Lisa Anderson  
Dean, School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and authority on the Middle East, including democratic reform in the Islamic world.

Tom Carothers  
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Highly regarded expert on democracy promotion, focusing on assistance strategies and programs.

Michael Chege  
Director of the Center for African Studies, University of Florida at Gainesville. Served with the Ford Foundation in Southern Africa. Strong background on democracy and human rights.

Margaret Crahan 
Professor at Hunter College; expert in religion, human rights and democratization in Latin America.

Larry Diamond  
Author of influential books/articles on strengthening democratic rule globally, with particular expertise on Africa (e.g. Nigeria) and Asia. Currently at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University.

Morton Halperin  
Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations and Director of the Center for Democracy and Free Markets. Director, OSI Washington office. Former senior government official at State, NSC and Pentagon and author of numerous articles on democracy, foreign policy and civil liberties.

Fiona Hill 
Authority on Russia and the former Soviet Union and an articulate voice on human rights and democracy building.

Mahnaz Ispahani  
Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations and Co-Executive Director, Independent Task Force on India and South Asia. Expert on South Asian politics, democracy and human rights, civil society, and ethnic conflict.

Harold Hongju Koh  
Distinguished thinker on democracy and human rights. Faculty member, Yale Law School, and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

Orville Schell  
Prolific writer and commentator on Asian affairs and Dean, UC Berkeley School of Journalism.