Dr Vibha Dhawan is associated with The Energy and Resources Institute since 1985. She also served as the Vice-Chancellor of TERI School of Advanced Studies from 2005-2007. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Dr Dhawan is actively involved in research as well as policy development, both at the national and international level. She is a task force member of a number of committees of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), the Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) etc.

She is currently serving as Adjunct Professor, Consul General South Asia Partnership, Michigan State University. She has successfully completed a number of international assignment such as co-ordinator for the Asia Pacific Consortium on Agriculture Biotechnology (APCoAB); Advisor to Director General, The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT); and Deputy Director, Research Partnerships & Co-ordination with the Borlaug Institute for South Asia. She has served on the boards of Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Ambedkar University, Ayurvet Foundation and Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI).

She is the winner of Indian Women Achievers Sammaan 2017 by NRI Achievers; Women Leadership Agriculture Award 2016 by the Indian Council of Food & Agriculture; First Biotech Product and Process Development and Commercialization Award of the Department of Biotechnology in 2000 and the Kamal Kumari National Award for Science and Technology and the first All India Biotech Association (AIBA) award in 1998.

Born of a reasonably well to do family of UP in 1946, my upbringing took place in a highly literary and spiritual environment. Our life in UP was very simple and disciplined. At the same time there was plenty of exposure to very affluent living and hence there was no undue attraction towards wealth because it had been lived and experienced at a very close range.

Health, Naturopathy and Yoga have always been my line. Between 1996-99, I was drawn towards advance Yoga and Naturopathy and around the same time, as I was a diploma holder in Naturopathy, I started running a small health center which extended various Alternative Therapies along with the treatments from the Rife and John Wright Machines to its patients. We successfully treated some very difficult cases.

From 1986 to 2001 was dedicated to spirituality where I was immersed in Advait philosophy of the Bhagwat Gita. Satsangs and discourses were the order of the day. This prepared the ground for social service.

In 1999, I came in contact with Sri Sri Ravi Shanker of the Art of Living Foundation and his message of celebration and service stirred me to apply myself to service in rural areas.

In 2001, I was moved by the plight of the famine stricken in Rajasthan and as my husband’s family hails from there, wanted to find a permanent solution for them. In that context I saw the work of some NGO’s already working in Rajasthan, marveled at their achievements and decide to replicate their model.

The main idea I got from them was to have active participation of the community at all stages of decision making and get them to contribute all the stone, gravel and water required for the construction. Also contribute 1/3rd towards the earthen work by way of labour. In this way they feel it is their check dam and are willing to maintain it when it is handed over to them after the completion of the check dam .

The total contribution of the beneficiary society becomes 30-40% .

It is only because of this practice that my work has become highly sustainable.

I believe that the two foremost issues in our country, which need immediate attention are Water and Education, hence, which ever village I enter for doing water harvesting, the issue of primary education is also taken up, depending upon the willingness and enthusiasm shown by the local people.

Mr. Ayyappa Masagi is popularly known as the ‘Water Warrior’ who is the founder of Rainwater Concepts and Water Literacy Foundation in Bangalore. After serving in L&T, Bangalore as a Mechanical Engineer for 23 years, he decided to become a social entrepreneur in the field of water conservation. He Constructed Training center “Jala Samruddhi” to build Water Warriors, Water Soldiers and Educated Farmers. This is aiming to achieve the vision to build water efficient nation by 2025. He holds the Limca book of records for highest number of borewells recharged and highest number of lakes constructed. He has won several awards; recent ones include India Today Group – Swachh Bharat award 2019; Kirloskar Vasundara Samman award 2019 and International Rotary Hero Award 2021.

Bahar Dutt is trained as a conservation biologist- and has worked for the last twenty years in India and abroad on key environmental issues. She has worked as an Environment Editor with India’s leading English newschannel CNN-IBN and has won over 12 national and international awards for her reportage on green issues. She is the author of a recent book ‘Green Wars- Dispatches from a Vanishing World by Harper Collins and Rewilding in India with Oxford University Press. She is an Associate Professor at the Shiv Nadar University along with hosting a weekly podcast for the Observer Research Foundation .

With four decades of experience in building gender sensitive institutions for the empowerment of rural marginalized communities, Nafisa Barot is actively associated with various movements, influencing people and policies around water, gender justice and sustainable development.

Persevering to understand what options communities might have for development and hope in coastal Gujarat, efforts in working with women with a potential for leadership and with stamina to face barriers to change, led her to co found Utthan in 1981. Today, Utthan has established its identity in successfully demonstrating how gender sensitive institutional mechanisms and technologies through women’s leadership and community participation can address the issues of the most marginalized. In 2016, she instituted leadership succession within Utthan, a marker of her belief in ensuring institutional sustainability.

Nafisa has served on Government task forces of CAPART, NABARD, DWACRA, Planning Commission amongst a few. She is a founder Board member of Mahiti, Development Support Centre, Pravah and Working Group for Women & Land Ownership and India Wash Forum. She is currently on the Steering Committees of Water Conflict Forum and Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch. She has also published several articles on gender/water governance and community agency and been invited to speak at national and international forums.

Nafisa is a recipient of ATREE’s T.N Khoshoo Memorial Award, 2005 for exemplary work in conservation and sustainable development. Her sectoral leadership and contributions to the establishment and promotion of community-based initiatives on WASH, roles and needs of women, led to her win the International Water Association’s Women in Water Award, 2020.

Nafisa continues to be on the Board of Utthan and formally mentors Utthan’s new leadership. She also engages in various capacities in the broad sector of water, gender and conflict transformation.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food and Nutrition from M.S. University, Baroda.

Mr. Bharat Lal joined Civil Service in July 1988 and presently working as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. He is handling ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, a flagship programme, which aims at enabling ‘Functional Household Tap Connection’ i.e., assured potable water supply to every rural household by 2024. He played a pivotal role in formulating, planning and implementing decentralised, demand-driven and community-managed water supply, sanitation and water resource management for ensuring water security in drought prone Gujarat State. Post-earthquake in Gujarat, he haad set-up Water and Sanitation Management Organization (WASMO) in 2002 which facilitated potable water to every household and exemplary work has been done in the drinking water sector. This has been acknowledged by conferring Prime Minister’s Civil Services Award, Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) Award and United Nation’s Public Service Award to WASMO. He has the privilege of working with Hon’ble Prime Minister of India since 2001, when he became Chief Minister of Gujarat. Presently, he is in the team managing pandemic caused by Coronavirus in the country.

Mr Prakash Javadekar is presently Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Information and Broadcasting and Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises. Among other portfolios, he has been Union Minister of Human Resource Development - 5th July 2016 to 30th May 2019, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from Maharashtra. He led Student Movement under ABVP including organizing Satyagraha against Emergency Rule when he was also imprisoned between 1975–1977. In terms of social work, he successfully completed Government of India’s Watershed Development Project in Kolvan Valley of Mulshi Tehsil of Pune District between 1996–2000. He won the Sir Purshottam Das Thakur Memorial National Award, for research Paper on "Rural Development and Banks’ Role in Coordinated Approach".

Dr S K Sarkar is Distinguished Fellow and Senior Director at TERI. He heads the Natural Resources and Climate Programme and is currently associated with TERI since September 2014. During 1998 till 2003 Dr Sarkar worked as Senior Fellow, TERI, and during 2005-2007 as Director, Division of Regulatory Studies and Governance in TERI. He is a Doctorate in Economics (1991) from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York.

Dr Sarkar is an IAS officer (retired). He is a former Secretary to the GoI in the Ministry of Water Resources. He served other Ministries including Finance Ministry in the Government of India, and worked in various capacities with Government of West Bengal. He worked as Member Secretary, West Bengal Pollution Control Board under State Environment Department during 2003-05 and formulated policies on plastic waste management. He also worked as consultant with the Asian Development Bank and with the World Bank/PPIAF (Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility).

Dr Sarkar has got several publications to his credit, has authored and edited books on infrastructure issue and has presented a number of important papers in several conferences.

He taught a course on “Public Policy” in the Kabul University (2007), Afghanistan, and also at TERI University.

Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque is currently UNICEF Representative to India. Starting her careerwith UNICEF as a Health Officerin Bangladeshin 1996, Dr.Haquehas held leadership roles inthe Office of Emergency Programmesat the UNICEF Headquarters in New York and at its Country Offices inSouth Sudan, Ghana and Sri Lanka.

Her leadership and professional experience spans over a wide range offields including policy analysis, strategic planning for maternal health and maternal mortality reduction, child rights, child-centric development programmingand large-scale responsesfor children in humanitariancrises.

A national of Bangladesh, Dr. Haqueis a medical doctor trained in Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh,and holds a Masterof Science in Health Systems Management from the Universityof London, United Kingdom.

Vikram is the founder of Editorji Technologies - a start-up that seeks to transform video news through innovation in user experience, using artificial intelligence. Editorji provides personalised video newscasts on mobile phones and can be downloaded at editorji.com/download.

In his earlier avatar, Vikram was one of India's best -known TV news anchor, presenting shows like "The Big Fight", 9 o’clock News and Gadget Guru together with programmes for social transformation such as the Cleanathon, Greenathon and “Save our Tigers”. He has helped pioneer innovations such as news on mobile phones, the live streaming of video on the internet and the first major news app in India. 

Vikram has been named ‘Global Leader for Tomorrow’ by the World Economic Forum in Davos; and has won the Indian Television Academy Award for "Best Anchor for a Talk Show", the Hero Honda Award for Best Anchorperson and the Teacher's Achievement Award for Communication, along with featuring in the top 20 on the Impact list of the Digital Power 100. He was educated at Oxford University and St Stephen’s College, before attending the Mass Media Institute at Stanford University. 

Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1982 and has served as Ambassador of India to the European Union, Belgium, Luxembourg and Nepal. Earlier he had served as Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the UN during the time that India was on the Security Council. He retired on 31 December 2019 in the rank of Secretary, Government of India.

Ambassador Puri has also headed the division in the Ministry of External Affairs dealing with UN issues on the social and economic side and been involved as a lead member of the Indian delegation at numerous global negotiations on climate change, sustainable development, migration, human rights and UN reforms. In addition, he has served twice in Germany (in Bonn and Berlin), in Cape Town, Muscat, Bangkok and Caracas.

Major areas of his experience and professional focus relate to the environment, particularly climate change and sustainable development. He was a lead negotiator for India at the UN on issues relating to the post 2015 development agenda, Sustainable Development Goals and at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012. He was a key member of India's delegation at various Climate Change negotiations, including the Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen in December 2009 and before that at Montreal, Bali, Bonn and Poznan. Furthermore, he was involved with India's participation in the G8-G5 Summits from 2005 and was the point-person for the Major Economies Forum.

Ambassador Puri has a Master’s degree in Management and did his BA (Honours) in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. He is presently Distinguished Fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Dr Shresth Tayal is a Senior Fellow with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, is acting as Area Convenor of its Centre for Himalayan Ecology and responsible for coordinating integrated research at high altitudes, for adaptation of local communities in Himalayas. He obtained his doctoral degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on ‘Glacier Hydrological Systems’. With his 17 years of experience in the field of hydrology, he is involved in a number of projects related to hydrological modelling, integrated water resources management (IWRM), and analysing the impacts of climate change on water resources of the region.