Andrea Soros Colombel works for equitable, sustainable and compassionate societies. She serves on the Global and United States Boards of the Open Society Foundations, which support vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens and capable of addressing the pressing problems of our era. Andrea is also a board member and former board chair of Acumen. She supports a range of activities aimed at addressing climate change and reshaping capitalism and democracy to function better for all.

Andrea founded and was active for over 20 years in Trace Foundation, which supported the continuity, development, and vitality of Tibetan communities with a focus on those within China. She is a co-founder and trustee of Tsadra Foundation, which promotes the development of wisdom and compassion through the combined study and practice of Tibetan Buddhist traditions in the west. She is a former board chair of the French American School of New York and an advisor to Scenic Hudson and the Bard MBA program.

Colombel received her BA from the University of Chicago with honors in literature and holds a graduate certificate from the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.

Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican citizen and was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2010 - 2016.

During her tenure, Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, women’s groups, scientists and spiritual communities, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Under this Agreement, 195 sovereign governments decided on a collaborative path to limit future global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C in order to protect the most vulnerable in every nation. For this achievement Ms. Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy and received multiple awards.

Since then Ms. Figueres has continued to foster rapid action on climate change. She is the co-author of The Future We Choose, The Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis (Penguin Random House 2019) and co-host of the popular podcast Outrage and Optimism.  She sits on the Boards of ACCIONA and ACCIONA Energía.

She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics and has been awarded multiple honorary doctorate degrees from academic institutions such as Yale, University of Massachusetts, Georgetown and University of Edinburgh. After decades of living and working abroad, she has moved back to her beloved Costa Rica.  She has two fantastic daughters, Naima and Yihana, fountains of much joy.

Oliver Jeffers is a visual artist and author working in painting, bookmaking, illustration, collage, performance, and sculpture. His original artwork has been exhibited at such institutions as the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Palais Auersperg in Vienna.

Curiosity and humour are underlying themes throughout Oliver’s practice as an artist and storyteller. While investigating the ways the human mind understands its world, his work also functions as comic relief in the face of futility.

Jeffers has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award, Bologna Rigazzi Award, An Irish Book Award, and a United Kingdom Literary Association Award.

Andrea Soros Colombel works for equitable, sustainable and compassionate societies. She serves on the Global and United States Boards of the Open Society Foundations, which support vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens and capable of addressing the pressing problems of our era. Andrea is also a board member and former board chair of Acumen. She supports a range of activities aimed at addressing climate change and reshaping capitalism and democracy to function better for all.

Andrea founded and was active for over 20 years in Trace Foundation, which supported the continuity, development, and vitality of Tibetan communities with a focus on those within China. She is a co-founder and trustee of Tsadra Foundation, which promotes the development of wisdom and compassion through the combined study and practice of Tibetan Buddhist traditions in the west. She is a former board chair of the French American School of New York and an advisor to Scenic Hudson and the Bard MBA program.

Colombel received her BA from the University of Chicago with honors in literature and holds a graduate certificate from the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.

Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican citizen and was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2010 - 2016.

During her tenure, Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, women’s groups, scientists and spiritual communities, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Under this Agreement, 195 sovereign governments decided on a collaborative path to limit future global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C in order to protect the most vulnerable in every nation. For this achievement Ms. Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy and received multiple awards.

Since then Ms. Figueres has continued to foster rapid action on climate change. She is the co-author of The Future We Choose, The Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis (Penguin Random House 2019) and co-host of the popular podcast Outrage and Optimism.  She sits on the Boards of ACCIONA and ACCIONA Energía.

She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics and has been awarded multiple honorary doctorate degrees from academic institutions such as Yale, University of Massachusetts, Georgetown and University of Edinburgh. After decades of living and working abroad, she has moved back to her beloved Costa Rica.  She has two fantastic daughters, Naima and Yihana, fountains of much joy.