A South African mathematician who became vice- chancellor of Rhodes University in 2014. He previously served as deputy vice-chancellor: academic and student affairs.

Professor Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele is an academic and writer of fiction, former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Cape Town and former Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg. 

Served as the Dean of Education at the University of the Western Cape before joining the University of Zululand as DVC of Teaching and Learning in 2021. Her research is on language education policy and early literacy in African languages.

A retired South African businessman and the former CEO of South African gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti, a position he held from 1998 to 2007. 

Served as Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape in 2012. He was awarded the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Scholarship to study for his doctorate. Adjunct Professor at GSB(UCT) Allan Gray School for Values.

Served as the Dean of Education at the University of Pretoria for nine years before taking up the position of Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State. President of the SA Institute of Race Relations and of the SA Academy of Science.

In 2009 Snow was appointed to the Patricia Albjerg Graham Professorship in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, having previously held the Henry Lee Shattuck Professorship also in the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prof Snow played a leadership role on the influential National Reading Panel in the U.S.

Former member of parliament. He is currently establishing the "Right to Read and Write" within the SAHRC and is thus well-placed to monitor the realization of this right.

Former Senior Fellow and Lecturer at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.

Former partner and Chief Executive Officer, Sub Saharan Africa, Goldman Sachs. 

In the 1980's Colin was an anti-apartheid activist, and from 1989 deeply involved in South Africa’s constitutional transition from apartheid to democracy.

Hulisani Ravele is a formidable South African Broadcaster who has used her platform to be an advocate for reading and takes great pride in African languages and heritage.

A South African politician and businessman. He brings a wealth of experience and insight on the views and positions of organised labour.

Currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand. He holds an MPAID in International Economics from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Well known for her social justice activism, Noncedo is the first woman to be elected as the General Secretary of Equal Education.

Judy believes in the power of education to liberate and create more humane futures. She is a non-executive board director of Oxford University Press SA, a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, Fulbright Scholar and Tutu Fellow. She has an MA in Organisational Psychology from Columbia University.

She is an award-winning writer and human rights activist with extensive experience in literature and reading promotion activities.