Matthew Sleap is a historical geographer with a particular interest in the impact of decolonisation on communities in Africa, South America and, latterly, India. His background in the military services was in developing information systems to support better understanding of deployments by the armed forces in unfamiliar theatres. He specialised in providing software systems for influence operations to assist communities in deployments that are alienated both physically from the property and land they depend on and from their way of life. The aim was to better prepare people for the prevailing situation before embarkation to be ready to support and defend the rule of law and order. He has also led expeditions that combine academic research and exploration of remote areas. His expeditions ranging from Guyana, the Maya Mountains of Belize to the Jotunheim, DovreFjell and Hardangervidda glacier in Norway have sought to develop better understanding of people and environments. He led sailing expeditions to widely spread areas from the Caribbean to the Baltic and Mediterranean. He is a Church Warden of Frimley Parish where Colonel John Pennycuick is buried. He is married with two daughters and five grandchildren.

Suryamita Chatterjee has a solid academic background and has chosen to teach Chemistry as her profession. She was born and raised on a small, peaceful campus of India's premier Institute for Science and Technology. She is a postgraduate in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, in West Bengal, India. She has been teaching in high school, and her students have cherished her immensely for articulating each topic as a story, even while teaching. Although she might sound serious in her choice of profession and subject, you can rest assured that she is quite the opposite of that! She is also a life skills trainer, and all her lessons are filled with jokes and stories, even when she teaches solemn topics in either Chemistry or Conflict Resolution Skills! Suryamita takes such pleasure in telling a story that she could never give up a chance to tell one! Her narration is so unique and amusing that no one wants to miss an opportunity to be a part of her audience. According to her, teaching is also "telling a story." Everything could be made interesting if a story could be made from the learning. Even the air in her classroom comes alive with different chemical elements depicting human nature and behaviour! Suryamita has been an avid reader throughout her childhood and still reads herself to sleep at night. Throughout her childhood, her friends would always be found sitting around her, enthralled and fascinated, listening to her stories, and losing complete track of the time! Her adult life has been no different. The content of her stories for adults is more serious and mature, yet the tale's articulation remains fascinating! When it comes to fiction, her popularity is quite the same with both adults and children and given a choice, she prefers her audience to be somewhere in between, meaning young adults. She is like a captivating friend who tells a story better than their books and grandparents! She can draw people towards her like a magnet when she starts narrating one. People love to make friends with her as she communicates with them uniquely, even when she is not telling a story. Older adults around her behave no differently, and after all, who would not like to hear a good tale if she were around? If the story is narrated from a movie, you could have her tell the story to make you see the film as she saw it instead of hearing it. So, imagine her trying to make you feel the fairy tale you read! Would you not want to be a part of that? All her books are bestsellers on Amazon now!

Sai: Sai Satya Deep Kotla is a visionary entrepreneur, author, and leader with over 20 years of experience in business development, supply chain management, digital product management, and large IT project delivery. He holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and leads EmpoweRRise, an AI/ML-based global digital platform for economic development, empowering individuals with barriers in the workforce through life skills, job skills, education, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Sai’s dedication to social missions spans over 28 years of volunteering with organizations like Sri Sathya Sai International Organization, where he has provided medical aid, job training, and child rehabilitation. He has also led initiatives with Sahai Foundations and Spoorthi Foundation focused on education, healthcare, and community service. His efforts reflect a deep commitment to uplifting marginalized groups. In Breaking Barriers: Empowering Lives to Live in Self-Esteem, Sai offers practical insights and life skills training to help aspiring entrepreneurs thrive, while promoting socio-economic justice.

Dr. Amresh Shrivastava is a is a psychiatrist Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Western University, Canada, and the Director of the Mansik Shakti Foundation in India. My career has been dedicated to understanding mental health and mental mechanisms through various scientific disciplines, with a particular focus on achieving clinical excellence in the care of individuals with mental health challenges. My professional pursuits have centered around early intervention and suicide prevention, which have been the main programs of interest in my work, research, and education. I earned my undergraduate medical degree (MBBS) from MGM Medical College and MY Hospital, Indore, in 1979, followed by postgraduate education in Psychiatry, obtaining both MD and DPM degrees from Seth GS Medical College and K.E.M Hospital. I am a recipient of the FRCPC (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada) and FRCPsych (Fellow of The Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK). Additionally, I am a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (FAPA).I initially worked in research, teaching, and clinical services in Mumbai, focusing on acute care and suicide prevention services until 2004. Subsequently, I relocated to the UK and later to Canada, joining the full-time academic faculty at the University of Western Ontario. There, I served as a consultant for early intervention and complex care at the St. Joseph’s Hospital Group, Regional Mental Health Care, and the Parkwood Institute of Mental Health. I have edited several handbooks, including ‘Suicide from a Global Perspective,’ spanning five volumes, ‘Schizophrenia Outcome: Evidence-Based Recovery,’ and ‘Optimizing Patient Care in Psychiatry.’ My ongoing research initiative focuses on the concept of the pathway of risk and outcome measures, with a particular emphasis on resilience and suicide as independent psychopathologies. Driven by an unwavering commitment to advancing mental health awareness, research, and care, I am currently pursuing the Mansik Shakti project to promote the welfare of students. Additionally, I have authored several books aimed at raising public awareness, written in both English and Hindi, including ‘Mind Matters’ (first and second editions), ‘The Battle Within,’ ‘Handle Life with Care,’ ‘Science of Success,’ ‘Dard-ka-Safar,’ ‘Kamyabiyan,’ and ‘Depression: Facts You Must Know.’ ‘Parents-lets talk’’ Empowering Minds’, Mind sciences’, Sacred resonance-Gayatri Mantra’