Dr. Azeema Adam was appointed as the Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) in April 2014, and she is the first woman to hold the position. She joined MMA in 1991as a junior officer and has worked herself through the ranks over the years.  She holds an MSc in International Development and Finance from University of Leicester, UK, and PhD in Economics from the University of Canberra, Australia. Her PhD research was on the area of exchange rate issues in the Maldives, and her research interests include exchange rate, public finance and tourism economics. She is married with two children aged 9 and 12.

Sarah Iqbal manages the World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law project, examining how the legal environment affects women's employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. She also provides guidance on the intersection of the law and women’s economic activities in areas such as financial inclusion. Ms. Iqbal holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, an MA from Johns Hopkins University, and a JD from the University of California, Hastings, and is a member of the California Bar.

May Habib is co-founder and CEO of Qordoba, a multilingual content management technology company with offices in Dubai, Frankfurt, and San Francisco. Qordoba has won numerous growth and innovation awards and Habib has been the recipient of the Young CEO of the Year Award from Arabian Business magazine and named to the Top 30 Under 30 business leaders list. Qordoba’s growth record earned it a spot on the Arabia Fast Growth 500 list for 2013 and 2014, beating out hundreds of other fast-growing companies. Habib graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. 

Goldman Sachs Japan, Partner, Chief Japan equity strategist, Co-head of Asia Macro Research. She has been ranked #1 by Institutional Investor magazine multiple times, and selected by the Wall Street Journal as one of the "10 Women to Watch in Asia" for her work on "Womenomics.” Kathy is a board member of the Asian University for Women (AUW) Support Foundation and earned an AB from Harvard University and an MA from Johns Hopkins University-School of Advanced International Studies.

Ambassador Melanne Verveer is the Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. She is the founding partner of Seneca Point Global. Amb. Verveer recently served as the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues. She previously served as the Chair and Co-CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership. During the Clinton Administration, she served as Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady. Amb. Verveer holds a B.S. and M.S. from Georgetown University.