Julian Braithwaite joined the FCO (now the FCDO) in 1994. He spent much of his early career dealing with the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, first in the FCO during the war in Bosnia, with the UN at the end of the war in Croatia, in Belgrade in the run up to the conflict in Kosovo, on secondment in NATO during that conflict, and then with Lord Ashdown in Bosnia. He has worked twice in Downing Street, first for four years as a press officer and then speechwriter for Prime Minister Tony Blair, and then running the Government’s communication campaign during the Libya crisis in 2011. He has served in Washington and in Brussels, as the UK’s Ambassador to the EU Political and Security Committee, before being appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, World Trade Organisation and other international institutions in Geneva.

Kerstin Forsberg is Founder and Director of Planeta Océano, a Peruvian non-profit organization empowering coastal communities in marine conservation through research, education and sustainable development efforts. She is Board Member of the international non-profit Migramar and has served as a consultant for the private, governmental and inter-governmental sectors, including UNESCO and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. As a public speaker, she has presented in over 16 countries, in venues including the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, the United Nations Headquarters and the Royal Geographic Society.