Oscar Murga has over thirty-five years of field, technical and managerial experience working on sustainable development, environmental and biodiversity conservation in Central America. He has worked with NGOs, rural communities and micro, small and medium enterprises, fostering sustainable development and environmentally sound actions that link productive activities with sustainable resource management, finance and specialized markets. Oscar is dedicated to fostering environmental and biodiversity conservation, improving productivity through participatory means and methods, including actions on climate change adaptation/mitigation/resilience. He has advised the UNDP in administration of the GEF Small Grants Program, alongside advisory roles with other international organizations addressing biodiversity conservation, environmental regulation, and mitigation plans. He has a strong commitment to enabling community-driven initiatives, indigenous peoples networks, and micro, small and medium enterprises access technical and financial resources for integrated approaches to development, climate change resilience and nature conservation. Oscar has supported allocation of circa US$20 million towards such initiatives in five countries of Central America, working in rural areas of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. He holds a Ph.D. In Sociology from the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca.

Jagdeesh is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Omidyar Network India. A past Chief Executive of the Foundation for Ecological Security, he is currently designing an initiative promoting systems leadership for environmental governance and resilient rural livelihoods for his residency. An engaged practitioner, his entire professional life has been centered around furthering judicious management of natural resources, especially common land and water, with community institutions playing a central role. Recognized as an international leader in advancing conservation and restoration of the commons for rural livelihoods, Jagdeesh is the recipient of the prestigious Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2015) and was named a Rainer Arnold Conservation Fellow (2017). He is particularly interested in the application of ‘systems thinking’ at the interface of ecology, society and economy to address the interrelated issues of poverty and environmental degradation. A graduate in Agricultural Sciences, Jagdeesh completed his post-graduate training in Rural Management at the Institute of Rural Management, India, followed by a post-graduate degree in Forestry for Rural Development from the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences, Netherlands. Jagdeesh is a founding member of the CoRe advisory committee.

Melissa D. Ho, Ph.D. is a senior executive and trusted advisor with more than 20 years of leadership experience across philanthropy, government, and global nonprofits. She brings deep expertise in strategy, program execution, governance, and partnership building at the intersection of agriculture and food systems, freshwater conservation, climate resilience, and market-based solutions. Trained as a scientist and systems thinker, Melissa is known for translating complex technical and policy challenges into practical strategies that deliver sustainable, community-led impact. She has built and overseen large, multi-country portfolios, collaborated closely with boards and executive leadership, and fostered cross-sector partnerships among public, private, philanthropic, and research institutions. Previously, Melissa served in senior leadership roles at World Wildlife Fund, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, USAID, and the Gates Foundation, where she directed major investments and teams focused on food and water security, livelihoods, climate adaptation, and sustainable infrastructure. She has also served as a policy advisor in the U.S. Congress, and on the board of global nonprofits that promote digital, financial, and market-based solutions for smallholder farmers. Melissa holds a Ph.D. in plant biology, an M.Sc. in soil science, and a B.Sc. in environmental science. She is based in Washington, DC.

Frank Matose is professor and environmental sociologist in the Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, South Africa. His research focuses on the political ecology of conservation, collaborative forest management, and commons governance in Africa. His current research project is titled Resilient and Equitable Nature-based Pathways in Southern African Rangelands (REPAiR). His latest book is titled: Forests and the power of Marginalised People in Southern Africa: Politics of Chronic Liminality, James Currey (2025). He recently co-published Reclaiming African Environmentalism: Ecological Struggles for Wellbeing and Habitability, with Lesley Green, Anselmo Matusse and Nikiwe Solomon, HSRC Press: Cape Town (2025) and The Violence of Conservation in Africa with Maano Ramutsindela and Tafadzwa Mushonga (2022). He serves on the advisory board of The Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA). He also serves as an interim of chair of the Advisory Committee of the Collaborating for Resilience (CoRe) and an affiliate editor of World Development.

Christel Scholten is the Managing Director of the Brazilian office of Reos Partners, an international social enterprise that uses a systemic, collaborative and creative approach to address complex social challenges. She designs and facilitates multi-stakeholder processes to transform social systems. Recent projects include a multisectoral platform for collaboration and innovation in the fashion industry, scenario processes on the future of education at both national and local levels, and others in the areas of ​​sustainable development, conservation, health, women and violence, education, early childhood development, social and economic inclusion, and social innovation. She provides capacity building and facilitates workshops on systems thinking and mapping, social transformation, collaboration, Social Lab and Transformative Scenario methodologies and designs and guides nature retreats and experiences. Prior to joining Reos in 2009, Christel was Superintendent of Sustainable Development at Banco Real in Brazil after working at ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam. At Banco Real, she was responsible for integrating sustainability into the organization's strategy, governance, policies, processes and educational programs. Christel holds a bachelor's degree in business from Saskatchewan University, Canada and a master's degree in Sustainability from Bath University, England. Christel is Canadian and has lived in several countries including Mexico, India, the Netherlands and Bangladesh. She currently lives close to São Paulo, Brazil with her husband and three children.

Blake is Executive Director of Collaborating for Resilience, and member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility, where he provides guidance on the design of GEF strategy in the areas of international waters, environmental security and resilience. He is the immediate past Director General of WorldFish, which works to strengthen food and nutrition security for millions of small-scale producers, processors, traders and poor consumers in South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. An environmental sociologist with a Ph.D. from Cornell University, Blake’s research addresses social equity, ethics, resource conflict and the role of multi-stakeholder dialogue in environmental governance. Early in his career he worked with social entrepreneurs in Guatemala and the Palestinian Occupied Territories, and subsequently held posts with the World Resources Institute and the World Bank. Blake has been based for 13 years cumulatively in Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia, in addition to leading program implementation in China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia. His working languages are English, French and Spanish; he has also worked professionally in spoken Khmer and Arabic.