Cameran Ashraf is an assistant professor at the School of Public Policy, Central European University, a human rights defender, and co-founder of international human rights and technology organization AccessNow. In recognition of his work, the European Parliament selected AccessNow as a finalist for the 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Union's highest human rights honor. In 2009 he assembled a team providing digital security to the threatened activists, journalists, and vital leadership websites during Iran's Green Movement, "the first major world event broadcast worldwide almost entirely via social media". Cameran and his team defended critical Green Movement websites from state-sponsored attacks, provided personal communications security for hundreds of vulnerable in-country activists and journalists, distributed proxy servers used by over 40,000 Iranians daily, facilitated more than 3 million protest video downloads from inside Iran, and played a key role in connecting millions worldwide to the peaceful protests. This work led Cameran to co-found AccessNow, one of the world's largest international human rights organizations dedicated to defending and extending the digital rights of users at risk. Cameran has been invited to speak at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC Berkeley, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and as an invited expert for the Kofi Annan Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age. He has also appeared in the New York Times, National Public Radio, Wired Magazine, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek. He has advised the International Criminal Court on digital security, given expert input to the offices of U.S. Senators Lindsay Graham and John McCain on global censorship policy, is a recipient of the University of California's Herbert F. York Global Security Fellowship, and awardee of a "Break the Blackout" grant from Avaaz.org. Cameran continues to work for human dignity and human rights through teaching, research, and meaningful engagement with students. He recently served as Deputy Director of the Open Society Foundations Internship for Rights and Governance, helping to prepare the next generation of human rights defenders. In 2015, he completed his Ph.D. at UCLA on the geopolitics of Internet censorship and cyberwar.

I am a physician epidemiologist and an Assistant professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo. My research interests focus on syndemics of infectious diseases like HIV, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections. My research aims to evaluate the determinants of syndemics, extend the syndemic framework to non-communicable diseases and cancers, and design and evaluate prevention strategies to address syndemics. My other areas of interest include the development and application of methods for analysis of big data, global health, and spatial epidemiologic methods and their application to public health practice. In addition to the above, I have worked internationally in academia and the development sector (World Health Organization and UNICEF).

Katie Hirono is a PhD candidate in the Global Public Health Unit at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the role of participatory processes, such as citizens’ juries and health impact assessment, for improving policymaking and health equity. Katie also has a long-standing record of helping to support underserved communities. She served on the board of directors for a health clinic in Maryland that serviced undocumented Latino populations, and volunteered as a Spanish medical translator at a free health clinic in Virginia. She has worked as a consultant to the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization in the department of Gender, Diversity and Human Rights.

Aviva Silburt is a PhD Candidate at the University of Waterloo's Balsillie School of International Affairs researching the complex linkages between mining conflicts and broader peacebuilding challenges in Guatemala. Aviva has professional experience in public policy and peacebuilding, and has worked in various capacities with the Government of Canada, UN Women Canada, and grassroots NGOs in Rwanda, Bosnia, and the Philippines. She is currently a policy advisor for the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise to investigate human rights abuses involving Canadian companies operating abroad.