Ömer Arısoy was born in 1974 in Çamlıhemşin, Rize. He completed his primary, elementary and high school education in his hometown. In 1989, he started his college education at Marmara University, Faculty of Communication, College of Press. After three years, in 1992, he quit his education at Marmara University for Law School at İstanbul University. He graduated from Law School in 1997. Following his graduation and a period of working as an independent lawyer, Mr. Arısoy serves as Advisor to the Mayor of Zeytinburnu from 1999 to 2004. Between 2004 and 2014, he worked as Deputy Mayor of Zeytinburnu, responsible for Legal, Cultural, Information Processing, Editorial Office and Human Rights Affairs. He also performed the duties of President of Council and of Tender Committee as well as managed the Zeytinburnu Municipality Culture Publications. From October 2014 to September 2016, Mr. Arısoy worked as the President of the Mass Housing Administration’s Strategy Development Department. Between September 2016 and July 2018, he was the Undersecretary for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. On July 21, 2018, Mr. Arısoy was appointed as the Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. On November 30, 2018, he quit his role for candidacy for the Mayoral elections. On  March 31, 2019, He was elected as the Mayor of Zeytinburnu Municipality. Mr. Arısoy is married and father of two children. He speakers English.

Nuray Karaoğlu was born in 1960. She studied International Relations and Administrative Sciences. Ms. Karaoğlu who has been a member of several civil society organizations was the President of Göztepe Rotary Club between 2002 and 2003. Used to be a Member of KAGİDER, Ms. Karaoğlu became a Member of KA.DER in 2004. Ms. Karaoğlu who is married and the mother of three children is also Member of Board of Management at Nesa Broadcasting and Media Production. She participated in Women Entrepreneurship, inter-organizational communication, Gender Equality trainings and Kota Training, Bahçeşehir University Political Science, Erickson Denge Merkezi NLP Practitioner Certificate Programs. She has been the Chairwoman of KA.DER since 2017.  KA.DER is a foundation which works for women to be represented equally in decision making mechanisms and member of various international organizations such as European Women’s Lobby and ECOSOC. The Foundation also takes active role in the Coordination Council of Checks and Balances Network which operates in Turkey and is consisted of almost 300 civil society organizations.

Ali Haidar Khalifeh is the Mayor of Sarafand Municipality in Lebanon. Mr. Khalifeh is also the Vice President of the Arab Volleyball Federation and Vice President of the Lebanese Volleyball Federation. In addition to his role as Mayor, Mr. Khalifeh is an electrical engineer. He holds a Degree in Political and Administrative Sciences and Diploma in Educational Administration. Mr. Khalifeh also holds two master’s degrees in Planning and Management and Hospital Management.

Iris Bjorg Kristjansdottir Regional Migration and Humanitarian Specialist for UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office has over 16 years of professional experience in field of migration, integration, humanitarian action and refugee resettlement on international, national and local government level, on policy, strategy, advocacy, programme implementation and in liaising with government authorities and relevant stakeholders. With special emphasis on gender responsive approach, Iris has years of experience in engaging stakeholders and actors on the ground, including representatives from the affected population and fostering meaningful engagement and participation.  Prior to taking on the role of regional migration and humanitarian specialist, Iris was based in Ankara for over two years where she was building up UN Women Syria response portfolio. UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Ruslan Martsinkiv is the Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk City. He was the Deputy of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council (the fifth convocation). Mr. Ruslan moved up from the member of the National Scout Organization of Ukraine to the head of the very establishment, located in Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi Regions (2007-2010). He also held the positions of the Assistant Deputy Mayor (2005) and the Chairman of the Standing Commission on Youth, Physical Education, and Sport of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council (2006-2010). In 2010, he was elected the Head of the Secretariat of the Ivano-Frankivsk Office of the All-Ukraine Svoboda Party. Since November 2010, he had been both the Secretary and Deputy of Ivano-Frankivsk City Council. In 2012, he became the Member of the Ukrainian Parliament (the seventh convocation) in compliance with the multi-mandate constituency lists of the All-Ukraine Svoboda Party. In addition, he became the Member of the Committee on Construction, Urban Development, Utilities, and Regional Policy. In November 2015, Ruslan Martsinkiv won the local elections and became the Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk City. During the Mayor’s cadence, the city has received the 2018 Europe Prize – awarded annually by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to the city most active in promoting the European ideal. Another accomplishment is that Ivano-Frankivsk has become one of the city-capitals where international blacksmith festivals are traditionally held.

Ms. Seya is the President of Japan Center for Conflict Prevention (JCCP), an NGO specialised in peacebuilding, capacity building and gender mainstreaming, currently operating in Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Turkey. In her previous carrier, she worked in post-conflict countries in Africa, Asia and Middle East including Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda etc as United Nations Peacekeeping mission, diplomat and NGO. She is specialised in Security Sector Reform, Community Security, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration of ex-combatants (DDR), Confidence Building, Capacity building. She worked also as an Election Observers in Indonesia, Rwanda and Afghanistan. She has been a lecturer / facilitator for the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC) in Kenya, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) in Ghana, UN/African Union peacekeeping missions and Japanese Ministry of Defense / Foreign Affairs / Finance. She was also a Research Fellow on Peacebuilding at Hiroshima University. She obtained BA in Policy Studies from Chuo University and then MA in Conflict Resolution from Bradford University. The Honors and Awards she received include; Edward Lynn Award Fund (UK, 2000), Akino Yutaka Research Fellowship (Japan, 2000), UN21 Award (United Nations, 2003), Nikkei Woman of the Year 2012 (Japan), AVON Award 2012 (Japan), International Leaders Programme (UK, 2015) etc.

Born in 1987 in Barcelona, Spain, Carlos Vilar is an advocacy, projects & urban affairs professional. As a political scientist with M.A in European Affairs and International Studies, he has 8+ years of experience in public affairs, consultancy and integrated urban development, and engagements with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to influence policy and legislation through research, advocacy, project management and city-to-city cooperation. Currently working at the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, as the Policy and Projects Coordinator on Migration and Integration, Carlos is a Member of the Jury of the European Youth Capital since 2014. He provides advice on EU decision-making and knowledge exchange working in the fields of migration and integration, local governance, smart cities, territorial reforms, decentralization, multilevel governance, better regulation and citizenship. He contributes to various media outlets, such as opinion articles for El País or Agenda Pública (El País), political analyst with France 24. He was also a collaborator with the Smart City World Expo Congress to select speakers and award winners for the 2019 edition.