Kapila Vatsyayan - Eminent scholar, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Kapila Vatsyayan has served the government in several senior positions including Secretary, Department of Culture, and as President of the India International Centre (IIC). She was also Chairperson of Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (. The author of over 15 books and several research papers, she has in addition edited several volumes of fundamental significance. Dr Vatsyayan was conferred the Lalit Kala Ratna Award on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the Lalit Kala Akademi in August 2004.

B.N. Goswamy - Art historian
A distinguished art historian, Dr B. N. Goswamy is professor emeritus of the History of Art at Punjab University, Chandigarh. The recipient of many honours and fellowships, he has been visiting professor at some of the leading universities of the world, including Berkeley, Pennsylvania, Heidelberg, and Zurich. His work covers a wide range, and is regarded, especially in the area of Pahari painting, to have been very influential. In 1998, Dr B.N. Goswamy was honoured with Padma Shree.

Shekhar Gupta is the Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, a newspaper at the forefront of investigative and public-affairs journalism. He leads the nation’s largest network of award-winning journalists whose work has effected change in several areas, including government policy and legislation.. His weekly column called National Interest, has become a touchstone for new ideas in politics, governance, society, business and sports. He also hosts an interview-based programme Walk the Talk on NDTV 24x7. Shekhar has authored Assam: A Valley Divided and India Redefines Its Role, published by the OUP.. His newspaper won the Vienna-based International Press Institute’s first India Award for Outstanding Journalism in the Public Interest.

Anjolie Ela Menon - Eminent artist
One of India's most accomplished painters, she has created a body of work of great beauty and depth over the last four decades. Her paintings reveal a deep sensibility, profoundly individual in perception, yet diverse in its sympathies: often Indian in subject, yet dwelling in some undefined territory. Padmashree.

Keshav Desiraju is currently Joint Secretary in the Department of Higher Education of the Government of India and work primarily with issues of education policy, languages and UNESCO. He was educated in the universities of Bombay, Cambridge and Harvard and joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1978. He has worked in various capacities with the Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, as with the Government of India.

Laila Tyabji - Chairperson, Dastkar
Laila Tyabji Chairperson and Founder Member of DASTKAR, a Society for Crafts and Craftspeople. DASTKAR provides a variety of support services to traditional artisans; including training; product development, design and marketing and helping traditional Indian crafts regain their place in the economic mainstream.

Sushma K. Bahl - Art curator
An independent arts consultant and curator of cultural projects, Sushma Bahl headed the Department of Arts and Culture at the British Council, India, for almost three decades and directed their strategy, policy, and programmes.