Mr Maanka A. Chipindi is a seasoned arts administrator, project manager and consultant with a 15-year journey behind him in spearheading the creative and cultural sectors of Zambia. His areas of expertise include creative business operations, project management, strategic planning, as well as policy development, implementation and technical support for the advancement of the arts.    

Currently, Mr Chipindi is Director and CEO, National Arts Council of Zambia. His tenure at the National Arts Council has established him as a well-known and widely respected arts leader with an expansive network within and beyond the creative industries.  

Mr Chipindi is a Fulbright Scholar alumnus.  He recently completed the IFACCA-Globus Fellowship 2024-2025, part of the learning and exchange programme launched by IFACCA in collaboration with the Nordic Culture Fund's global initiative Globus.

Ms Michelle Chawla is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Council for the Arts, a role she commenced on 26 June 2023.    

Prior to this appointment, she was the Director General of Strategy, Public Affairs and Arts Engagement, responsible for the executive leadership and direction of a wide range of functions, including strategy development, communications, partnerships, strategic planning, research, international coordination, and cultural diplomacy. She has previously held the position of Secretary-General at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. Ms Chawla has a wealth of experience in leadership roles, particularly in arts and culture policy, equity and inclusion, corporate governance, government relations, and transformation initiatives.     

Ms Chawla is bilingual, with a Punjabi and Quebecois background, and is a proud member of the Sikh community. She is passionate about ensuring that diverse voices are valued, heard, and respected through arts and culture.  

Adrian Collette AM is Chief Executive Officer of Creative Australia. Mr Collette held the position of Chief Executive of Opera Australia, Australia’s largest performing arts company for 16 years. He also worked in book publishing for a decade, including as Managing Director, Reed Books, a Division of Reed Elsevier. His previous role of Vice-Principal (Engagement) at the University of Melbourne included the oversight of the University’s museums and galleries and its many arts sector partnerships. He served on the Australia Council Board since 1 July 2013.

He was made a member of the Order of Australia in 2008 for service to the performing arts particularly through executive roles with Opera Australia, as a mentor to young artists, to publishing and to the community. 

Nguyen Phuong Hoa has been working at the Ministry of Culture of Viet Nam for more than 15 years. She is one of the main authors of Vietnam's National Strategy on International Cultural Relations and has been actively involved in organising numerous Vietnamese cultural days abroad as well as hosting a number of international art festivals in Viet Nam. She is the national contact point for 2005 UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions and has strongly supported and advocated for the National Strategy for the development of Vietnamese Cultural Industries vision 2030. She has extensive experience in leading her team to implement cultural cooperation agreements with several countries. She also took part in the copyright negotiation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).

She was Commissioner General of Viet Nam Section in Expo 2020 Dubai and also serves as Vice President of Viet Nam's Association of Film Promotion and Development. Nguyen Phuong Hoa holds a BA in International Relations (Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam) and a MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Administration from Goldsmiths, University of London, the United Kingdom.

Mr Yu Hailin started his career in 1988, and thanks to his work experience as a diplomat in the Embassy of China in Iraq and Egypt respectively, he is blessed with in-depth capacity of international communications. In 2024, Mr Yu took the office of Director General of International Cooperation Department of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC), in charge of the implementation of CFLAC’s international exchanges and collaboration events with foreign counterparts, such as China Today Arts Week (CTAW) in 2025 and the 13th China International Folk Arts Festival (CIFAF). Mr Yu holds a Bachelor Degree of Literature and once continued his linguistic education in Kuwait University. He is proficient in Arabic and capable of English understanding. 

Mr Emile Kairua is Secretary and Head of Ministry, Ministry of Cultural Development, Cook Islands. He has an extensive background in marketing and public relations, driving business development efforts in tourism and travel related businesses in the Cook Islands.     

Prior to joining the Ministry, Mr Kairua has held various positions including being on the first Māori Language Commission. He has worked as Producer and Director of Kairoi, a five-hour a week cultural TV programme at Cook Islands Broadcasting. Subsequently, he served as General Manager and Managing Director at Cook Islands Broadcasting. Mr Kairua has previously worked as Product and Marketing Manager for Island Hopper Vacations and at The Edgewater Resort and Spa, serving as the Director of Sales and Marketing, Cultural Ambassador and General Manager.  

Mr Humberto López La Bella is currently the Director General of the Cabinet at the National Secretariat of Culture, Paraguay. He has formerly served as the Director General of Planning, Development and Cultural Innovation, as well as the Director General of Diversity, Rights and Cultural Processes at the same institution. He represents Paraguay for the Iberculturaviva programme, a cultural cooperation initiative that promotes intercultural dialogue, exchange, and collaboration among Ibero-American countries, and serves as an alternate representative of Paraguay before the Ibero-American Network of Cultural Diplomacy.   

Mr López La Bella holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Management from the International University of Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain) and a postgraduate degree in International Cultural Cooperation and Management from the University of Barcelona (Spain). He teaches cultural management and financing of the arts at the National University of Asunción, Paraguay.    

Mr López La Bella is an IFACCA-Globus Fellow 2024-2025, part of the learning and exchange programme launched by IFACCA in collaboration with the Nordic Culture Fund's global initiative Globus.  

Mr Rafael Ivorra Zaragoza is the Deputy Director General for International Relations and the European Union in the Ministry of Culture. He began his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, holding various positions in the field of international legal advisory. Notably, he served as Coordinator of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union (2023) at the Ministry of Higher Education and Universities and as Afghan Affairs Counsellor at the Spanish Embassy in Pakistan. Additionally, he has worked as a diplomatic advisor to the Minister of Higher Education and the Minister of Culture in Spain.  

Since 2024, Mr Ivorra Zaragoza has been a Board Member of Acción Cultural Española, a public institution dedicated to promoting and disseminating Spanish culture and heritage both nationally and internationally. He has also taught at ICADE School of Law, training future diplomats. Additionally, he has specialised training in translation and is a sworn German-Spanish translator with expertise in Law. 

Mr Iain Munro is Creative Scotland’s Chief Executive and Accountable Officer, prior to that he was Deputy Chief Executive.

Mr Munro's earlier career saw him study music before diversifying into Economics and Surveying, becoming a specialist in Cultural Development and working internationally before returning to the UK to help establish the National Lottery for the Arts.

Mr Munro held a number of roles at the Scottish Arts Council including Director of the National Lottery and Co-Director of Arts, before joining Creative Scotland as Director of Creative Development. He led developments in arts policy, participation, equalities, audience and organisational change and development, capital development, and special projects such as the London 2012 Olympics and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Cultural Programmes in Scotland. He also led the formation and establishment of Screen Scotland to drive forward the growth of the Screen sector in Scotland, and is currently a member of the UK Government Creative Industries Council.