Ama Ata Aidoo: (Ghana) Distinguished novelist, essayist, dramatist, and poet; former Minister of Education of Ghana; winner of the 1993 Commonwealth Prize for African Literature; founder of Mbaasem, a women writers' retreat in Accra.

Nadezhda Azhgikhina: (Russia) Journalist, writer, and organizer, co-founder of the Association of Russian Women Journalists; founding editor of the Women's Page of the Moscow Independent, and co-editor of the bilingual Women's Studies journal, We/Myi: The Women's Dialogue.

Paula Giddings: (US) Editor, journalist, and essayist; author of a definitive history of African-American women's organizations; professor of African-American studies at Smith College; active in the National Organization of 100 Black Women, the Author's Guild, and PEN American Center.

Angélica Gorodischer: (Argentina) Author of twelve books; particularly noted for her science fiction; organizer of two international conferences of women writers in Rosario; founder of RELATAR, an Argentinian network of women writers; member of board of the Ministry of Culture.

Kristin Booth Glen: (US) Lawyer specializing in constitutional law, international law, and women's law; a family court judge for many years in the state of New York; currently Dean of the City University of New York School of Law; active member of the Lawyers Guild.

Ritu Menon: (India) Author, editor, and co-founder and co-publisher of Kali for Women, the oldest feminist press in Asia; researcher on women and ethnic conflicts in South Asia; initiator of the ten language Women and Censorship project in India.

Micere Githae Mugo: (Kenya/Zimbabwe/US) Distinguished poet and the first woman to become dean at a Kenyan university; forced into exile in 1982 because of her human rights work;currently professor of African-American Studies at Syracuse University; and until recently chairperson of the board of directors of SARIPS, the Southern African Regional Institute for Policy Studies in Harare.

Grace Paley: (US) Distinguished short story writer, poet, and essayist; winner of many literary prizes; active in the women's, antiwar, and anti-nuclear movements; member of the board of PEN American Center and the War Resisters League; co-founder of Glad Day Press in Vermont.

Luisa Passerini: (Italy) Scholar and oral historian; author of books on Italian fascism and a memoir of the generation of 1968; Professor of History at the University of Turin and Professor of 20th Century History at the European University Institute in Florence. (Alternate with Annamaria Talgliavini)

Joan Ross Frankson: (Jamaica) Information specialist in women, gender, and development, currently Communications Director at WEDO; consultant to the UNDP and DAWN; previously an editor at Ms magazine; Beijing Conference communications co-ordinator for the International Women's Tribune Center.

Mariella Sala: (Peru) Short story writer, editor, and media activist; founding director of RELAT, a network of Latin American women writers; former Chair of the Board and Director of Flora Tristan, a women's advocacy organization in Lima; Director of the Latin American Press Agency

Annamaria Tagliavini: (Italy) Founding member of the Centro di Documentazione delle Donne, a feminist organization in Bologna with programs to assist women's organizations in troubled regions, an Internet Café, and a training school; Director of its documentation center and library. (Alternate with Luisa Passerini)

Meredith Tax: (US) Historian, historical novelist, and essayist; human rights and feminist activist since 1968; founding chair of the International PEN Women Writers Committee; and founding President of Women's WORLD.

Current officers are: Chair of the Board: Mariella Sala; President: Meredith Tax; Vice-Chair: Nadia Azhgikhina; Secretary: Joan Ross Frankson; and Treasurer: Paula Giddings.