Elsa Stamatopoulou joined Columbia University in 2011 after a 31-year service at the United Nations (in Vienna, Geneva and New York) with some 22 years dedicated to human rights, in addition to 8 years exclusively devoted to Indigenous Peoples' rights. Indigenous issues were part of her portfolio since 1983 and she became the first Chief of the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2003. In 2011, she taught the first-ever course at Columbia on Indigenous Peoples' rights, the first course on cultural rights (2016) and is the first Director of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Program at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia, also co-chaired Columbia's University Seminar on Indigenous Studies from its inception in 2014 to 2020.

Tarcila Rivera Zea, Quechua, is an activist from Ayacucho, Peru, and Founder of the organization Chirapaq (Center for Indigenous Peoples Cultures of Peru). She is also recognized as a leader in the movement of Indigenous women of the Americas. Tarcila was recently elected to the UN's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues after over two decades fighting for international policy change which empowers Indigenous women. She is a journalist by profession and has been involved as an activist for indigenous peoples' rights for more than 30 years. Her contributions have resulted in the creation of the Permanent Workshop of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru, the International Forum of Indigenous Women of the Americas and the Continental Link of Indigenous Women of the Americas. She is the recipient of the 2014 Wisdom Treasure Award.

Elvera Sergeant is the former Executive Director of the Akwasasne Freedom School. From 1985 to 1988, Elvera worked for the First Nations Financial Project, now known as First Nations Development Institute. She has been working tirelessly towards preserving Indigenous language and culture. Ecology, culture, and spirituality builds the foundation for Elvera's current work in revitalizing the Mohawk language.

Mariam Aboubakrine, Tuareg, is a member and former chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Mariam is a member of Tin Hinan, an association working for the defense, promotion anddevelopment of indigenous peoples in Africa, in particular the Tuareg (Mali, Niger, BurkinaFaso, Algeria, Mauritania and Libya). With a Masters in Humanitarian Action from the University of Geneva, her studies focused on interventions in armed conflict, marginalization, natural disasters and, later in her studies, the role of traditional medicine in Tuareg Mali. Currently, Mariam advocates for Indigenous rights in Africa, particularly focused on improving theliving conditions Tuareg peoples.

Rauna Kuokkanen, Sami, is a professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies at the University of Lapland (Finland), and adjunct professor of Indigenous Studies and Political Science at the University of Toronto. An award-winning scholar, Rauna has published three books, her most recent of which, Restructuring Relations: Indigenous Self-Determination, Governance and Gender, won the British International Studies Association's Susan Strange Best Book Prize, as well as the 2020 Canadian Political Science Association Prize in Comparative Politics. The book examines Indigenous self-determination and the gendered processes of self-government through discourse analysis and extensive field work in three regions. Rauna's on-going project is the Siida School, a community driven initiative to renew the Sami Siida governance system.

Lucy Mulenkei is the Executive Director of the Indigenous Information Network (IIN). Lucy is part of the Maasai tribe and her expertise lies in the sustainable development of Kenya's Indigenous pastoralists communities. For 17 years, Lucy served as a broadcast journalist for a government-run radio station. Lucy's reporting focused on environmental issues within rural Kenya and the East African region. She has coordinated sustainable development trainings and capacity building for Indigenous rural nomadic pastoralist and hunter-gatherers, that utilize traditional knowledge and incites conversations on biodiversity. Lucy has worked with more than 100 grassroots organizations in East Africa. She has also networked worldwide with other grassroots women in Latin America, Canada and Asia. Lucy is the co-founder and co-chair of the Indigenous Women Biodiversity Network. As an active member of the International Forum on Biodiversity and International Forum of Indigenous Women she has been coordinating various forums and networks in Africa.

Ja Seng is a member of Parliament of Kachin State in Myanmar. When Ja Seng was six months old, her father left home to join the Kachin Independence Army, the political wing of Kachin Independence Army which was fighting for independence. She began her political career by bringing women together to advance the rights of Kachin minority under the Kachin Women's Union and she later ran for the Kachin Parliament under the banner of Kachin State Democracy Party.

Vera Solovyeva, Sakha, is a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Policy, graduated at George Mason University. Her research focuses on how Indigenous Northern Peoples in the Russian Federation preserve and develop their cultures and traditions in a contemporary world that is rapidly changing due to factors such as climate change and globalization. Vera is one of the founders of the Sakha Diaspora website (www.sakhaopenworld.org). She also co-organizes projects on the revitalization of the linguistic, cultural, and spiritual traditions of the Sakha people.

Claire Charters, from the Ngāti Whakaue, Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi, and Tainui tribes, is an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law, specializing in Indigenous peoples' rights in international and constitutional, often with a comparative focus. Claire has published and spoken widely on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, comparative indigenous constitutional rights in New Zealand, Canada and the United States, and tino rangatiratanga and tikanga M?ori in New Zealand. She has represented her iwi in treaty negotiations and worked in the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. In addition, she was recently an advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly on enhancing indigenous people's participation at the United Nations. Claire is also working on a number of collaborative research projects including on Indigenous peoples' self-determination and the philosophical foundations of Indigenous law.

Gilbert Smith, of black and Cherokee heritage, was born in Tennessee in the southern United States and grew up in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. He is working as an Administrative Director at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. While rap has been his primary genre, Gilbert has promoted music as a universal language. He is a founding member of the Universal Language Room, a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-faith effort to promote unity and inspire dialog by communicating with instruments. He along with others is instrumental in the starting of the Global Alliance.

Tukumminnguaq Nykjær Olsen is passionate Indigenous and Inuit Rights activist where she is working as Office & Project Manager for Inuit Circumpolar Council Greenland. Besides the work she is a Board of Trustees member to United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples' and Advisor for Arctic Indigenous Fund. She is a MA candidate in Governance and Sustainability, from Greenland University, held a BA degree in Soc. Science. Tukumminnguaq is a native Greenlander, Inuk who grew up in Qaanaaq, Greenland, northernmost town in Greenland and have amongst completed Indigenous peoples rights and policy at Columbia University New York, Indigenous Fellowship Program at United Nations Geneva, is a former Arctic focal point in Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and Winner of Arctic Innovation Lab, Arctic Circle Assembly Iceland 2017.

Andrew Rizzardi is an American photographer from western Pennsylvania and based in New York City. He studied Visual Media at American University in Washington, DC, and completed the CE Track and CE Advanced Track programs at the International Center for Photography in New York. He is aslo founder member of the Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples, Gender Justice and Peace and has started the Alliance's newsletter series.

Sam Simonds is a filmmaker with recent projects focusing around land reclamation and cultural revitalization movements of the Amis peoples in Southeaster Taiwan. Sam grew up in Amherst, MA. His award-winning films, From a Valley of Talol and Smoke of the Sea, have screened internationally. His senior thesis in college, Smoke of the Sea, won the Oakes and Louise Ames Prize for the year's best thesis at Connecticut College. Premiering in 'Atolan, it has also screened at the Amis Music Festival, Columbia University's symposium on Indigenous Peoples and Borders, and at various community venues. A founding member of the Global Alliance, Sam focuses on research and development and project coordination for the organization.

Binalakshmi is an Indigenous scholar and human rights defender, whose work focuses on deepening democracy and championing women-led peace, security, and disarmament in Manipur, Northeast India, and South Asia. She is the founder of three organizations: the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network, the Control Arms Foundation of India, and the Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples, Gender Justice, and Peace and authored and edited five books, including Deepening Democracy, Diversity, and Women's Rights in India (2019), Where Are Our Women in Decision Making (2016), and South Asia's Fractured Frontier (2002). Her work has garnered international recognition. Nepram served as an IIE-SRF Visiting Scholar at Connecticut College in 2018-2019, and at Columbia University in 2017-2018. She is a board member of the International Peace Bureau and the 1910 Nobel Peace Laureate.