Ryan Chilcote is an award-winning broadcaster, presenter, and journalist. A special correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, Chilcote divides his time between reporting, video production, documentaries, and media training. Prior to setting up his own production company, Ryan served as a business correspondent and presenter at Bloomberg Television and a CNN International Correspondent.

Ambassador-at-Large at Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kazakhstan

Jeanne Cavelier is a Paris-based journalist working for Reporters without Borders (RSF) as the head of their Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

Dana is a Kazakh social media producer and journalist for the Kazakh service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Afzal Amin is a former British Army Officer, he was a specialist in counterinsurgency strategy with his academic research focussing on non-state actors challenging state power.
He is currently CEO of London Expertise Ltd, a UK Based investment company specialising in infrastructure and exploration mining.
He speaks Russian and has been engaged in Kazakhstan for 7 years where his company has offices at the Astana International Financial Centre.

Joanna Lillis is a Kazakhstan-based journalist reporting on Central Asia who has lived and worked in the region since 2001, in Uzbekistan (2001-2005) and Kazakhstan (since 2005). Her work has featured in outlets including The Economist, the Guardian, the Independent, the Eurasianet website and Foreign Policy and POLITICO magazines.

She is the author of the book Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan.