Joyce Banda formerly known as Joyce Hilda Ntilda was born on the 12th day of April 1950 in a little village called Malemia under Zomba district of Malawi. She was a mother of three children, once married to Mr Roy Kachale and they lived in Kenya. After her abusive marriage with Mr Roy ended in 1981, she fled with her children back to Malawi. There she met Mr Richard Banda who is a one-time Chief Justice of the Republic of Malawi. Their marriage is blessed with two children.

Zaina Erhaim is a Syrian journalist and the 2015 winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.

Yoani Sanchez, a University of Havana graduate in philology, migrated to Switzerland in 2002, to build a new life for herself and her family. Two years later, she decided to return to Cuba, promising herself to live there as a free person. Her blog Generation Y is an expression of this promise.

Ory Okolloh Mwangi is a Kenyan activist, lawyer, and blogger. She is Director of Investments at Omidyar Network. She was formerly the Policy Manager for Africa with Google.