Aleksey Sim is Head of the Investment Climate and Ratings Department at the Uzbekistan Ministry of Investments, Industry, and Trade, improving the country’s investment attractiveness, streamlining investor services, and aligning with international best practices. He coordinates the Secretariat of the Foreign Investors Council under the President and conceptualizes flagship initiatives such as the Tashkent International Investment Forum, the national Investment Climate Rating, and the Single Window for Investors digital platform. He was Deputy Director General of the Strategic Reforms Agency and has held senior positions in the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, and in the banking sector. He holds an Executive Postgraduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and a degree in International Economic Relations.

Ambeng Kandakasi was appointed Deputy Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2018, having served on the bench since 2001.  He is president of the Asia Pacific Mediation Forum and Council member of the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration and the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment. Prior to his judicial appointment, he was a partner in the firm of Young & Williams lawyers and taught law at the University of PNG. Justice Kandakasi chairs the PNG Judiciary’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee, leading the establishment of a court annexed ADR system and reforms to mainstream the use of ADR within the judicial system and in other sectors. He is a practicing mediator and judicial dispute resolver, judicial trainer and educator in ADR.

Amos Saurombe is a Professor of International Economic Law and related aspects of Intellectual Property Law and Biodiversity at the University of South Africa, as well as the Head of Department for Criminal and Procedural Law in the College of Law. He is an international trade and regional integration consultant for the African Union and their various Regional Economic Communities. He is an Adjunct Professor of international economic law at the Trade Policy Training Centre, Arusha Tanzania. He also teaches international trade at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs and is a C2 NRF Rated Researcher and member of Southern African Young Academy of Sciences.

Ana Elizabeth Bastida is an Associate Professor at CEPMLP, University of Dundee, and a leading voice on the law and governance of energy transition minerals and sustainability. She is the author of The Law and Governance of Mining and Minerals: A Global Perspective (2020) and a body of work that engages with the role of the materials that power the transformation of energy systems—and what legal, institutional and operational changes are needed for a just and sustainable transition. Dr Bastida is a founding member and currently chairs the Red Latinoamericana de Derecho Minero. She also chairs the IGF Global Mining Tax Initiative’s Technical Advisory Board, and serves as Senior Vice-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Mining Law Committee. 

Ana Maria Daza-Clark is an Associate Professor in International Economic Law at Edinburgh Law School. Her areas of research cover international trade and investment law, international arbitration, natural resource management and international water law. She has published various academic articles focusing on the intersection between international economic law and environmental protection, water resources management, armed conflict and energy projects. Ana Maria is a member of the steering committee of the Academic Forum for UNCITRAL Group III on the reform of investor state dispute settlement, a member of the Water Law Working Group established under the Global Forum for Law, Justice and Development at the World Bank, and an affiliate of the International Water Law Academy.

Ana Paula Pimentel Walker is an associate professor in urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. She teaches graduate courses in participatory planning and community development, comparative housing, environmental planning, award-winning capstones, and comparative planning law. Pimentel Walker investigates how disenfranchised communities engage with urban governance and evaluates the significance of participatory institutions in planning socially and environmentally just cities. Pimentel Walker received a PhD in anthropology from the University of California, San Diego; a Master of Urban Planning and a Master of Arts in Latin American studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a law degree from the University of Cruz Alta in Brazil.

Anastassiya Miller is the Program director, Civic Space, at PILnet in New York. She is a public interest lawyer with 15+ years of experience advancing civil and political rights across Post Soviet Union countries, and over five years leading a global civic space portfolio at PILnet. She specializes in strategic litigation at national and international levels, and is deeply engaged in building cross-border resilience of civil society organiztions by connecting them with expert legal support from leading law firms and corporate counsel. Anastassiya brings a proven ability to foster multi-stakeholder partnerships, develop capacity-building tools, and mobilize pro bono legal expertise globally, with a track record of legislative engagement, comparative legal research, and public-private collaboration.

Andrés Consuegra is the Managing Director for the Institutional and Corporate Legal Affairs Division at IDB Invest. He oversees the legal institutional, corporate and regulatory practice, including the governance framework of IDB Invest. Previously, Andrés worked at IDB’s Legal Department and was the attorney for various projects in Latin America in the infrastructure, social, and institutions sectors. He also managed the legal sovereign guaranteed practice for Central America, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Haiti. Andrés started his career as a corporate attorney in New York, specializing in capital markets, project finance and private equity. Andrés holds a degree in Law from the Universidad de Los Andes, a LLM in Public International Law from the London School of Economics, and an LLM degree in Banking, Corporate and Finance Law from Fordham University.  

Angela Ellard is renowned for her expertise in trade and international economic policy. Now retired, she served as WTO Deputy Director-General from 2021 to 2025. She was responsible for dispute settlement/reform and market access/trade facilitation, while also overseeing the WTO budget. She supervised the Secretariat's facilitation of the negotiation and entry into force of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement. Previously, Ellard had a distinguished 26-year career as Majority and Minority Chief Trade Counsel in the U.S. Congress. She achieved significant bipartisan outcomes with Congress and five Presidential administrations. She also practiced international trade law at major law firms. She earned her J.D. from Tulane Law, M.A. in Public Policy from Tulane, and B.A. from Tulane's Newcomb College.

Anna Giudice (LLM in International Human Rights Law, Maitrise en Droit International Public) (she/her) is the Team Leader of the Accelerating Justice Team, CPCJS/DTA, UNODC Headquarters in Vienna. As a career UN staff she has worked with UNODC since 2000, in various functions relating to the implementation of the international drug and crime conventions and UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice. She leads UNODC’s work in the area of criminal justice reform, including access to justice, access to legal aid, police reform and victim support. 

Anna Veneziano is the Deputy Secretary General of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), and a Professor of Comparative Law at the University of Teramo, Italy. Her main work and research areas are on uniform law, particularly in the field of secured transactions and international contracts. In relation to Private Law and Agriculture, she participated in the development of the 2015 UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD Legal Guide on Contract Farming and of the Mining, Agriculture and Construction Protocol to the Cape Town Convention, and is involved in the current UNIDROIT project on Collaborative Structures for Agricultural Enterprises. 

Anthony Crowell is New York Law School’s Dean and President and a Professor of Law. He is also the Director of the Center for New York City and State Law. He serves on the Executive Committees of the Association of American Law Schools and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities in New York. He also is the President of the National Association of Standalone Graduate Schools. In addition, he coordinates the deans of New York’s 15 law schools in their advocacy efforts on behalf of legal education. Under his leadership, NYLS has repositioned itself as a law school for the 21st century lawyer. He received his J.D. from American University. He earned a B.A. in urban policy and planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Antonio Barreto Rozo is ad hoc justice of the Colombian Constitutional Court and associate professor at the Law School of Universidad de los Andes, where he directs the Graduate Law School, the Public Law Research Group, and the Universidad de los Andes research hotbed group on AI and Law (Lab IA / Law). His academic interests revolve around constitutional law, political philosophy, and legal history. Among his numerous publications, stands out his article “Constitutional history of the Colombian paradox (1886-2016)-Hegemony, Exception, and Postponement.” He holds a Philosophy Master from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and Master's and Doctoral degrees in Constitutional Law from Yale University. 

Antonio Herman Benjamin is President of the Superior Court of Justice and the Federal Justice Council. He has presided the Brazil-United States Law Association, the World Commission on Environmental Law, and the National Forum of Judges and the Environment. He was involved in drafting important Brazilian laws, including the Forest Code, the Forest Concessions Law, and the Atlantic Forest Law. He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Illinois and a Doctorate from the University of Rio Grande do Sul.

Herrera, a Mexican National, has extensive experience in governance, as a practitioner and from the development and academic perspectives. Previously, he has held leadership positions in the Government of Mexico as Co-Head of the Finance Team in Presidential Transition Team, Deputy Finance Minister and, most recently, as Minister of Finance and Public Credit. He was also the Chairman of Mexico’s Exchange Commission and Member of the Board of the Central Bank. As Global Director for Institutions, he focuses on country-level governance, especially in fragile, conflict and violent settings; maximizing the effectiveness of operational support for public financial management and public procurement; fostering excellence in the Bank's Prosperity vertical work on public sector administration and operational support for legal and judicial reforms. 

Aurelia Devos has been a French magistrate for the past 21 years. In 2007, she was put in charge of international criminal assistance in terrorism matters and with African countries within the Ministry of Justice. Legal advisor to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2009 and 2010, she joined the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office to establish and be the first Prosecutor in charge of the section on crimes against Humanity and war crimes (2010 to 2020). Ms. Devos was then appointed Senior Prosecutor for the Residual Mechanism for international tribunals, based in Kigali. Since September 2021, she is a judge, President of a correctional chamber in France. 

Axel van Trotsenburg is the World Bank’s Senior Managing Director, responsible for Development Policy and Partnerships. He directs the World Bank’s core development work captured by the Verticals – People, Planet, Prosperity, Infrastructure and Digital – and ensures its integration into operations. He oversees the Bank’s partnerships including with the UN, international financial institutions, and bilateral partners, and co-chairs the replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA). Prior to this, Axel was the Managing Director of Operations for 3.5 years where he oversaw the Bank’s global operations, with a footprint spanning more than 140 offices. 

Dr. Baba Yusuf Musa is the Director General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), with over 30 years of leadership in economic policy, public finance, and sovereign debt management. A former senior official at the Central Bank of Nigeria and past Director of Fiscal Policy and Debt Management at WAIFEM, he has played a key role in shaping debt strategies, fiscal reforms, and capacity development across Africa. Dr. Musa collaborates extensively with institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, and AfDB, and serves on global debt governance platforms. A prolific author and Editor-in-Chief of WAFER, he holds a Ph.D. in Economics and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. 

Belema Obuoforibo is the Director of the IBFD Knowledge Centre, Chair of the Centre for Studies in African Taxation, and a Member of the IBFD Executive Board. She is also Extraordinary Lecturer in International Taxation at the University of Pretoria, and a Visiting Lecturer in International Taxation at the University of Cape Town. Belema is a noted lecturer, writer, and editor in the field of international taxation. She is widely published, including as a chapter author of the esteemed publication, Global Tax Treaty Commentaries, and serves on the editorial boards of the Bulletin for International Taxation and the European Taxation journal. In addition, she has advised various African governments, on matters relating to international tax policy, tax treaties, and effective anti-avoidance legislation.

Belén Páez, an Ecuadorian ecologist, is President of Fundación Pachamama and Vice-President of Pachamama Alliance, where she promotes transitions toward regenerative economies, climate justice, and the Rights of Nature. She has developed governance and financing mechanisms for bioregions and leads bioeconomy, conservation, and renewable energy initiatives in partnership with Indigenous peoples. She is also a member of the Amazon Scientific Panel, was appointed as an MIT Solve Climate Advisor and serves on the boards of the Sacred Headwaters Alliance, and other international organizations. Ms. Páez is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to address the global climate ecological crisis, grounded in the integration of ancestral knowledge and deep respect for Indigenous cultures and their relationship with Nature.

Bruno Deffains, Professor at the University of Paris Panthéon-Assas and honorary member of the French University Institute, is distinguished for his expertise in Law and Economics. Former President of the European Association of Law and Economics, he leads the Master of Business Law and Economics at Panthéon Assas University, as well as the University Diplomas in "Digital Transformation of Law and Legaltech.” He has been a visiting professor at numerous universities and has served on the National Commission for Commercial Practices and the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights. He develops research programs for the Foundation for the Civil Law Foundation, particularly the World Observatory on Legal Indicators.

Bryan Cahill is a Senior IT Officer in the Information and Technology Solutions department at the World Bank Group. He joined the Bank in 2015 as an Enterprise Architect and has the led the development of the WBG Enterprise Architecture Repository (LEAP), the Enterprise Architecture Review Board, WBG Cloud Strategy and Technology Debt Framework. He also facilitates the Bank's Open Source Software Working Group, led the establishment of the Open Source Program Office (OSPO), and manages the World Bank GitHub to support open source development initiatives. 

Byungsik Jung is Deputy Dean of ADBI, specializing in international finance, trade agreements and international tax. He was previously Director General for International Tax in the Republic of Korea Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Bureau Member in negotiating the Terms of Reference for the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. He also was a Deputy Director General for the international finance bureau, and co-chair for the G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group. Mr. Jung holds a Doctor of Juridical Science in international trade laws from American University Washington College of Law, an LL.M. in financial law from Georgetown Law Center, and an LL.B. from Korea University, and is a member of the New York Bar.

Carole Botello is a Program Manager at the American Bar Association’s Center for Global Programs, Latin America and the Caribbean Division. She has experience managing complex international programs, with expertise in operational leadership, financial oversight, compliance, and rights-based support for vulnerable populations. Previously, she worked at Dexis Consulting Group where she supported programs aimed at strengthening the rule of law. Carole has supported civil society organizations across Latin America in implementing projects that prevent human trafficking and child exploitation, protect environmental defenders, support LGBTQ+ rights, and increase migrants and refugees’ access to justice. She holds a B.A. in Communication and a minor in International Development and Conflict Management from the University of Maryland. She is pursuing her M.A. in International Affairs at the George Washington University. 

Carole Excell is a Senior Program Officer at Waverley Street Foundation, where she works to expand climate litigation, protect climate activists, and advance renewable energy. She is an environmental lawyer with expertise in governance, environmental law, human rights, and equity, focusing on empowering communities to secure a healthy environment and participate in natural resource decisions. Previously, Carole was Director of the Environmental Democracy Program at the World Resources Institute, working on environmental democracy, environmental rights and climate engagement. She also supported the implementation of Freedom of Information Laws and served as legal counsel to Jamaica’s environmental regulatory agency. Currently, Carole also serves on the Implementation and Compliance Committee of the Escazu Agreement, helping promote its implementation.

Judge Pugh has served on the United States Tax Court since 2014. Prior to this, he practiced as Counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. A Member of the American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, where he has served as Chair for the Tax Shelter Committee and Government Relations Committee and as Council Director, he also previously served as Minority Tax Counsel and Majority Tax Counsel on the Committee on Finance in the U.S. Senate. He holds a J.D. from the University of Virgina School of Law, and is a member of the bar in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the United States Supreme Court.

Christian Brugerolle is Counsel in the Legal Vice Presidency of the World Bank, seconded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. He is part of the newly established Legal Advisory Services & Knowledge Unit, where he supports the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development and co-leads its working group on access to law and justice. His work focuses on the intersection of law and development, with particular focus on the rule of law, governance, and legal innovation. Previously, Christian served as Director of International Affairs at the Paris Bar Association. He holds degrees from Sciences Po Paris and Université Paris-Panthéon-Sorbonne, including a research master’s in political theory, a master’s in law, and a diploma in international relations.

Dr. Christina Leb works as Lead Water Specialist in the Global Water Department of the World Bank, focusing on transboundary water management. Prior to this, she served as Senior Counsel at the Environment and International Law Department, advising on water law and the Bank’s policies on projects on international waterways. She was also Program Manager of the Central Asia Water Energy Program and worked assignments related to water resources management and transboundary water governance in Africa and South and Central Asia. Dr. Leb previously worked at the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva. She is a fellow at the Platform for International Water Law of Geneva University and an affiliate member of the International Water Law Academy at Wuhan University. 

Christoph Sicking is Deputy General Counsel at EBRD, responsible for managing the legal support of EBRD’s investment activities across its regions. He is a member of the Council of the Law Society of England & Wales (TLS) and director of the Association of Lawyers in Intergovernmental Finance and Development Organisations. He is former chair of the International Committee of TLS and former Editor-in-Chief of the International Organisations In-house Counsel Journal. He is a graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Law, with degrees in both common and civil law.

Christophe Bondy has over 25 years’ experience as counsel in investor-State and international commercial arbitrations and has acted for multiple sovereigns in such disputes, including nearly a decade as Senior Counsel and Deputy Director at the Trade Law Bureau of his native Canada.  Christophe has particular expertise in investment treaty claims arising out of natural resources development (both mining and energy) and more generally in international claims arising in complex regulatory environments. Christophe is an adjunct professor of international dispute resolution at the Centre for Transnational Legal Studies in London, and a member of the advisory board of the Investment Treaty Forum of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Christophe Soulard has served as First President of the French Cour de cassation since 2022. He promotes legal innovation through initiatives like open data and AI, and encourages coordinated action with institutions such as the World Bank. Trained in private law, his judicial career began in civil law at the Tribunal of First Instance of Metz, then transitioned to criminal law, where he became president of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Chamber. His international experience includes serving as a lecteur d’arrêts (référendaire) at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Outside of his judicial duties, Mr. Soulard has been an associate professor at several universities and founded the European Centre for the Judiciary and Legal Professions, which provides training for judges in European law.

Christopher Stephens is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group. He oversees the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency, where he is responsible for overall coordination and management of legal aspects of the Operational Activities of the World Bank. He is also responsible for legal aspects of the corporate finance functions, and provides legal advice on institutional administrative matters, as well as leading on litigation and corporate governance. As a Group Officer, he also coordinates legal issues and risks across five institutions of the World Bank Group. As Group General Counsel, he focuses on ensuring efficient and effective support and ideas to deliver on the World Bank Group’s mission, with an emphasis on results-oriented innovations for impact, delivered with a sense of urgency.

Claudia Salomon is the President of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Court), the first female President in the institution’s 100-year history. Claudia is a leading arbitration practitioner, with more than 25 years’ experience representing parties in some of the most complex, high value, and significant disputes. She brings her experience of representing clients to the Court, driving a client-centric mindset. Claudia is also an independent arbitrator, specializing in international, investor–state and complex commercial disputes. She is a member of the New York Bar and a solicitor in England and Wales. She graduated from Harvard Law School, cum laude, and Brandeis University, summa cum laude with honors. She also studied at Somerville College, Oxford University.

Clémence Bourillon is a judge at the French Cour de cassation, special advisor to the First President and head of the international relations department at the Court. She previously served as an investigating judge in Parisian courts and at the Ministry of Justice. She teaches criminal law, criminal procedure and special criminal law at Sciences Po and Paris II Panthéon-Assas University, and provides training at the National School for the Judiciary and the Paris Police Prefecture. Member of several working groups at the Cour de cassation, she has notably participated in the works of the group on artificial intelligence in the justice system.

Cory Hillier provides tax law design and drafting assistance to IMF member countries in all major areas of tax law. He is extensively involved in the IMF’s legal and international tax policy work and developed the key legal aspects of several G20 mandated toolkits published through the Platform for Collaboration on Tax established by the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank. Prior to joining the IMF, Mr. Hillier worked for a top tier law firm, where he was a senior lawyer specializing in taxation. In private practice, he was listed as a leading tax practitioner in the Chambers: Asia Pacific Client Guide (2012-2015). Mr. Hillier holds an LL.M (Taxation) from the University of Sydney.  

Cyriane Coste is a Private Sector Development Specialist and the Topic Lead of the Financial Services topic of the Business Ready Unit. She joined the World Bank in January 2016. Cyriane also leads the cross-cutting topic on sustainable environment. She holds a Master of Law (LL.M) in International Business and Economics Law from Georgetown University Law Center. She is a New York State attorney and was also admitted to the Paris bar. Previously, Cyriane also worked on the Doing Business report, the Entrepreneurship database project as well as the Enabling the Business of Agriculture report. Before joining the World Bank Group, Cyriane worked in an international trade law firm in Washington, DC, and practiced corporate law in Paris.

Dae Rubinos serves as Counsel in the Environment and International Law Practice Group at the World Bank. Prior to joining the Bank, she held diverse roles at the Asian Development Bank’s Accountability Mechanism, the Green Climate Fund, and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University and an MSc in Global Energy and Climate Policy from SOAS University of London. Ms. Rubinos plays a key role in the GFLJD Environmental Justice Working Group, where she supports partnerships and collaborations to advance legal perspectives on environmental justice and sustainable development.

Since joining CDB in 2009, Dave Waithe has held the positions of Legal Counsel, Senior Legal Counsel, and currently Deputy General Counsel. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Legal Department and advising on the legal aspects of all areas of the Bank’s operations. At CDB, Dave has appraised projects across a variety of sectors and has also provided advice in relation to the Bank’s resource mobilization including: borrowings on the international capital markets; borrowings from other development partners; capital increases; replenishments of the Bank’s Special Development Fund and Basic Needs Trust Fund; and administration of other special funds. Dave holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the West Indies and a Master of Laws degree from the University of London.

The Honorable David G. Campbell chairs the U.S. federal courts’ Committee on International Judicial Relations.  He was appointed to this role in 2022 by the Chief Justice of the United States.  The Committee seeks to advance the rule of law and the administration of justice worldwide. Judge Campbell has worked with judiciaries around the world on judicial independence and integrity, substantive law and procedure, and judicial administration and efficiency.  He regularly participates in the Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe, the Conference of Chief Justices of Asia and the Pacific, and other judicial networks.  He is a Senior District Judge in the District of Arizona and has been on the federal bench for 22 years.

David Mascari is the Head of Legal Operations and Portfolio at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, where he has worked for nearly 12 years. He has extensive experience as a transactional lawyer specializing in private equity, venture capital investments, debt financing, and fund investments. His expertise also includes legal function automation and business process optimization.  Prior to joining EBRD, David served as Associate General Counsel at Global Infrastructure Partners, handling equity investments and regulatory compliance. He began his legal career as an associate at Latham & Watkins in London. David is a New York lawyer and holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA in History from Yale University.

David F. Varela is an international consultant on justice reform to governments and multilateral organizations with more than thirty years of experience in Canada, the United States, Latin America, and the Middle East. Mr. Varela has been responsible for the design, supervision, and evaluation of more than thirty programs and projects financed by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, among other clients. Mr. Varela is a Doctor of International Affairs at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University; a LL.M of McGill University; and a LL.B from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Mr. Varela has lectured at several Latin American, Spanish, and U.S. universities and is the author of several publications.

Dayna Bowen Matthew, JD, PhD, is the Dean and Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. A leader in public health and civil rights law who focuses on disparities in health, health care, and the social determinants of health, Dean Matthew joined GW Law in 2020. She is the author of the bestselling book “Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care,” and the recently released “Just Health: Treating Structural Racism to Heal America,” and is the co-author of a case book on public health law, ethics, and policy.

Derrick Cogburn is Professor at American University in Washington, DC, with joint appointments in the School of International Service and the Kogod School of Business, where he also serves as Faculty Fellow in the Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence. He holds the UNESCO Associate Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance and is founding Executive Director of the Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP), and Faculty Co-Director of the Internet Governance Lab. A computational social scientist, his research applies large-scale text analytics, machine learning, and generative AI to global governance, cybersecurity, disability rights, and inclusive development. He is Co-Chair of the Global Academic Network of the Center for AI and Digital Policy, a former member of the NIST AI Safety Consortium, and Managing Member of PraxisAnalytics.ai, LLC. 

Dessislav Dobrev is a leading expert in artificial intelligence and the law. His recent book, Artificial Intelligence and the Law: A Comprehensive Guide for the Legal Profession, Academia and Society, is one of the first comprehensive studies of how AI will dramatically affect the law, both as a profession and a regulatory domain, as well as society at large. He created and taught new law school courses on AI at McGill Law School and has provided seminars on AI at other leading institutions such as the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. In addition, Dessislav serves on the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. He is currently a Senior Counsel at the World Bank Group.

Dil Rahut is Vice Chair and Senior Fellow at Asian Development Bank Institute. He was a global program manager for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre’s (CIMMYT) socioeconomics and sustainable intensification programs. He also served as chair of the staffs’ committee at CIMMYT. He has more than 240 peer reviewed publications in Scopus indexed journals focusing on development issues across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. He holds a Ph.D. in development economics from the University of Bonn’s Center for Development Research, a master’s degree in economic policy management from the University of Tsukuba, an MBA specializing in finance, and a Bachelor of Science degree from India.

Domenico Tabasso is a Senior Economist for the World Bank–UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement (JDC). Before joining the JDC, Domenico worked with the Policy Evaluation Unit of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Research Department, where he analyzed the effects of labor market policies in emerging and developing countries. He has also contributed to the work of the ILO within the IFC-ILO-UNHCR-UNICEF-WB and Government of Netherlands partnership on Inclusive Jobs and Education for Forcibly Displaced Persons. Domenico has held academic positions at the universities of Essex, Geneva, and Melbourne, publishing several policy reports and academic articles. He holds a B.Sc in Economics from Bocconi University, and an M.Sc and a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Essex.

Duygu Çiçek is Counsel at the World Bank Legal Vice-Presidency, Environment & International Law Practice Group. As part of her role, she provides legal, policy, and operational advice on environmental, social, and international law aspects relating to World Bank projects in Western & Central Africa. She is co-chair of the Working Group on Human Rights and Sustainable Development under the Global Forum on Law, Justice, and Development. She also serves as a member of the International Law Association's International Law and Sea Level Rise Committee. Previously, she worked with Advocates Abroad, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe.

Eduardo Chiziane is current Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Law of Eduardo Mondlane University (EMU), and he is member of the Superior Council of the Judicial Administrative Magistracy (CSMJA). He is an attorney and a member and Vice-President for the World Union of Agrarian University (UMAU) for Africa, based in Pisa, Italy. He is also the President of the Association of Jurists of the Indian Ocean (AJOI), Delegation of Mozambique. Chiziane was laureate of the Prize Dr. Eduardo Mondlane for Social and Legal Sciences in 2012, recognized for his exceptional contribution to the development of research and higher education in Mozambique. He holds a degree in Law from EMU, a Master in Rural Law from Université de Poitiers, and a doctorate in Law from Universidad de Almeria.

Eleonora Lozano Rodríguez is a lawyer, economist, and holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Universidad de los Andes. She earned her Ph.D. in Law at the University of Salamanca, graduating cum laude. Currently, she serves as Dean of the Faculty of Law at Universidad de los Andes, is a member of the Arbitration Court of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, and acts as both a national and international arbitrator. Her academic and professional work has focused on taxation and Colombian public finance, approached through a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. Deeply concerned with social inequity, she strongly believes in the need to reform Colombia’s tax system and is committed to contributing to its ethical interpretation and application.

Elisa Puglielli is a civil law notary based in Rome. She is an expert in European and international affairs for the Italian Council of Notaries and serves as a member of several Commissions, at the national, European (Family Law Commission of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union – CNUE) and international level (International Organizations Working group of the International Union of Notaries – UINL). She is also a UINL general counsellor and teaches at both the National Italian School of Notaries and the Notarial School in Rome.

Elizabeth Freed is Director of the Legal Affairs Directorate for Treasury and Liabilities at CAF. With over 20 years of international experience in financial and transactional law, she has advised public and private entities across Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Her expertise spans financial instruments, derivatives, corporate and project finance, and restructurings. Her career includes roles at IDB Invest, Baker & McKenzie, and Allen & Overy. She is recognized for her strategic approach to complex financial transactions and regulation, and her ability to lead in multicultural environments. Elizabeth holds a Master of Laws from Georgetown University and a Law Degree from the Complutense University of Madrid. 

As Senior Counsel with the OPEC Fund, Elizabeth Hassan’s operations portfolio covers complex sovereign transactions in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. In recent years, she has managed the OPEC Fund’s first comprehensive governance review, the establishment of its Administrative Tribunal, review of Board Committees, and the development of legal documentation for new sovereign lending products. Earlier in her career, Elizabeth worked with ǼLEX, one of Nigeria’s leading commercial and arbitration law firms, focusing on intellectual property, corporate law and litigation. Elizabeth holds an LLB from University of Jos, a BL from Nigerian Law School, and LLM from New York University, where she was awarded an International Finance and Development Fellowship. She co-chairs the Board of Directors of ALIFDO.

Elsa Gopala Krishnan is a Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), based in the Secretariat to the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative. She works primarily on country engagements, leading the ongoing Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) Action Series, and policy work and partnerships with other organizations supporting international asset recovery. Prior to that, Elsa worked in the Secretariat to the United Nations Convention against Corruption,E based at UNODC HQ in Vienna, supporting the substantive work of States Parties to UNCAC and its Implementation Review Mechanism, as well as Senior Legal Analyst in the OECD Anti-Corruption Division for the Working Group on Bribery in Paris.

Dr. Pinto Moreira is a results-driven and innovative economist fully committed to policy-oriented and analytical work. He has about 30 years of experience in macro-fiscal, growth, poverty, economic governance, trade, and competitiveness related work in middle-income and low-income countries. From 2019 to 2024, he was the Director of the Country Economics Department of the African Development Bank. He came to the AfDB after serving for two decades with the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund. Dr. Pinto Moreira holds a PhD and MS in macroeconomics from the University of Lorraine (France) and is the author of many research papers and publications, most recently “Avoiding the Middle-Income Trap: Challenges for Africa and Policy Lessons.”  

Francisco Ciampolini is the Regional Director at the American Bar Association’s Center for Global Programs, Latin America and the Caribbean Division. Previously, he worked at the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) where he oversaw the implementation of the Central America programs, including several initiatives on juvenile justice, youth empowerment, juvenile restorative justice and youth alternative sentencing. He previously worked for the ABA Rule of Law Initiative’s Latin America and Caribbean Division as the Senior Program Officer. Francisco has also served as visiting professional at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). He holds an LL.M. in international and comparative law from The George Washington University Law School, and a B.A. in law from Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in São Paulo.

Frank Fariello was a Lead Counsel in the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency. Serving as the Bank’s primary legal focal point for its Governance and Anti-Corruption (GAC) agenda, he was principal author of the Bank's Anti-Corruption Guidelines and played a major role in the Bank's sanctions system. Mr. Fariello was Co-Chair of the ABA International Anti-Corruption Committee from 2017-2019, having been Vice Chair from 2012-2017. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was Special Advisor to the President and Vice President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, and was in private practice in New York for the first 10 years of his career. He holds a B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. from New York University Law School.

Gaurav Nayyar is Director of the World Development Report 2026 on Artificial Intelligence for Development and an Economic Adviser in the Development Economics Vice Presidency at the World Bank. Previously, he was an Economics Affairs Officer in the Economic Research Division of the World Trade Organization, where he co-led the World Trade Report 2013 on Factors Shaping the Future of World Trade. Gaurav’s research interests lie primarily in the areas of economic growth, structural transformation, trade, technological change, industrialization, and firm productivity. Gaurav holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford. He also holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Cambridge, and St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. 

Giselle Oliveira de Barros is the President of the Notarial College of Brazil – Federal Council, for the 2020/2022 and 2023/2025 terms. She has been the notary of the 23rd Notary Office of São Paulo/SP since 2011, after being approved in the 7th Public Examination for the Granting of Notarial and Registry Delegations by the São Paulo Court of Justice. She holds a law degree from the University of São Paulo, with specializations in Family Entities from the Autonomous University of Law and in Notarial and Registry Law from the São Paulo School of Magistrates.

Guy Grossman is a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His research is in applied political economy, with a substantive focus on governance, migration and forced displacement, human trafficking, and conflict processes, in the context of developing countries. Grossman is the founder and co-director of Penn’s Development Research Initiative (PDRI-DevLab), which advances research to identify solutions to the challenges facing low- and middle-income countries. PDRI seeks to foster impactful international development research by harnessing the expertise of its affiliates from various disciplines and utilizing diverse methodological approaches. Grossman’s work has appeared in numerous academic journals and popular magazines. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University, as well as MA in Political Philosophy and LLB in Law, both from Tel-Aviv University.  

G.S. Bajpai serves as the Vice-Chancellor of National Law University Delhi. He is equipped with more than thirty years of professional experience as an author, researcher, teacher and administrator. He served as the Convenor of the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws set up by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs tasked with spearheading historic reforms in Criminal Laws in India. Prof. Bajpai also serves as the Vice President of Victim Support Asia and the President of the Indian Society of Victimology. He is the first Indian to be elected as the Secretary General of World Society of Victimology and held the Office of Secretary General from 2018-2023. Prof. Bajpai is credited with designing and pioneering the expression 'Critical Criminal Law ' in India, which is now a LL.M. Course in many universities.

Dean Hughes has been at AUWCL since 2007, as a Professor of Law, Director of the SJD Program, and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs before assuming her current role in 2024. She is a graduate of The College at The University of Chicago, with honors. She received her law degree from Harvard, cum laude, where she was an editor of the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Dean Hughes is a business law teacher and scholar with a twenty-year record of distinguished scholarly publications, focusing on commercial law, markets, and society. 

Dr. Henk-Jan Brinkman is the Permanent Observer of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) to the United Nations in New York. From 2010-22 he was the chief of the Peacebuilding Strategy and Partnerships Branch of the Peacebuilding Support Office in the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. Previously, he worked in the World Food Programme, the office of the UN Secretary-General, and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. He co-chaired the Working Group on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding indicators of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding in 2012-13. He holds an M.A. in economics from the University of Groningen and a Ph.D. in economics from the New School for Social Research. 

Holly Krambeck is the Program Manager for the World Bank Data Lab within the Development Data Group, where she leads efforts to strengthen coordination across data teams, build public–private partnerships, and expand staff capacity to deliver modern data solutions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. She is also the founder of the Development Data Partnership, a consortium of 11 international organizations and 30 companies established to advance data sharing and data science collaboration for the public good. Previously, Holly served as a World Bank Task Team Leader managing a portfolio of transport infrastructure investments and technical assistance across East and Southeast Asia, supporting government efforts to improve data collection, management, and analytics. She holds an M.Sc. in Transportation and an M.C.P. in City Planning from MIT. 

Jacob Mkandawire is the Director in Debt Management Programme at MEFMI. He oversees capacity-building interventions, providing technical and administrative oversight and contributing to the strategic management of the institute. Prior to taking up this role, he held the position of Assistant Director in the Financial Markets Department at the Bank of Zambia, after serving in various roles in the Bank including as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Governor Operations and as Executive Assistant to the Governor. He previously served as Director of the Investment and Debt Management department at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning in Zambia. He holds an economics degree from the University of Zambia and a postgraduate master’s degree in economics and finance from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.

Jan Wouters is Professor of International Law and International Organizations, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam, Director of the Institute for International Law and of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (a Jean Monnet and KU Leuven Centre of Excellence), and Administrator of the America Europe Fund at KU Leuven. He is Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe and Paris2. A Member of the Belgian Royal Academy and Of Counsel at Omega Law, he has published widely on international and EU law, international organizations and global governance. He recently coordinated a large Horizon2020 project, RECONNECT. He advises and trains regularly international organizations and governments and is often asked to comment on international events in national and international media.

Jeremy provides legal, institutional and policy reform advice on AI and the digital economy to governments and task teams in 20+ countries. Jeremy is a co-author of the World Development Report 2026 on AI for Development and has led analytical and operational work on AI governance in collaboration with a range of units at the Bank. He has also supported the Bank's engagement with various multilateral digital governance processes at the UN. Before the World Bank, Jeremy was an associate in Allen & Overy's London office. He holds an LLM from NYU Law and a MA in Law from the University of Cambridge. His writing on AI, the digital economy, and global development has been published in leading academic journals, including Georgetown Law and Oxford University Press. 

Jessica Kung is a Senior Associate in the London office of Clifford Chance, specialising in cross-border structured finance transactions. She has worked on a number of innovative transactions, including the CIF Climate Markets Mechanism (CCMM), the first significant risk transfer transactions to achieve capital relief in Hong Kong and Singapore and other emerging markets transactions for the International Finance Corporation. She has broad experience in synthetic and asset-backed securitisations, other credit risk mitigation and risk transfer transactions, OTC derivatives and repurchase transactions and acts for banks and MDBs across Europe, North America and Asia. Hailing from Hong Kong, Jessica has worked in the London and Frankfurt offices of Clifford Chance, as well as a secondment to a G-SIB in London.

Since April 2024, Jose Luis Sardon has been Peru's Ambassador - Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS). He previously served as a magistrate at Peru’s Constitutional Court and as a member of the European Commission for Democracy through Law. Earlier, Sardon worked at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas as director of graduate programs in Law & Economics and dean of the Law School, as well as the head of the Law & Social Sciences department at Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola and as a research professor at Universidad del Pacífico. Sardon is the author of multiple books and more than four hundred articles and columns. In 2015, he received the Manuel J. Bustamante de la Fuente Prize, the most prestigious Peruvian award in law and the social sciences. He holds a BA in Law and a JD at Universidad Católica Santa María, Arequipa, as well as an M.A. in Political Science from American University and a Ph.D. in Economics from ESEADE, Buenos Aires.

Joshua Teitelbaum is the Interim Dean of Georgetown University Law Center and Executive Vice President of Georgetown University. He is also the David Belding Professor of Law and a Professor of Economics (by courtesy). His research interests lie primarily in decision theory and related fields in microeconomics and their intersections with law and regulation. His work has appeared in the American Economic Review, Econometrica, the Journal of Legal Studies, and the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, among other journals.

Julie Couturier is the President of the Conseil national des barreaux for the 2024-2026 term. She is currently a partner at JCD Avocats, the law firm she founded, which specializes in enforcement, property and real estate law. Previously, she was the President of the Paris Bar Association for the 2022-2023 term. Ms. Couturier has been treasurer and vice-president of the Union of Young Lawyers of Paris. She is also an honorary member of the National Federation of Union of Young Lawyers, and was a member of the Paris Bar Council from 2009 to 2011. Admitted to the Paris Bar in 1995, she holds a DEA in general private law from Paris I.

Jun brings with him more than 25 years of legal expertise, having previously served as Acting General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). During his career with USAID, he also served as Assistant General Counsel for Acquisition and Assistance, West Africa Regional Legal Advisor based in Abuja, Nigeria, and Senior Development Advisor to the World Bank Group in the Office of the U.S. Executive Director. Jun began his legal career as an attorney in private practice, and has served as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School. Jun received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University Law School.

Karen Tse is an international human rights lawyer, ordained minister, and former San Francisco public defender, who founded International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) in 2000. Under Tse’s leadership, IBJ has become a leading advocate for legal reform and human rights, creating the conditions for a “new normal in justice” in which citizens will have access to justice and the use of torture as an investigative tool will end. A graduate of UCLA Law School and Harvard Divinity School, Tse has received awards from the Skoll Foundation, Ashoka, and Echoing Green as a leading social entrepreneur. Karen also received the 2008 American Bar Association’s International Human Rights Award, and the 2009 Gleitsman International Award at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Katherine Meighan is the Chief Legal & Governance Officer at the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), serving in this role since 2017. She holds degrees in law and economics and has over 25 years of experience in international development leadership. Her responsibilities have included overseeing initiatives such as amending IFAD’s Articles to facilitate private sector borrowing and leading efforts that resulted in IFAD obtaining an AA+ credit rating. Previously, she worked at the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, including roles as Assistant General Counsel and assignments in Washington, Buenos Aires, and Istanbul, with a focus on investments in emerging markets and debt restructurings.

Kiryowa Kiwanuka was until his appointment as Attorney General, a Partner at K & K Advocates, a firm he co-founded in 2001. His experience in litigation in the East African Court of Justice as well as Uganda’s national courts of judicature on behalf of both the Government of Uganda and the non-state sector have made him an effective litigator, advisor and negotiator both domestically and internationally. Kiryowa is a member of Uganda Law Society, East African Law Society, International Bar Association, and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from Makerere University, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre Kampala, and a Master of Laws in Petroleum Law and Policy, from the University of Dundee.

Kruskaia Sierra-Escalante is the Senior Manager of IFC’s Co-Investor Solutions division in the Syndicated Loans and Mobilization Department. She is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of  mobilization products and platforms, including the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program (MCPP) with funds under management and credit insurance capacity of over US$19 billion, and IFC’s Emerging Markets CLO; mobilization innovation through new initiatives and to lead the strategic development and growth of these initiatives, as well as the MCCP and credit mobilization programs catering to a broad set of institutional investors and other partners; and managing relationships with external parties and engage with investors and credit mobilization partners. She is also responsible for overseeing IFC’s global syndications portfolio and its analytics function.

Loren Atkins is a Senior Counsel in the Environmental and International Law Practice Group of the Legal Vice Presidency of the World Bank Group. She provides legal and policy advice on environmental, social, and international law issues across the Bank’s global portfolio, with a regional focus on East Asia and the Pacific and a thematic focus on climate change, oceans, and biodiversity. Her work supports the integration of climate and environmental commitments into World Bank operations and policies, including on climate resilience, social and environmental risk management, and ocean governance.

Lucio is an attorney serving in the Brazil Attorney General's Office in the Foreign Litigation Unit. He specializes in international asset recovery and contributes to advancing his country’s efforts to combat transnational corruption and recover misappropriated assets. His expertise comprises complex cross-border legal and operational challenges and fostering international cooperation. Lucio has led on behalf of Brazil the most recent publication in partnership with the StAR Initiative on Direct Recovery of Assets (2024) within the G20 ACWG framework, and contributes as an expert to the UNCAC-IRM. He is finishing his PhD studies at the University of Salamanca (Spain), holds an M.P.A. degree from the University of Brasília (Brazil), and is a professor in the Masters Program of the University Finis Terrae (Chile).

Luis Benveniste is the Global Director for Education at the World Bank. Previously, he was the Human Development Regional Director for Latin American and the Caribbean at the World Bank, and he has worked on a wide variety of World Bank-financed education projects in Africa, East Asia and Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. He was a co-author of the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development, and his research interests focus on education finance, gender, student assessment practices and teacher policies. He received a B.A. in Psychology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in International Comparative Education from Stanford University.

Mai is Head of Tax Risk, Reporting and Reputation at RELX. She qualified as a charted accountant at EY and has 20 years of experience in tax, including senior in-house roles at Barclays and Thomson Reuters. Over the past five years, Mai has led a pioneering project, together with LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation and LexisNexis South Africa, to help African governments enhance tax transparency through the publication of consolidated tax laws. Representing RELX as a responsible tax champion, Mai is also currently working with the World Bank and the B-team on enhancing responsible tax practices in Africa. She is passionate about embedding tax as part of corporate responsibility and sustainability, especially by promoting the rule of law in the tax arena. She studied development economics at the University of Cambridge.  

Fatima Mandhu has legal expertise across many sectors. She has been teaching and researching in land law and property relations since 1990 and is one of the editors of Responsible and Smart Land Management Interventions: An African Context. She is the author of the Mineral Law in Africa book series and contributed to a series of publications on Gender and Small scale mining in Zambia, which made her one of the experts on the Mineral Law in Africa team. As Head of department of Private Law, she has developed and taught medical law at the University of Zambia, and she has been involved in the Paralegal Training since 2011 and has contributed to the writing of the manuals and the ongoing reviewing of the manuals. 

Hon. Justice Martha Koome assumed office in May 2021 as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya. She is the first woman Chief Justice of the Kenyan Judiciary. She is the Chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission, National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ), National Council for Law Reporting, and the Vice Chairperson of the Southern and Eastern Africa Chief Justices’ Forum. Prior to her appointment, she was a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and Judge of the High Court. Before joining judicial service she was a practicing advocate. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Nairobi, Post-Graduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law, Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of London, and the African Chief Justices’ Alternative Dispute Training from Pepperdine University.

Dr. Marek Dubovec is the Director of Law Reform Programs at the International Law Institute. For over 15 years, he has been collaborating with UNCITRAL and UNIDROIT to develop international standards that modernize commercial law frameworks. He has worked on implementing these standards under projects funded by the World Bank Group, the EBRD, FSD-Kenya, and others. Marek is one of the principal authors of several publications, including the Secured Transactions, Collateral Registries, and Movable Asset-Based Financing Knowledge Guide, Guidance Notes on Distributed Ledger Technology and Secured Transactions, and the New Finance Support Report.

Marwan Maalouf is a Senior Counsel at the World Bank Group, where he advises on the legal aspects of development financing and project implementation across a wide range of sectors, including health, energy, transportation, and education. He leads the project "Emerging Patterns: Women’s Legal Aid Support Across Nine Countries,” an initiative aimed at identifying barriers to accessing legal aid. Previously, he practiced law at two leading Lebanese firms and led rule of law programs at the Washington, DC-based think tank Freedom House. His experience spans legal drafting, policy design, and institutional reform. Marwan holds a law degree from Université Saint Joseph in Beirut, an LL.M. in European Law from Université Catholique de Louvain, and an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University Law Center.

Mauro Luiz Campbell Marques has been a Minister of the Superior Court of Justice since 2008, appointed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. He has worked as a lawyer, advisor to the Court of Accounts of Amazonas, and as a prosecutor with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Amazonas and was appointed Attorney General of Justice three times. He has served as Inspector General of Federal Justice, Electoral Inspector General (2021–2022), and, in 2022, became Director of ENFAM – the National School for the Training and Improvement of Magistrates. Since September 2024, he has held the position of National Inspector of Justice at the National Council of Justice (CNJ) for the 2024–2026 term. He holds a law degree from Centro Universitário Metodista Bennett (Unibennett).

Milton Fernando Montoya Pardo is a lawyer and Director of the Department of Mining and Energy Law, Externado de Colombia University. He has served as legal advisor and consultant on mining, energy and environmental matters for the Colombian National Agency for the Legal Defense (ANDJE); for the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the National Mining Agency (ANM), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He is a member of the board of directors of the Colombian Regional Center for Energy Studies (CREE), of the Association of Mining, Petroleum and Energy Lawyers (CAMPE), and the Latin American Network of Mining Law (REDMIN). He holds a master’s degree in Energy Law, Energy Superior Institute (Spain) and a PhD in Law, Complutense University (Spain).

Mtende Mhango is Professor of Law at the University of Limpopo (UL) and the inaugural Metropolitan Research Chair in Pension Law Studies, a joint initiative between UL and the National University of Lesotho (NUL). He previously served as Dean of Law at NUL and Deputy Head of the School of Law at Wits University. His research on pension law in the South African Development Community has informed reforms in Lesotho, Malawi, Eswatini, and Botswana. His most recent book is Pension Law in Lesotho: A Commentary on Selected Provisions of the Pension Funds Act 5 of 2019, published by Juta. Mhango holds a BA (Morehead State University), JD (Michigan State University), LLM (Wayne State University) and LLD (University of South Africa).

Nahla Zeitoun is the Senior Social Protection Specialist at the World Bank for the GCC Region with more than 28 years of operational and analytical experience. Her areas of expertise include program design, delivery and monitoring along with evidence-based policy dialogue/research, covering areas including adaptive social protection, economic inclusion, subsidy reform, women’s empowerment, early childhood development, human capital, social care and disability. Prior to joining the Bank, Nahla served for eighteen years in UNDP Egypt, where she led the Poverty Team on areas related to Poverty Reduction/Job creation, Private Sector Development/Engagement, Youth Engagement and Gender Empowerment. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Sociology from the American University in Cairo.

Natallia Karkanitsa is an Analyst with the Business Ready Unit of the World Bank Group. Previously, she served as a Head of Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus, she drafted the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2021-2025. Natallia also led the Governance portfolio at the UN Development Programme, where she organized SDG Impact Investment Forum, created programs on access to justice and rule of law, ensured strategic oversight of planning, budgeting, and project implementation. Natallia served as a Senior Lecturer at Belarusian State University, where she taught Refugee Law, Human Rights, and Non-Discrimination. Natallia holds a LL.M. from American University Washington College of Law, master’s degree in Law, Economics, and Management from the University of Bordeaux, and she earned her law degree from Belarusian State University.

Nato Kurshitashvili is a Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank Group, where she leads the development of global analytics focused on transport and gender equality while supporting transport operations and policy dialogues across multiple regions. Prior to this, she served as Principal Gender Adviser at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), where she spearheaded projects promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment across the Bank's operations, with a particular focus on infrastructure sectors. Notably, she co-led the creation of the EBRD's flagship Women in Business and Green Cities programs. Nato holds an MSc in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MA in Public Policy from Central European University, Hungary.

Nicola Woodroffe is the Lead Legal Analyst at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). She is a co-founder and member of the advisory body of the African Mining Legislation Atlas and was a key drafter of the Guiding Template, an international best practice guide to drafting mining legislation. Prior to joining NRGI, Nicola has held positions at the World Bank, where she focused on governance of extractive industries in central and southeast Africa and the international law firm Hogan Lovells LLP, advising on corporate and securities law, as well as mining and agricultural concession agreements. She holds a juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School and bachelor’s degree in economics and peace and conflict studies from Swarthmore College. 

Nicole Kearse is Principal Legal Counsel and Head of Sovereign Finance at the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF). She has almost two decades of experience in finance and corporate law, with the last ten years focused on Africa. Prior to ALSF, she co-founded Krescent Consulting, advising African law firms, SMEs, and non-profits. She also served as Director of Learning and Strategic Development at ILFA. Nicole was formerly Deputy Managing Director at DaMina Advisors and practiced law at Shearman & Sterling and Baker & McKenzie, advising Fortune 500 companies on major cross-border deals. She also worked at Citibank on commercial lending in Latin America. Nicole holds a JD from Georgetown and master's degrees from Columbia University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Nneoma Nwogu is a Senior Counsel at the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency where she leads efforts in its legal knowledge and advisory unit to support the organization's strategic priorities and operations. Nneoma leads the African Mining Legislation Atlas Project that created the leading resource on the laws on mining across the African continent and an intensive training course in mineral law for advanced law students and faculty in Africa. She is currently leading the establishment of the African Tax Legislation Atlas to support domestic resource mobilization. She has worked with the South African Human Rights Commission and the United States Justice Department. Ms. Nwogu received her BA from Wellesley College, an MPhil from Oxford University and JD from the University of Michigan.

Since 2020, Normal Loayza has overseen the production of the World Bank’s flagship data and reports, Women, Business and the Law, Enterprise Surveys, and the global and subnational Business Ready. From 2015 to 2020, he led the Asia hub of the Development Research Group. He directed the World Development Report 2014: Risk and Opportunity – Managing Risk for Development. Mr. Loayza joined the World Bank in 1994 and served most of his career in the Development Research Group. He has edited or written 11 books and published about 50 papers in professional journals and volumes. He is an associate editor of the World Bank Economic Review. Mr. Loayza holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. 

Ntombizozuko Dyani-Mhango is a Professor and Head of the Department of Public Law and Chair (Associate Dean) of Internationalisation in the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. Her scholarship focuses on public international law, especially international criminal justice in Africa, the interactions between the African Union, United Nations, and International Criminal Court, as well as South Africa’s obligations under international and constitutional law. She was recently elected by the Southern African Law Teachers Association to serve as the alternate member of the Judicial Service Commission, which is tasked with recommending judicial appointments to the President, amongst other roles. She holds LLB and LLM degrees from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa and an SJD specializing in international law from the University of Wisconsin.

Olagnika Salam is a civil law notary from Benin and, since 2023, serves as the President of the African Affairs Commission of the International Union of Notaries (UINL). He has worked as a notary in Benin since 2005, after working as a notary-candidate in several French law firms. He holds a PhD in Law and a Higher Diploma in Notarial Studies from the University of Poitiers (France). 

Ousmane Diagana manages the Bank relations with 22 countries in the Western and Central Africa Region. Under his leadership, the Bank’s operations in the region adopt a ‘people-centered approach’ focused on strengthening human capital and empowering women and youth, creating more and better jobs, promoting private sector development, supporting critical infrastructure and digital development, and strengthening climate resilience, agricultural productivity and food and water security. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Diagana was the Vice President of Human Resources. Mr. Diagana has also held positions as Country Director and Country Manager for many African countries. He holds degrees in economics, finance, and planning, as well as a certificate in education policies and analysis.

Owen McIntyre is a Professor at the School of Law, University College Cork, where he is Director of the LL.M. (Environmental & Natural Resources Law) Programme and Co-Director of the UCC Centre for Law & the Environment. His principal area of research is Environmental and Natural Resources Law, with a particular focus on International and Comparative Water Law. He is General Editor of the Journal of Water Law and Series Editor of the Brill International Water Law Series of research monographs. He has served as the inaugural Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law Specialist Group on Water and Wetlands, a panel member of the EBRD’s Project Complaints Mechanism, and a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency. 

Paola Fajardo-Heyward is the Program Manager of the Human Rights Umbrella Trust Fund at the World Bank. She oversees activities supported by the Trust Fund that aim to enhance the understanding and application of human rights principles within the Bank’s operations. Before joining the Bank, Paola was an associate professor of political science. She holds an undergraduate degree from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá and a doctorate from Binghamton University (SUNY). Since 2010, she has taught at the university level in both the United States and Colombia. Her research focuses on the political economy of development, the broad implications of human rights practices, and the politics of the developing world. Paola’s work has been published in peer-reviewed journals in both English and Spanish.

Pascale Lagesse is a Partner and Founder of Bredin Prat’s Employment Law practice in Paris, France. She has over 30 years of experience advising international corporate clients on employment issues arising out of mergers & acquisitions and business divestitures; individual disputes and complex collective disputes with unions and works councils; and large-scale restructuring projects as well as day-to-day employment advice and assistance. Previously, Ms. Lagesse served as the Head of the Employment, Pensions and Benefits practice of the Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. She is currently the Vice Chair of the IBA’s Legal Practice Division and a member of the Management Board. She is also Course Director for Labor Law Studies at the Paris Bar School and a member of the Research Commission at Paris Panthéon-Assas University. 

Paula Tavares leads gender-focused programs toward advancing legal equality and women’s empowerment across the institution’s advisory and knowledge agenda. Her work focuses on integrating gender equality into legal and regulatory reform, strengthening institutions, and promoting women’s economic inclusion and access to justice through evidence-based legal frameworks. A Brazilian attorney with over 15 years of international experience, Paula leads regional and country-level efforts covering Africa and Latin America toward improving the enabling environment with a cross-cutting equity and inclusion lens. Paula is a licensed Brazilian attorney and holds an LL.M. in International Law from Georgetown University and a specialization in International Relations from the University of Brasilia, Brazil. 

Pierre Hoffman is a partner at Hoffman, a law firm focused on intellectual property. In June 2023, he was elected President of the Paris Bar for the 2024-2025 term. From 2016 to 2018, he was a member of the Paris Bar Council, where he served as Secretary for Public Affairs. Mr. Hoffman began his legal career specializing in criminal law, working alongside renowned attorney Jean-Louis Pelletier. In 2003, Mr. Hoffman joined the Union des Jeunes Avocats (“Young Lawyers Association”), a lawyers’ union where he later served as treasurer, then vice-president. A lawyer and Doctor of Law, Mr. Hoffman holds a postgraduate degree in Multimedia and IT Law and a postgraduate degree in Business Law. 

Prita Miranti Suyudi is a notary and land deed official based in Jakarta. She is a certified notary for the Indonesian Financial Services Authority handling publicly listed corporations. She serves as the member of the International Cooperation Commission (CCNI) of the International Union of Notaries (UINL), Head of International Relations of the Indonesian Notary Association, Head of Research of the Indonesian Land Deed Officials Association, and Vice Chair of the Notary Alumni Association of University of Indonesia. She earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from Universitas Gadjah Mada and obtained her Master of Notarial Law from Universitas Indonesia. She is currently also a PhD candidate in Law at Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Rafael has over 20 years’ experience across the UN and other international organizations, mainly working at the intersection of sustainable development, peace and security in diverse regions and countries including Haiti, the Central African Republic, West Africa, the Western Balkans and Somalia. Before joining the UN, he held various roles with international organizations in Amman, Pristina, and Sarajevo. Prior to his role as Regional Director at UNEP,  Rafael was Chief of Staff of UNEP. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Brussels School of International Studies-University of Kent at Canterbury and a degree in Law from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Raphael Tshimanga is a Professor of hydrology and water resources at the University of Kinshasa, DRC. He is the Director of the Regional School of Water and the Congo Basin Water Resources Research Center (CRREBaC). He is the Co-Chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative and the former Co-Chair of the Congo Basin Science Panel. Professor Tshimanga is the initiator and coordinator of several research and capacity building programs aimed at promoting improved access to water resources services and conservation in the Congo Basin. He is the Developer of a knowledge hub for the Congo Basin: the Congo Basin Catchment Information Catchment Information System (CB-CIS), and recently co-edited the book Congo Basin Hydrology, Climate, and Biogeochemistry: A Foundation for the Future.

Mr. Remi Moncel is a Senior Counsel in the Environment and International Law Practice Group at the World Bank Legal Vice Presidency. He is Co-Chair of the GFLJD Environmental Justice Working Group. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Moncel served as a Judicial Law Clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and practiced law at O’Melveny, where he focused on sustainability and compliance with U.S. and international environmental, antitrust, anticorruption, and human rights laws. He also held advisory roles at BSR and the World Resources Institute, where he contributed to international climate negotiations under the UNFCCC and published widely on environmental governance and climate policy. Mr. Moncel holds a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Berkeley Journal of International Law.

Revai Makanje Aalbaek is the Global Lead for Rule of law Justice and Security for UNDP where she leads strategic policy and programming initiatives on people centred justice and security systems. She has over 20 years of experience working on governance issues and, more specifically, on human rights, justice, security, rule of law, social cohesion and gender equality. She has served as UN Women Acting Country Representative for Zimbabwe, Deputy Country Representative UN Women Papua New Guinea, Team Leader Governance and Gender equality with UNDP Zimbabwe and UNDP Team Leader for Effective Governance for the Pacific Region based in Fiji. She holds an LLM in Human Rights from the University of Pretoria and a Masters in Women’s Law from the University of Zimbabwe.

Ricardo Ortega is the current Head of the Law Department at Universidad Iberoamericana, where he has taught since 2017. Prior to this he served as Head of the Professional Service for Human Rights at the Human Rights Commission of Mexico City, where he also held the position of Executive Director of the Center for Applied Research in Human Rights. He has provided legal counsel for NGOs on children's rights and acted as a consultant on various projects with UNICEF in Mexico. He earned his Law, Master's degree, and PhD from the National University of Mexico and has pursued advanced doctoral studies on European Union and Human Rights at the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares in Spain. 

Richard Damania is the Chief Economist for the World Bank’s Planet Vice Presidency. He has held several positions in the World Bank including as Senior Economic Advisor in the Water Practice, and Lead Economist in the Africa, South Asia, and Latin America and Caribbean Regions. His work has spanned across multiple sectors and has helped the World Bank become an acknowledged thought-leader on matters relating to environment, water, and the economy. Prior to joining the WBG he was an academic in Australia where he held numerous positions. He has published extensively with over 100 papers in scientific journals, has held numerous advisory positions with governments and in international organizations and serves on the Editorial Board of several journals.  

Robert Cicuto has been a judicial officer since 1990 and carries out the ancillary activities of property manager and mediator. He first served on the Departmental Chamber of Judicial Officers, then Chaired the Regional Chamber for more than a decade. During his term, he co-founded a mediation center in Amiens bringing together notaries and chartered accountants. Appointed delegate of the Court of Appeal in 2022, he became treasurer of the UIHJ in 2024, then president of the European Chamber of Judicial Officers. Mr. Cicuto is also recognized for his expertise in environment-related cases, including noise pollution, environmental damage, ecosystem harm, and litigation linked to ecological transition.

Rylin Rodgers serves on Microsoft’s Accessibility Team as a Disability Policy Director. She strives to impact disability policy in the areas of technology, workforce and fundamental rights. Rylin’s work is influenced by her lived experiences with disability. She is dyslexic and has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and is the mother of two young adults with physical disabilities and medical complexity. Her family is ALL IN for disability policy!

Sahar Albazar is an Egyptian Member of Parliament, serving as Deputy Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee for the Egyptian Majority Political Party, Mostaqbal Watan. She is the Founding Chairwoman of the Ubuntu Parliamentary Initiative for Climate Finance and serves on the Executive Board of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) in New York. Sahar previously served as President of the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians and was the Founding Chair of the Women Parliamentary Council of the Parliamentary Network on the IMF and World Bank. She holds a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Mr. Samuel Njuguna is an international expert on urban law and governance with over eight years of experience in sustainable development, specializing in planning and housing law, climate change, and human rights. He works for UN-Habitat in providing technical assistance to governments worldwide with legal and institutional reform, legislative drafting, and capacity building to advance the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda.

Sara Marzal Yetano is a Legal Counsel at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Prior to joining ICSID, she practiced law at Clifford Chance US LLP, Chadbourne & Parke LLP, and Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, DC, as well as at Uría Menéndez in Spain. She also served as a Consultant in the International Trade and Integration Sector of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and clerked at the Appellate Body Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Ms. Marzal holds law degrees from Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M.) and ESADE (LL.M. and Law Degree).

Saroj Kumar Jha is the Global Director for the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice. In this role, Mr. Jha oversees a portfolio of $27 billion in water-related investments, analytical work, multi-donor trust funds and global partnerships. Before this appointment, Mr. Jha was World Bank’s Regional Director based in Beirut (Lebanon), Senior Director for the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Global Practice at the World Bank Group, and the World Bank’s Regional Director for Central Asia based in Almaty. In addition, Mr. Jha served as the Bank’s Global Manager for the Disaster Risk Management Practice and as Head of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), which he founded in 2006. 

Scot Anderson is the Office Managing Partner in the Denver office of Womble Bond Dickinson. Decades of work in oil, gas, and mining gives Scot a deep understanding of the extractives industries and their role in the energy transition. He advises clients on commercial transactions and project development for the development of natural resources, and regularly works on matters throughout the Americas, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. He is also working on the development of natural resources in outer space and the deep sea. Scot is a past president of the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law and is an honorary lecturer at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee.

Selimat Lawal is a Chief State Counsel and the Deputy Head of the Asset Recovery and Management Unit of the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Justice. She played an active role in some of the successful recoveries repatriated to Nigeria from foreign jurisdictions. Her expertise lies in negotiation of Asset Return Agreements, advising on the implementing strategies for the identification, tracing, recovery, effective management of tainted assets, and ensuring compliance with both domestic and international standards. She is presently a member of the team that is interfacing with the United States Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney-General, Bailiwick of Jersey and the United Nations Inter-Regional Crime and Justice Research Institute on pending recovery cases.

Mr. Shamiso Mtisi is the Deputy Director at Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA). He is also the global Coordinator of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition that monitors trade of conflict diamonds around the world. He is registered with the High Court of Zimbabwe as a legal practitioner, notary public and conveyancer. With over 19 years working experience in the extractive sector, mining and natural resources sector, he has gained extensive research and advocacy skills on human rights, extractive industries, water resources management, intellectual property rights and farmer's rights. Mr. Mtisi holds a Masters in Law (LLM) in Constitutional and Human Rights Law from Midlands State University and a Bachelor of Laws Honours (LLBS) Degree from the University of Zimbabwe.

Sheila Braka Musiime is the Deputy General Counsel for Operations for the World Bank. She oversees the work supporting the Bank’s financing operations, as well as operations policy, environment, and international law matters. She has held various legal positions with the World Bank, working on matters including fraud and corruption, access to information, financial management and new financial instruments, and on lending operations in East Asia and Pacific, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa and Africa. Previously, Sheila worked as a corporate lawyer in Uganda, focusing on commercial transactions and project finance. Sheila holds an LLB with distinction from Makerere University Law School in Uganda and graduated with an LLM from Harvard Law School.

Shirmila Ramasamy is Lead Counsel at the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency and a capital markets lawyer who works on innovative financing mechanisms for targeted development priorities. At the World Bank, she is part of the team responsible for the design and structuring of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), the Advance Market Commitments (AMC), the CIF Climate Markets Mechanism (CCMM) and other financing initiatives. Ms. Ramasamy advises on capital markets instruments pioneered by the World Bank, including the Wildlife Conservation Bond and the Amazon Reforestation Bond. She is also the lead lawyer for the International Development Association. Prior to joining the World Bank, she had worked in London, New York, and Singapore—managing cross-border structured finance transactions as Managing Associate at Linklaters LLP.

Shingira Masanzu is a Senior Counsel at the World Bank where she advises on legal, policy, and risk matters in sovereign lending and private sector-oriented operations. She has worked on projects in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, education, and health, with experience in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Prior to joining the World Bank, Shingi was an associate at a leading corporate New York law firm. She completed her PhD at the London School of Economics in 2024, focused on the prominence of public-private partnerships in infrastructure development. Shingi holds an LLB (magna cum laude) and Post-Graduate Diploma (Public Law) from the University of Cape Town, and an LLM (International Legal Studies) from NYU School of Law, where she was a Hauser Global Scholar.

Siobhán McInerney-Lankford is a human rights lawyer with expertise in EU and international human rights law.  She is Head of Unit at the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and Chair of the FRA Legal Task Force. From 2002-23 she worked for the World Bank Legal Department, serving as both an operational and advisory lawyer, including as legal advisor to the Bank’s Human Rights Trust Fund. Siobhán has taught human rights law as an adjunct for many years and is currently an external practitioner for the Oxford MSc in International Human Rights Law. She is the author of over fifty publications. She holds an LL.B. from Trinity College, Dublin, an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and a B.C.L. and D.Phil. (EU human rights law) both from Oxford.

Smriti Seth is a Senior Economist in the Economic Policy Unit of the World Bank. She has served as a country economist in various regions, including Africa and South Asia. Smriti also worked in the World Bank's credit risk department for 12 countries across different regions. Her experience spans operational and corporate roles, leading analytical work, technical assistance and lending operations, with a focus on fiscal policy, growth analysis, macro-modelling, and debt management. 

After several years leading in-house legal departments, Solène Bedel now serves as Head of Legal at Jus Mundi, the AI-powered legal intelligence platform dedicated to democratizing legal knowledge by expanding access to international law and arbitration. She oversees legal and regulatory strategy across the company.

Dr. Souley Amadou is the General Counsel and Director of the Legal Services Department at the African Development Bank Group, where he advises the Board of Governors, Board of Directors, and the President on strategic legal and governance matters. With more than twenty-five years of legal and transactional experience, he has been central to structuring sovereign loans, private equity investments, and landmark public-private partnerships in infrastructure, energy, transport, and financial markets. From 2015 to 2018, he was Acting Corporate Secretary and General Counsel of Africa50. He holds a Doctorate in Business Law, a Master’s in Tax and Business Law from the University of Auvergne, and the Certificate of Aptitude for the Legal Profession in France.

Srikrishna Deva Rao Pendyala is the Vice Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. His research interests include criminal law and criminal justice administration. In recognition of his work, he was conferred the prestigious Kumarappa–Reckless Award by the Indian Society of Criminology in 2020. Professor Rao also chaired the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws constituted by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, from 2020-22, and was a member of the Indian delegation that presented the Universal Periodic Review Report on Human Rights at the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2022. He holds an LL.B. and LL.M. from Kakatiya University, a M.Phil. from the National Law School of India University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Delhi.

Stéphane Braconnier is Professor of Public Law and President of Paris-Panthéon-Assas University. He also serves as Co-Director of the Master’s Program in Public Economic Law. His research focuses on public economic law, with particular expertise in major business contracts involving public entities. Professor Braconnier is the author of more than 200 publications in these fields, including Précis du droit de la commande publique, a standard reference work on public procurement law. He also plays an active role in international academic initiatives, especially on the University’s two overseas campuses in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, where he promotes scientific and academic diplomacy. Since November 2023, he has served as President of the Supreme Court of the Principality of Monaco.

Susan L. Karamanian is Dean of the College of Law at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha.  She was previously Provost at the American University of Sharjah, Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies and Burnett Family Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University Law School, and a Partner in Locke Lord LLP in Dallas.  Susan currently sits on the board of Texas Appleseed. A graduate of the University of Texas (J.D.), Oxford University (B.A. Hons.) and Auburn University (B.S.), she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation.  

Sven Renner has been with the World Bank for eight years. Before that, he held various positions in German government and was, among others, in charge of designing the federal policy on raw materials. Between 1996 and 2009 he managed the bureaus of the German Cooperation in the mining sector in Chile and Bolivia. He initiated his career in the mining industry in 1986 as an exploration geologist in the Pijiguaos bauxite deposit in Venezuela. Sven is a geologist by training and holds a Ph.D. from Tübingen University. Since 2017 he has been an honorary lecturer at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee.

Taiwo, a British national, has two decades of experience in the financial industry across asset management, investment banking and financial institutions with exposure to different global markets. Previously, Taiwo was the Global Head of Compliance at British International Investment (BII), where she held the statutory function of Compliance Oversight and Money Laundering Reporting Officer under the UK Financial Regulatory Regime. Taiwo holds an LL.M. in Banking and Finance Law from Queen Mary University of London and completed her legal practice course at the College of Law, London.

Tea Trumbic is the Manager of the Women, Business and the Law project in the World Bank’s Development Economics Vice Presidency, where she leads a dynamic team to produce data and analysis on laws and policies that impact women’s economic opportunities in 190 economies. She joined the World Bank in 2006 and has worked on production of indicators related to business taxation, credit information, agribusiness, trade and gender. Before joining the World Bank, Tea worked at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia and the International Monetary Fund. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University and a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics.

Tigran Dadunts is the Deputy Minister of Justice of Armenia, overseeing regulatory policy in judicial and legal reforms, including Alternative Dispute Resolution. He previously served as Director of the Center for Legislation Development at the Ministry of Justice and is one of the co-founders of the Arbitration and Mediation Center of Armenia, where he also served as President of the Board of Trustees. Mr. Dadunts holds both an LLB and LLM from Yerevan State University, currently pursuing a PhD and lecturing. Mr. Dadunts is also a U.S. Government alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Program and the Professional Fellows Program. He began his professional career in banking in 2015 before joining the Ministry of Justice in 2017.

Timothy Cleary is a partner in the Derivatives and Structured Products team at Clifford Chance in London. He has a particular focus on securitisation and other forms of private debt mobilisation, acting primarily for commercial banks looking to transfer risk and leverage their balance sheets through securitisation, repackagings, credit insurance and other similar products. Timothy also acts for a number of MDBs and DFIs on a range of initiatives to increase development finance availability through accessing private capital markets. These have included acting as lead counsel on the CIF Capital Market Mechanism (CCMM), the African Development Bank’s “Room to Run” synthetic securitisations, IDB Invest’s “Scaling4Impact” synthetic securitisation and FMO’s “NASIRA” microfinance synthetic securitisation programme, as well as transactions for other institutions including IFC, EBRD and EIB.

Troy McKenzie is Dean and Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. He served as faculty co-director of the Institute of Judicial Administration for over six years, as well as faculty co-director of the Center on Civil Justice. He studies litigation and the institutions that shape it—particularly complex litigation that is resolved through the class action, bankruptcy, and other forms of aggregation. From 2011-15, McKenzie served as a reporter to the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States. From 2015-17, he served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. McKenzie holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and a law degree from NYU.

Umar Serajuddin is a Manager in the World Bank’s Development Data Group. He manages the teams that publish some of World Bank’s most prominent global public goods including the global poverty numbers. He manages the Geospatial Operations Support Team (GOST) and the Geo-Enabling Initiative for Monitoring and Supervision (GEMS) team. He also coordinates the Bank’s Sustainable Development Goals monitoring initiatives, including the production of the 2023 SDG Atlas. Previously, he led the Bank’s Open Data initiative and oversaw the management of the World Development Indicators. He holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and has published work in the fields of poverty, inequality, social protection, and statistical capacity.

Victor Mosoti is the Chief Counsel of the Environment and International Law Practice Group within the World Bank Legal Vice Presidency. In this capacity, he provides legal leadership and strategic guidance on environmental and international law matters, focused on the application of the Bank’s operational safeguard policies, international law, environmental governance, and institutional accountability. Prior to joining the World Bank, he held legal positions at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy, and at the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He holds a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a Certificate in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Vikram Raghavan is Lead Counsel for international law in the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency. In over two and a half decades at the Bank, Vikram has worked on projects in countries with financial crises, conflict and fragility, political instability, natural disasters, and health emergencies. He has also advised teams on engaging security forces and non-state actors, mitigating project environmental and social impacts, dealing with economic sanctions and corruption, and addressing sovereign debt and dealing with boundary disputes and international waterways. Vikram played a key role in producing the 2023 World Development Report: Migrants, Societies, and Development. Vikram received the Bretton Woods@75 Award for preserving the World Bank Group's institutional knowledge.

As AFC’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Vivienne Yeda leads legal, corporate governance, shareholder relations and compliance, and ensures that AFC operates within a strong legal and regulatory framework that supports its growth and investment strategies. Before joining AFC, she was the Director General of the East African Development Bank, where she spearheaded its restructuring, transforming it into a high-performing institution. Vivienne also served as Country Manager, Zambia, for the African Development Bank. In 2014, Vivienne was recognized as the African Banker of the Year by African Banker magazine and the AfDB. Vivienne holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi, an LL.M. in International Business Law from University College London, and an MBA from Edith Cowan University, Australia.

Wafa Ben-Hassine is Director of Policy and Programs at Omidyar Network, where her work focuses on advancing policy solutions and governance frameworks that mitigate the societal risks of emerging technologies. Wafa previously served as Global Policy Counsel and Middle East and North Africa Policy Manager at Access Now, a global nonprofit defending digital rights. Wafa is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Information Integrity. She also serves on the Safety-Critical AI Steering Committee of the Partnership on AI and sits on the boards of the Integrity Institute and Library Futures. She holds a JD from the University of Denver and a BA in political science from UC San Diego

Wendyam Conombo serves as Policy Officer responsible for questions related to Law, Justice and Development at the Directorate for Global Affairs of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Previously he practiced as a Lawyer in European and International Law at the Law firm Simmons & Simmons in Paris, and as a Legal advisor to the Paris Bar Association and the French National Bar Council on international cooperation matters.

Xu Shenjian is Dean and Professor of the School of Juris Master at China University of Political Science and Law. Prior to this, he was the Director of the Legal Ethics Teaching and Research Office and Practice Teaching and Research Office. He also holds the positions of Deputy Chairman and Secretary-General of the Chinese Legal Document Research Association, Deputy Director of the Committee of Chinese Clinical Legal Education, and Deputy Director of the Mock Court Professional Committee. He teaches legal ethics, clinical legal education, and court argumentation skills.His research areas include Legal Ethics, Procedural Law, Practical Legal Education, Judicial System and Legal Documents. 

Yan Liu is General Counsel and Director of the Legal Department of the International Monetary Fund. She advises the institution on all legal aspects of the Fund’s operations, including its lending, surveillance, capacity development, regulatory and advisory functions. Ms. Liu has led the Legal Department’s work on reforming IMF policies on lending; helping strengthen central banking and financial sector legal frameworks in response to technological changes; leading work on corporate and household insolvency, and public debt management; and contributing to the development of international standards for financial regulation. She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois, and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago.

Yasmin Pither is a Senior Policy Advisor for International Asset Recovery within the Home Office in the United Kingdom. She works specifically on facilitating asset shares following international cooperation and on increasing transparency around asset returns in relation to grand corruption offences.

Yemisi Oni is Chief Legal Counsel in the Private Sector Legal Division and Acting Lead Advisor to the General Counsel at the African Development Bank. Yemisi began her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in London before qualifying as a solicitor at Linklaters, where she advised on cross-border project finance. She later joined Mayer Brown in Singapore, heading the Africa Desk within its Asia practice. In 2017, she transitioned into development finance with Africa50 and subsequently the African Development Bank, where she now represents the Bank on financing and equity transactions and advises on institutional matters. Yemisi holds an LLB from the University of Kent, an LLM in International Economic Law from the University of Warwick, and an Executive MBA from the London Business School. 

Yinsongti Tindana is a lawyer with a focus on law, technology, and development. She works with the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency, supporting projects that promote legal transparency and innovation across Africa, including the African Mining Legislation Atlas and African Tax Legislation Atlas. Her work combines legal research, digital platform design, and capacity building to make laws more accessible and useful for policymakers, lawyers, and citizens. She is interested in how technology can strengthen legal systems, improve governance, and open new pathways for collaboration. Outside her professional work, she enjoys mentoring young people and exploring creative projects that connect law, design, and social impact. Yinsongti holds an LL.M. in Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship from Cornell Tech, as well as qualifications from the Ghana School of Law and KNUST.

Zach Pouga is an International Tax Partner at Ernst & Young LLP, in the National Tax Department, based in New York City. His practice focuses on US tax aspects of cross-border transactions with a main concentration on US inbounds. Pouga is also an Adjunct professor of tax law at New York University (NYU) Law School and a consultant with several international organization including the African Union NEPAD. He helps build capacity regularly in developing countries on the most complex and pressing issues in international tax and has trained government officials in more than a dozen African countries. Pouga is a published author and an internationally acclaimed speaker on issues of law, tax, and development.

Zione Ntaba is a Justice of the High Court in Malawi as well as a legislative drafting expert with over 23 years legal experience. She possesses a strong practical background of legislative and policy development and analysis in several areas in governance, law, and climate change (land, energy, housing, construction) and human rights. She has on several occasions presented on Malawi’s urban planning systems and sources of law and urban planning practices. She possesses great networking and engagement skills with government, the private sector, international organizations, and other stakeholders in the environment sector.

Rachel Robboy is an experienced international development banker with core expertise in financial and non-financial risk management, portfolio management, deal structuring and business development with a focus on Latin America. As Chief Risk Officer of IDB Invest, Ms. Robboy oversees credit, market, and operational risk along with environmental and social risk and special assets. Over the past two decades, Ms. Robboy has held senior-level positions at the Inter-American Development Bank Group including Chief of the Portfolio Management Division and advisor to the Vice President for Private Sector and Non-Sovereign Guaranteed Operations, as well as other leading roles in Infrastructure and Special Operations. Ms. Robboy holds an MBA in international finance and a master’s in international affairs from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, both in Washington, DC.