Archon Fung directs the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and is the Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. He examines policies and practices that aim to deepen democracy, especially through public participation, deliberation, and transparency. His books include Empowering Affected Interests: Democratic Inclusion in A Globalized World,” (edited by Archon Fung and Sean W.D. Gray Cambridge University Press), Full Disclosure: The Perils and Promise of Transparency (Cambridge University Press, with Mary Graham and David Weil) and Empowered Participation: Reinventing Urban Democracy (Princeton University Press). He served as Academic Dean of the Kennedy School from 2014-2018 and was its Acting Dean in 2015. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and S.B.s in Physics and Philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Kirsten Gelsdorf is professor of practice in public policy and the Director of Global Humanitarian Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. She co-directs the UVA Humanitarian Collaborative, a research initiative bringing together scholars, global practitioners, and students to develop research and policy supporting the needs of vulnerable populations caught in humanitarian crisis. She has served as the Principal Investigator as well as co-led numerous applied research projects for organizations such as the United Nations (UN), American Red Cross, ELRA, Sesame Workshop, and German Government. She is the co-founder of Read for Action, a humanitarian book club initiative in partnership with the United Nations. She has also been elected to serve on Save the Children’s Strategic Advisory Group, the World Economic Forum Advisory Network, Humanitarian Innovation Fund Funding Committee, and as a Senior Fellow at the UN Centre for Humanitarian Data. 

Gelsdorf is the co-author of the book “Understanding the Humanitarian World.” She has also authored numerous high-profile policy reports that have been implemented by member states and adopted in key UN resolutions.  She has served as the Guest Editor of the Disasters Journal and Global Food Security Journal.  Her work has been profiled by National Public Radio, and she has contributed to the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and DevEx. She is also co-host of Beyond Aid, the limited series podcast produced with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.