leads the ministry’s mission of spearheading the UAE’s drive to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, protect the country’s ecosystems, and enhance its food and water security through developing and implementing effective measures, policies, and initiatives. Prior to her current role, she was the minister of state for food and water security.

Mariam Claeson, M.D., M.P.H. is the director of the Global Financing Facility since October 2016. She previously served as the director for maternal newborn and child health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which she joined in July 2012.

Mariama Jobarteh is a gender justice advocate. She is the founder of Fantanka, a women-led organisation addressing sexual and gender-based violence, trauma-informed care, and transitional justice issues. A former Psychosocial Support Officer for The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission, she now serves as a consultant, speaker, and mentor.

María Marta Di Paola is director of research at the Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Natural in Argentina. She has worked on issues related to economics and the environment for 10 years, including in fossil fuel subsidies, analysis of the National Budget for Climate Change, and impact of the investments of international financial institutions in energy works.

Marian Blondeel is senior communications specialist at Malaria Consortium and has over a decade of experience implementing advocacy and communications strategies in intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, and the public and private sectors. She has lived and worked in Guatemala, Peru, Vietnam, and now the U.K. She worked with various stakeholders to include their views and objectives in these strategies, from indigenous leaders in the Peruvian Amazon Forest to ethnic Khmer minorities in Vietnam.

Marian W. Wentworth is president and CEO of Management Sciences for Health, a global nonprofit organization that provides governments, health organizations, and the private sector with the strategies, tools, and management support to deliver high-functioning health systems.