Dr. Sanjeev Chopra is a retired IAS officer of the 1985 batch (West Bengal cadre) and former Director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), India's premier civil services training institution. Over a distinguished 36-year career, he served in multiple capacities across central and state governments, and has held the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at Cornell and the Robert S. McNamara Fellowship at the World Bank, as well as positions at the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and Harvard's Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute. He has written extensively on public policy, developmental issues, agriculture, rural economy, literature, and culture. His authored works include We, the People of the States of Bharat (2022) and The Great Conciliator: Lal Bahadur Shastri and the Transformation of India (2025), published by Bloomsbury. He is also Patron and Honorary Curator of the Valley of Words International Literature and Arts Festival, Dehradun.

Shri Anil Swarup is a retired IAS officer of the 1985 batch (Uttar Pradesh cadre) and one of India's most respected civil servants, known for his integrity and reform-driven leadership. A recipient of the Director's Gold Medal for best officer trainee at LBSNAA, he served in key roles across central and state governments, including as Coal Secretary and Secretary for School Education & Literacy. As Coal Secretary, he conducted transparent e-auctions of coal blocks following the Supreme Court's landmark cancellation of prior allocations, generating revenues of over ₹3 lakh crore for state governments. As Education Secretary, he fostered public-private partnerships to improve the quality of school education. He is the author of three books — No More a Civil Servant, Ethical Dilemmas of a Civil Servant, and Not Just a Civil Servant — and is Founder Chairman of the Nexus of Good Foundation.

Lt. Gen. Ajay Kumar Singh (Retd.), PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, is a distinguished veteran of the Indian Army and former Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. An alumnus of Sainik School Rewa and the National Defence Academy, he served as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Army's Southern Command before being appointed the 11th Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in July 2013, additionally holding charge of Puducherry from July 2014 to May 2016. He was commissioned into one of India's oldest regiments, the 7th Light Cavalry, on 17 June 1973. As Lieutenant Governor, he is credited with establishing Andaman's first medical college, ANIIMS, and the second degree college of South Andaman, ANCOL, leaving a lasting impact on the islands' educational and social infrastructure.