Bachelor’s degree, Smith College; two Master’s degrees, Stanford University. The only woman director to have been awarded two Academy Awards by the age of 37 and the first female director for a Star Wars film. Since 2001, has made over two dozen multi-award films in over 16 countries. Films include: “Student Athlete”, “Girl in the river”, “Song of Lahore”, “Saving Face”, “Peace Keepers” and “Transgenders: Pakistan’s Open Secret”. 2017, first artist to co-chair the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. Recipient of honours and awards, including: named in annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, Time Magazine (2012); awarded highest civil honour “Hilal -e–Imtiaz”, Pakistan Government (2012); Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Canadian Government, for work in the field of documentary films (2013); Crystal Award, World Economic Forum; Knight International Journalism Award, International Center for Journalists for work that led to legislative change (2017); Honorary Degree in Fine Arts, Smith College (2018).

Nighat Dad is a pioneering advocate for digital rights and the founder of the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), a Pakistan-based NGO that focuses on cyber harassment, data protection, and online freedom of expression. With a background in law, Nighat has emerged as a leading voice for women’s rights in the digital space, tirelessly working to protect vulnerable communities from online abuse and advocating for stronger legislation on data privacy and cybercrime.

Under her leadership, the Digital Rights Foundation has launched groundbreaking initiatives, including Pakistan's first Cyber Harassment Helpline, which offers support and legal advice to victims of online violence. Nighat's work has had a profound impact, not just in Pakistan but globally, as she collaborates with international organizations to shape policies that ensure safer digital environments for all.

In recognition of her expertise, Nighat was appointed to the United Nations Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Artificial Intelligence in 2023, where she contributes to global discussions on the ethical and inclusive governance of AI technologies. She is also a member of Facebook’s Oversight Board, where she brings her knowledge to bear on critical issues of content moderation and online governance.

A recognized leader in the field, Nighat has been honored with numerous awards, including the prestigious Human Rights Tulip Award in 2016. She is a TED Fellow since 2017 and continues to drive change at the intersection of technology and human rights, working to create a more inclusive and secure digital future. As part of the World Economic Forum community, she contributes her unique perspective on Data Equity, AI and emerging technology, digital safety digital rights, gender equality, and the importance of safeguarding freedoms in the digital age.

Deshal de Mel is economic adviser to the minister of finance of Sri Lanka and the youngest director to have served at Sampath Bank. An economist by training, de Mel is passionate about and committed to economic reform in Sri Lanka in order to create competitive and fair markets along with broader economic and political reform to further economic and political freedoms.

Recognized as one of the top 40 Global Leaders by The Wharton School of Business and selected as a ‘Young Global Leader’ (YGL) for the World Economic Forum, Kanika Dewan is a leading entrepreneur who has been awarded several international Entrepreneur Of The Year accolades and has been recognized by the "Guinness Book of World Records" for her design work in stone.

​

Kanika hails from a uniquely diverse background; she was born in India, spent her childhood in the Middle East, and attended the prestigious Cheltenham Ladies College in England before graduating with a concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School in the United States. Kanika started her journey as an Investment Banker at Citigroup and, driven by a desire to push envelopes and change global paradigms, left banking for the male-dominated construction industry and is now pioneering innovative design and construction on a global level.

​

As one of the few women at the forefront of major infrastructure projects in Asia, Kanika has been lauded for the build & design of the stone works and finishes at some of the world's largest airports: New Delhi International Airport: T3 & Mumbai International Airport. As Chairperson of Ka Design Atelier, Kanika’s technical and design expertise includes work with Philippe Starck, art work in stone for the world’s largest yachts including Abromovich's "Pelorus" and the King of Oman’s vessel where she innovated a proprietary light-weight stone system. Kanika's commitment to the environment was behind her design of a state-of-the-art eco-friendly paneling system for the 7-star Leela Palace Resort in Delhi. Her work is now expanding into creating construction materials to combat climate change and the creation of museum spaces that exist at the intersection of art, technology and education within public infrastructure in order to communicate a message of empowerment and unity for a diverse society.

​

Kanika's experiences dealing with sexism and gender parity in the world of design & construction in some of the most difficult regions in India & the Middle East are inspirational and timely as they range from handling abuse in the workplace to overcoming physical violence. As a seasoned public speaker, Kanika has often been asked to present these issues during her various Keynotes at international events including the World Efficiency Solutions Summit under the patronage of President Macron, the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, and the World Economic Forum in Jordan, amongst others.

​

Kanika has worked across several continents, giving her the exposure to address the sensitivities required to a incorporate SDGs in an increasingly polarized world. In addition to her passion for innovation & design, Kanika's ethos of making the world a better place is behind the development of initiatives for environmentally-conscious mobile housing for refugee crises and disaster relief. Kanika also continues to be extremely vocal about dealing with ‘Gunda Raj’ in an extremely male-dominated segment as her key to success as an NRI doing business in India and has been pushing an anti-corruption initiative through her anti-bribe and pro-whistleblower policies in the notoriously corrupt global construction industry. In her role as YGL, Kanika has made further strides towards her goal to highlight and reduce corruption on a global level and has publicly presented her social impact initiatives at the World Economic Forum's leadership journeys in Japan, Argentina and Jordan, amongst other recognized global leaders. Her recent speech at the World Economic Forum in Jordan, about her new initiative, a unique indicator of economic progress, has been recognized by the UN and associates of the World Bank.

Tanya Dubash is on the boards of several Godrej Group companies, including Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Industries and Godrej Agrovet. As Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer, Dubash is charged with enhancing the value of the Godrej brand and making the Group become a more brand-driven organization. She heads the Strategic Marketing Group (SMG) that guides the Godrej masterbrand and portfolio strategy, and chairs a marketing council comprising of Group Marketing heads. She also heads Corporate Communications and Media for the Group and oversees Godrej Nature's Basket, a gourmet food retailing chain. Dubash is an AB cum laude degree in Economics and Political Science from Brown University in the US and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. She is a Trustee of Brown University and a member of the Brown-India Advisory Council.

Shashwat Goenka is the Vice Chairman of the 7-billion-dollar RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, one of India's leading business conglomerates, with businesses in Power, Green Energy, Chemicals, Information Technology, Retail, FMCG & Consumer Goods, Education, Entertainment, Sports, Agriculture and Media. The RPSG Group has a legacy of over 220 years, and is one of India's fastest growing conglomerates with a significant global presence.

Shashwat has led many of the Group's acquisitions and diversifications over the last decade, while at the same time turning around businesses for profitability, valuations and growth. In the Power sector, he spearheads the renewable energy business for the Group (Solar, Wind, Green Hydrogen and Ammonia). In the Chemicals sector, he was the instrumental in acquisition of Aquapharm Chemicals, a move to venture into the global speciality chemical segment.

Shashwat is the Vice Chairman for CII Eastern Regional Council and also part of CII's National Council, where he chair's CII’s Committees on Retail, E-Commerce, and Ayurveda. Shashwat is the Chairman for FICCI's Young Leaders Forum. He has also been the youngest ever President of Indian Chamber of Commerce. FICCI, CII and ICC are India's leading business associations that work closely with Government and industry to create a conducive policy environment for development of India.

He was the Founding Chairperson for YPO Next Generation in Kolkata, and is a member of Entrepreneur's Organisation (EO). A graduate from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, he is also the Honorary Consul of Finland in Kolkata.

Recognised as a Young Global Leader by WEF in 2024, he has received numerous prestigious awards like Management Excellence Award for Emerging Leader by CMA, ‘Young Retail Professional of the Year’ by India Retail Forum, ‘Pride of India’ in 2017, ‘The Most Influential Young Indians’ by GQ, Economic Times 40 Under 40 India's Hottest Business Leaders Award, Times of India Business Award for ‘Most Young & Dynamic Leader’, ‘The Most Promising Scion Award’ at the ET Family Business Awards, ‘Emerging Business Leader Award’ by HELLO! , ‘Young Achiever in Family Business’ at ASEAN – Indian Youth Awards, and 'Young Achiever - The Next 100' by India Today. In 2023, he was awarded Fortune's 40 under 40, and featured in '100 Most Influential' by Hello! in 2023.

Suhas Gopinath is Founder & CEO of Globals Inc, the company he founded at 14 and was recognized as the World's Youngest CEO then. Globals focuses on Cybersecurity Products, Cyber Defense Solutions, AI driven Enterprise Applications and Enterprise Cloud Solutions. Suhas is also the founder of fintech company called Eaze that enables brands and merchants to offer Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL). Previously was ICT Board Member, World Bank; Venture Fellow, NYCEDC; Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum. Suhas is also the Member of the National Expert Advisory Committee, Govt. of India and the National Co-Chairman of FICCI, ICT & Digital Economy.

Gaurav Gupta is the Founder & CEO of Gabit, an integrated health and wellness platform aimed at enabling everyone to live healthier and longer.

Gaurav is also one of founders of Zomato, and was at the forefront of turning it into the largest food delivery and restaurant discovery platforms in India.

In 2020, Gaurav was recognised as one of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum.

Prior to Zomato, Gaurav was a Senior Principal with Kearney in the consumer industries and retail space. Gaurav holds an engineering degree from IIT-Delhi and an MBA from IIM-Calcutta

Radhika Gupta is an Indian business executive. She is Chief Executive Officer of Edelweiss Asset Management. She started at the company as business head of multi-strategy funds and was responsible for setting the strategic direction for the team’s investment, distribution and platform. She is India’s only female head of a major asset manager and has set up the country's first domestic hedge fund. Gupta is a public speaker. A YouTube video of one of her talks, titled “The Girl With a Broken Neck”, has been viewed more than 110,000 times. She is a graduate of the Management and Technology Program at the University of Pennsylvania, with joint degrees in economics from the Wharton School and computer science engineering from the Moore School.

CEO, Going to School, a creative not-for-profit education trust that makes design-driven stories to teach children 21st Century entrepreneurial skills at school, online and on national television. Recognized as: TED Fellow; Ashoka Fellow; Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Special focus: adolescent girls, young women + sustainable enterprise. Going to School works in 1,000 secondary Government schools in Bihar designing and delivering graphic novels to Grade 9-12 to enable young people to learn the skills they need to transition to equitable work and/or enterprise of their choice. The Children's Scrappy News Service Season II, Play City is designed to enable the children of Mumbai, Maharashtra to make Mumbai a place to play and take on Climate Change.

Shaurya is an Entrepreneur and currently serves as the CEO & Deputy Managing Director for India Carbon Limited. At the group level he is responsible for New Projects, Corporate Finance, Strategy, Mergers-Acquisitions & Joint Ventures.

He has been engaged with domestic acquisitions and establsihment of Greenfield Projects, in addition to diversifying into the Mobile Commerce, Real Estate and Infrastructure space.

He is currently leading his team to develop and establish North East India’s first Special Economic Zone in Guwahati, Assam.

Shaurya’s latest entreprenueurial venture is his setting up a Venture Builder under the brand iExponential, to build high value corpprations based on disruptive ideas and a mobile first strategy. He is currently involved in growing businesses in sectors ranging from Fitness & Healthcare and the ‘Internet of Things’ to Education and Last Mile Passenger Conn ectivity.

He has obtained his Master's in Business Administration (2005) and also his B.Sc from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.

Shaurya is the National Chairman for CII–Young Indians (13,000 Members) based on Nation Building and Youth & Thought Leadership.

Owner and Director, Hirdaramani Group. Aroon is a leader of the Group's Executive Committee which is responsible for the overall strategy and execution of the Group's global apparel business and excellence in sustainability. Aroon also oversees the Group's Global Trading and Sourcing Operations, and Investment Strategies.
Honorary Counsel to Guatemala for Sri Lanka. Member, Young Presidents' Organization. 2001, Bachelor's in Business Economics, Brown University. 2001-03, Investment Banking Analyst, Credit Suisse, New York.