President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kauffman Foundation since 2002, Carl Schramm is one of the world's most recognized thought leaders on fostering and advancing entrepreneurship. The Economist has hailed Schramm as the "evangelist of entrepreneurship," and USA Today noted, "On every front, the Kauffman Foundation has worked intelligently to promote and sustain entrepreneurs - in the fields of entrepreneurship education, research, policy, economic development, and access to capital." Under his leadership, the Kauffman Foundation has developed innovative programs that: expose students to the power of entrepreneurship, open new pathways to effectively move university innovations into the marketplace, create better-qualified angel investors as a critical source of seed capital for entrepreneurs, and engage economists of the highest caliber to study the impact of entrepreneurship. Trained both as an economist and lawyer, Carl began his career on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. He found the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Care Finance and Management in 1980, the first such research center in the nation.

Professor C.K. Prahalad, the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan specializes in corporate strategy. He has been honored for his contributions with a Life Time Achievement Award by the Ross School of Business. He received honorary doctorates from the University of London (Economics), Stevens Institute of Technology (Engineering), University of Abertay, Dundee (Business) and University of Tilberg (Business). He was a member of the UN Blue Ribbon Commission on Private Sector and Development. Prof. Prahalad has consulted with the top management of many of the world's foremost companies. He serves on the Board of Directors of NCR Corporation, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and World Resources Institute.

A distinguished leader in Indian Business, G.N. Bajpai is credited with streamlining the securities watchdog and market regulator, SEBI. After studying law from Agra, Bajpai went on to obtain his Masters in Commerce from the University of Indore. Prior to becoming Chairman of the SEBI, Bajpai spent thirty-six years, including the last two as Chairman and CEO, at the Life Insurance Corporation of India. Under his stewardship, SEBI improved its procedures for enforcing compliance to ensure market integrity and for protecting the interests of investors and India became one of the few countries to introduce 'straight through processing' (STP) in the stock market. He also served as the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Task Force of International Organization of Securities Commissions, and Non-executive Chairman of National Stock Exchange of India. He was honored with the "Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Finance" conferred by CNBC Television Eighteen, and presented by the Prime Minister of India.

Nandan Nilekani is Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Infosys Technologies Limited. He is one of the founders of Infosys and has served as a director on the company's board since its inception in 1981. In January 2006, Nandan became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board. He is listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, 2006. Nandan co-founded India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). He is on the Board of Directors of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). In 2006, Nandan was conferred the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian honors awarded by the Government of India. Nandan received his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, India in 1978.