The Essay Competition is organized by the World Bank in partnership with several outstanding academic and civil society institutions who form the Steering Committee and Advisory Committee. The role of those Committees is to determine the topic and format of the contest as well as to ensure a fair and transparent process of selecting the winners.  

The members of the Steering Committee are:

Dr. Donald Lien
University of Texas - San Antonio, USA   

Prof. Heba Nassar
Cairo University, Egypt

Prof. Joyashree Roy
Jadavpur University, India

Dr. Héctor Castillo Berthier
National Autonomous University of Mexico

Dr. Olumide Ajayi
Africa Leadership Forum  

Michelle Gallant
AIESEC International

Claudio Piras
European Students' Forum (AEGEE)

Maya Yaul Egozi
The Glocal Forum

Adaku Uche
Junior Achievement Worldwide 

Silvia Uranga
Conciencia Association, Argentina  

Jean-Christophe Bas
The World Bank

Chii Akporji
Cities Alliance

The Advisory Committee includes representatives of: Government of Norway, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, UN HABITAT, United Cities and Local Governments.