Kate Weaver received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003. From 2001 to 2002, she was a Brookings Research Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies, and from 2002 to 2008 an assistant professor of political science at the University of Kansas. Dr. Weaver's research focuses on the culture, behavior and reform of international financial institutions, foremost the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as issues of transparency and accountability in international development aid. Most recently, she has been working on developing and testing methodologies to track and dynamically geomap international development aid and climate adaptation resources using GIS technology and fieldwork in Africa. She also conducts research on a wide range of issues related to the shifting power, players and paradigms in global economic governance.

Stephen Slick is the inaugural Director of the Intelligence Studies Project at The University of Texas at Austin. He retired in 2014 after 28 years as a member of CIA's clandestine service. Between 2005 and 2009, he was a special assistant to the president and the Senior Director for Intelligence Programs and Reform on the staff of the National Security Council. He was previously the Director for Intelligence Programs at the NSC. While serving at the White House, he participated in efforts to restructure and reform the intelligence community informed by recommendations of the commissions charged with investigating the 9/11 attacks and the flawed pre-war analysis of Iraq's unconventional weapons programs. He completed five overseas tours as a CIA operations officer and manager, including service as the chief of station and director of national intelligence's representative in a Middle Eastern capital. He received CIA's Medal of Merit, Commendation Medal and other awards.