Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, is Director of Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. His books include The End of Poverty, Common Wealth, The Age of Sustainable Development, Building the New American Economy, and most recently, A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism. From 2001-18, Sachs served as Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General, for Kofi Annan (2001-7), Ban Ki-moon (2008-16), and Antonio Guterres (2017-18).

Kaitlin Y. Cordes leads the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment’s work on investments in land and agriculture, as well as the Center's work on the intersection of human rights and international investment. Prior to joining CCSI, she worked with the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch and served as an advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food (Olivier De Schutter). She also has worked with a range of social justice organizations in the United States and India.