The Challenge of Managing Crisis in a Rapidly Changing World

Chrystia Freeland is global Editor-at-Large, Reuters. In this role, she serves as Reuter’s principal on-air pundit for external broadcast partners. She writes a weekly column for Reuters.com. Previously, Freeland served as the US managing editor of the Financial Times. During this time, the FT’s US print edition became the single largest edition of the FT. Before that, Freeland was deputy editor, Financial Times, in London, editor of the FT’s weekend edition, editor of FT.com, UK news editor, Moscow bureau chief, and Eastern Europe correspondent. Chrystia is the author of Sale of a Century, which details Russia’s journey from communism to capitalism. She is currently writing her second book on the global super-elite. Chrystia Freeland received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master of Studies degree from St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar.

Kristalina Georgieva is currently the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. Before taking her position in the Commission she has been Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group, directly reporting to the President, from 2008 to 2010. She was the interlocutor between the World Bank Group senior management, its Board of Directors, and the 186 country shareholders of the World Bank Group. Previously, she was the institutions' Director and Resident Representative in the Russian Federation based in Moscow. She has also been the Director, Strategy and Operations, Sustainable Development in charge of overall directions and delivery of World Bank policy and lending operations in infrastructure, urban development agriculture, environment, and social development, including coordination of World Bank support to fragile and conflict-affected countries. Kristalina Georgieva is a Bulgarian national. She received her graduate and postgraduate education from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia. Her thesis was on environmental protection policy and economic growth in the United States of America She has held positions as a Visiting Scholar or Guest Professor in a number of academic institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, London School of Economics, Moscow State University, the Australian National University, and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji.

Hans Herren an internationally recognized scientist, was appointed Millennium Institute's (MI) president in May 2005. Prior to joining MI, he was Director-General of the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya. He has also served as director of the Africa Biological Control Center of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in Benin. At ICIPE, Hans developed and implemented programs in the area of human, animal, plant, and environmental health (the 4-H paradigm) as they relate to insect issues. At IITA, he conceived and implemented the highly successful biological control program that saved the African cassava crop, and averted Africa’s worst-ever food crisis. He was awarded the World Food Prize in 1995 for this achievement. Over the years, Hans’ interests have moved towards integrated sustainable development, in particular, linking environmental, plant, animal, and human health issues.Hans Herren received his PhD from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, and completed his post-doctoral research in ecology at the University of California, Berkeley

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is presently a Managing Director of the World Bank. From June to August 2006, she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, overseeing Nigeria’s external relations. From July 2003 to June 2006 she served as Minister of Finance and Economy of Nigeria and Head of Nigeria's much-acclaimed presidential economic team. Her achievements as Finance Minister garnered international recognition for improving Nigeria’s financial stability and fostering greater fiscal transparency to combat corruption. She pursued a 21-year career as a development economist at the World Bank, where she held the post of Vice President and Corporate Secretary, Country Director, Malyasia, Mongolia, Laos PDR and Cambodia, and as Director, Operations of Middle East and North Africa. She also served as Director of Institutional Change and Strategy (1995-1997). Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Harvard and has a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Trevor Manuel is currently serving in the Cabinet of South Africa as Minister in the Presidency in charge of the National Planning Commission. From 1996 to 2009,he was the Minister of Finance, during the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, and Kgalema Motlanthe; he was one of the country’s longest-serving finance ministers. Most recently in May 2009, he was reassigned to head a national planning commission by President Jacob Zuma. In 1997 Trevor was named Euromoney’s African Finance Minister of the Year. He chaired the Development Committee of the World Bank from 2001 until 2005. He played an instrumental role as a commissioner on the Commission for Africa from 2004 until 2005. He served on the Commission on Growth and Development as a commissioner from 2006 until 2008 and chaired the G20 meetings in November 2007. In 2007 Trevor was named the Africa Finance Minister of the year. Trevor was appointed Special Envoy for development finance by the UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki Moon in May 2008. In July 2008 he was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award. He also served on the UN Secretary General's high level advisory group on Climate Change Financing in 2010.Trevor Manuel studied Civil and Structural Engineering at Peninsula Technikon. He also did an Executive Management Program at Stanford National University in Singapore.

Sanjay Pradhan is the Vice President of the World Bank Institute. Prior to that, he was the Director, Public Sector Governance for the World Bank. He was responsible for providing the strategic directions for the World Bank’s global work across all member countries to improve public sector governance and combate corruption. Sanjay earlier served as the World Bank’s Sector Manager, Public Sector and Poverty Reduction for the South Asia Region, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Prior to that, he was responsible for managing the Bank’s unit supporting governance and public sector reform in 26 countries across Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Mr. Pradhan was a principal author of the World Development Report 1997, The State in a Changing World. He presented the WDR in 20 countries across regions, including press conferences, high-level seminars, and presentations to heads of state and parliaments, including the British House of Commons. He has authored numerous publications, including articles, books, and policy papers. Sanjay Pradhan completed his PhD from Harvard University in 1988 and his Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, Harvard University in 1982.

Vinod Thomas is the Director-General and Senior Vice President, Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank Group. He was formely Country Director for Brazil and Vice President, a position that he held from October 2001 to July 2005. In this capacity, he managed the Bank’s large lending and nonlending portfolio in Brazil and helped shape the dialogue with the government and the Bank’s Brazil Country Assistance Strategy. Prior to that, he was Vice President of the World Bank Institute, where he sharpened the Institute’s focus and quality and expanded its mandate and impact. Before leading WBI, he held positions as Chief Economist for the World Bank in the East Asia and Pacific Region. He was the staff director for the 1991 World Development Report, entitled The Challenge of Development which assessed the world’s development experience. Vinod Thomas holds a masters and PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

Robert T. Watson is Defra’s Chief Scientific Advisor. Robert T. Watson is Defra’s Chief Scientific Advisor. He is also a former Chief Scientist and Director for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development at the World Bank. Prior to joining the World Bank, Robert was Associate Director for Environment in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President in the White House. Prior to joining the Clinton White House, Professor Watson was Director of the Science Division and Chief Scientist for the Office of Mission to Planet Earth at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Robert has played a key role in the negotiation of global environment conventions and the evolution of the Global Environment Facility. He was Director and Cochair of: the International Assessment of Agricultural Science & Technology for Development, the Board of Directors of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and the International Scientific Assessment of Stratospheric Ozone. From 1997 to 2002, he was Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and from 1991 to 1994, he served as Chair of the GEF’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel. Robert Watson received his PhD in Chemistry from London University.