Edward Snowden was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and grew up in the shadow of Fort Meade. A systems engineer by training, he served as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, and worked as a contractor for the National Security Agency. He has received numerous awards for his public service, including the Right Livelihood Award, the German Whistleblower Prize, the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, and the Carl von Ossietzky Medal from the International League of Human Rights. Currently, he serves as president of the board of directors of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
For over 30 years, Simon Longstaff has been Executive Director of The Ethics Centre working across business, government and society to put ethics at the centre of our lives. Simon has a PhD in philosophy from Cambridge University and is an Honorary Professor at the ANU. He is a Fellow of CPA Australia and of the Royal Society of NSW. Simon co-founded the Festival of Dangerous Ideas with Richard Evans. He played a pivotal role in establishing the industry-led Banking and Finance Oath and ethics classes in primary schools. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2013.