José María Figueres
Co-Chief Executive Officer, World Economic Forum

Augusto López Claros
Chief Economist and Director, Global Competitiveness Programme, World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is an independent organization committed to improving the state of the world. Funded by the contributions of 1,000 of the world's foremost corporations, the Forum acts in the spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest to further economic growth and social progress.

José María Figueres
Personal Profile:
1979, Bachelor's in Engineering, United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point; 1991, MPA, Kennedy School of Public Administration, Harvard University. 1980-84, General Manager, Fibers of Central America. 1984-87, President, San Cristobal Agroindustrial Group. 1987-88, Minister of Foreign Trade. 1988-90, Minister of Agriculture. 1994-98, President of Costa Rica; currently, Co-Chief Executive Officer, World Economic Forum.
Chairman of the Board of Leadership in Environment and Development (LEAD). Member of the Board of Directors: World Resources Institute (WRI). Chairperson, UN ICT Task Force. Expertise: environment and information technology.

Augusto López Claros
Personal Profile:
Degree in Mathematical Statistics, Cambridge University; PhD in Economics, Duke University. Formerly: Professor, University of Chile, Santiago; 1992-95, Resident Representative, International Monetary Fund, Russian Federation; Executive Director and Senior International Economist, Lehman Brothers, London. Currently, Chief Economist and Director, Global Competitiveness Programme, World Economic Forum. Author of numerous articles on international economic issues, including: The Search for Efficiency in the Adjustment Process: Spain in the 1980s (1988); The European Monetary System: Developments and Perspectives (co-author, 1990); Fiscal Policy Issues During the Transition in Russia (1998); Ten Years of Russian Economic Reform (2002); Reforming the IMF (2002); The Role of the International Financial Organizations During the Transition in Russia (2003). Interests: the role of interdependence and cooperation in the emergence of global institutions; the importance of international institutions in their role of promoting and safeguarding human prosperity; examining the meaning and implications of "better management of the globalization process."