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Dr. Tatiana Carayannis currently serves as global affairs and technology advisor at the Institute for Advanced Study’s Nelson Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab. Until recently, she was the program director of the Social Science Research Council’s Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum (the UN’s “think bridge”); the Understanding Violent Conflict program; the China and Global South Project; and the Academic Network on Peace, Security, and the UN. Carayannis also had a visiting appointment at the London School of Economics and Political Science's Africa Centre and Department of International Development, where she also served as a research director for the Centre for Public Authority and International Development (CPAID). She founded and convened the DRC Affinity Group, a small brain trust of leading Congo scholars and analysts and served as the Congo research director of the Conflict Research Programme, an international research collaboration funded by the UK government.

A leading scholar specializing in international organizations, particularly focused on Central Africa/DR Congo, she has over two decades of expertise in conceptualizing and implementing programs that strengthen the empirical foundations of international public policy in support of the UN and its partners. Before joining the SSRC, she managed a research and publication program on the intellectual history of the United Nations at The City University of New York's Ralph Bunche Institute for International Affairs.

Her first book (coauthored) is UN Voices: The Struggle for Development and Social Justice (Indiana University Press, 2005) and her second (co-edited) is Making Sense of the Central African Republic (Zed Books, 2015). Her third book is The Third UN: How Knowledge Brokers Help the UN Think (Oxford University Press, 2021). Two other book projects are in progress: Pioneers of Peacekeeping: ONUC 1960–1964; and Anatomy of Rebellion: JP Bemba and the Mouvement de Liberation du Congo.

She has been interviewed by the BBC, Al Jazeera, The Financial Times, France 24, among others. Carayannis holds a PhD and MPhil in political science (international relations and comparative politics) from The City University of New York Graduate Center, and an MA in political science from New York University. She was a USIP Jennings Randolph Fellow and Mellon Fellow for Security and Humanitarian Action and has lectured at The City University of NY, the University of Edinburgh, Columbia University, Ghent University, and Adelphi University among others. The daughter of Greek parents working in the UN, Carayannis is fluent in English, French, and Greek, grew up in Central and West Africa, and travels frequently to the region.

Bill Cunningham has had a long career in New York politics and government, as well as in the private and not-for-profit sectors. Since 2021, Cunningham has run his own consultancy, working with companies and organizations in need of communications and political strategy. In 2019, Cunningham served as Senior Vice President for Communications at The Doe Fund (TDF) as that organization expanded its services for homeless and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Prior to his work at TDF, Cunningham joined DKC, a public relations and crisis communications firm, as Managing Director in January 2006, after serving Mayor Michael Bloomberg for five years as Communications Director. In this role, Cunningham helped shape the media outreach of the Mayor's Office as well as over 50 city agencies. He advised the Mayor on a broad range of subjects including policy, politics, and communication strategies. Cunningham's career in public service dates to 1975, when he served on the senior staff of New York Governors Hugh L. Carey and Mario M. Cuomo. He was Chief of Staff for the late Senator Daniel P. Moynihan and managed his last campaign in 1994.

In addition to the campaigns of Senator Moynihan and Governors Carey and Cuomo, Cunningham has been a senior advisor to campaigns at all levels of politics. He has also served as Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Committee.

In the private sector, Cunningham has worked as a consultant, advising trade associations, major corporations, professional service firms, and organized statewide and regional public information campaigns. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Brooklyn College and an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.