Dr. Hilda Cathy Heine was the eighth President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands from 2016 -2020. She was also the first woman to serve as president and head of state in any Micronesian country. Dr Heine also served as Minister of Education. Her current role is as a senator representing Aur Atoll. In 1987, she co-founded the women's rights group Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI). As President, Dr Heine has been a strong advocate for decisive climate action, urging all countries to take action to reduce greenhouse gasses. She is chair and Pro-Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific Board. She is also a member of the East West Centre and many international forums.

Emerita Professor Margaret Jolly AM FASSA, was an ARC Laureate Fellow 2010-2016 and is an Emerita Professor in the School of Culture, History and Language in the College of Asia and the Pacific and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia since 1999. She is a transdisciplinary scholar of gender and Pacific studies who has written extensively on gender in Oceania, on exploratory voyages and travel writing, missions and contemporary Christianity, maternity and sexuality, cinema and art. She is currently focused on gender and climate change in Oceania.