Nathan George spent 18 years as an entrepreneur in the software industry, working for Ericsson, Siemens and Verint Systems in Europe and California. Five years ago, he made a risky move from the UK to California where he started Trade as One, an online fair trade company that uses consumer spending to create jobs for some of the most disadvantaged people in the world. A passionate believer in the role that business has in breaking cycles of poverty and abuse, he speaks regularly at conferences to challenge both consumers and business leaders to see trade rather than aid as the way to address many of the intractable problems in the developing world. Self described as a business development specialist, amateur theologian and bad but improving surfer, Nathan lives with his wife, three very active boys and faithful yellow lab in Santa Cruz.



Nishan de Mel graduated with honors in Economics from Harvard University and completed his M.Phil and Ph.D in Economics at the University of Oxford. His undergraduate thesis was titled, "The Pitfalls and Possibilities of Poverty Alleviation in Sri Lanka"; a theme which continued to inform his research and public policy engagements in subsequent years. Nishan has held several governing, teaching, and research positions internationally as well as in Sri Lanka. He served as a Member of the Board of Directors and Executive Director at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, a Member of the Presidential Committee on Tobacco, Alcohol and Dangerous Drug Regulation, a Member of the National Steering Committee on Social Security, a Member of the Presidential Task Force on Health Sector Reforms, and as the Executive Director at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies. He was a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Oxford from 2003 to 2007. He is presently the Executive Director of Verité Research (Pvt.) Ltd., specializing in strategic analysis and advice for policy makers, corporate leaders and Members of Parliament in Sri Lanka and in the region.

Debbie Hall currently serves as Board Chair for Village Enterprise, a nonprofit working in East Africa to help people in extreme poverty create sustainable businesses. For the past fifteen years, Debbie has pursued a passion for the issue of poverty alleviation.  She received a BA in economics from Duke University and an MBA from Stanford University. Her professional career has included consulting and marketing positions with The Boston Consulting Group, Metaphor Computer Systems, and Banner Blue Software. She lives in Menlo Park, CA, with her husband Russ and daughter, Melissa.