Steven Cohen is the executive director and chief operating officer of the Earth Institute, and professor in the practice of public affairs at Columbia University. He is the director of the Master of Science in Sustainability Management Program at Columbia's School of Continuing Education and director of the Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy Program and the Executive Master of Public Administration's Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), also at Columbia University. He is also the director of the Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management. From 2002 to 2006 he also directed the Office of Educational Programs at the Earth Institute. He served as the director of the Executive Master of Public Administration Program at SIPA from 2001 to 2005 and of Columbia's Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration from 1985 to 1998. From 1987 to 1998, he was associate dean for Faculty at SIPA, and from 1998 to 2001, he was the school's vice dean.

He is a 1970 graduate of James Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York (“Education is the true foundation of civil liberty”). Cohen received his B.A. (1974) in political science from Franklin College of Indiana and his M.A. (1977) and Ph.D. (1979) in political science from the State University of New York in Buffalo. Cohen served as a policy analyst in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1977–1978 and 1980–1981) and as a consultant to the EPA (1981–1991, 1992–1997, and 2004–2007).

He is the author of Sustainability Management (2011), Understanding Environmental Policy (2006, 2014), and the first edition of The Effective Public Manager (1988). He has coauthored The Responsible Contract Manager (2008), four subsequent editions of The Effective Public Manager (1995, 2002, 2008, 2013), Environmental Regulation Through Strategic Planning (1991), Total Quality Management in Government (1993), Tools for Innovators (1998), and Strategic Planning in Environmental Regulation (2005). Dr. Cohen is also a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.

William Eimicke is a professor in the practice of international and public Affairs and the founding director of the Picker Center for Executive Education at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, where he has taught numerous courses in public management, policy implementation, and government innovation, as well as run professional training programs in public management. Eimicke served as the deputy fire commissioner for Strategic Planning and Policy from 2007 through the spring of 2010. He led numerous innovations to reduce response time to fires, establish a computerized risk-based inspection program, and provide advanced management training for senior Fire and EMS officers. The FDNY Officers Management Institute (FOMI) was designated as a Top 50 Innovations in American Government for 2008 and 2009 by the Kennedy School of Government.

He received his B.A. (1970) in political science, his M.P.A. (1971), and his Ph.D. (1973), also in political science, from Syracuse University. Eimicke was director of housing for the state of New York (1985–1988); deputy secretary to the governor of New York (1983–1985); deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development (1980–1982)); and assistant director of the New York City Office of Management and Budget (1979–1980). In 1993, he served on Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review, which sought to “reinvent” the federal government. He has coauthored with Steven Cohen The Responsible Contract Manager (2008), four editions of The Effective Public Manager (1995, 2002, 2008, 2013) and Tools for Innovators (1998). He is also the author of Public Administration in a Democratic Context (1973) and numerous articles on critical public policy and management issues.

Alison Miller is deputy executive director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, where she has worked since 2011. She is also the associate director of the Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management at the Earth Institute. From 2007–2010, Miller worked as a business development and investor relations associate for an asset management firm, where she worked with institutional clients and consultants. She has previously worked with New York City's Division of Energy Management, providing project management support for energy efficiency projects. Miller has also worked as a consultant to the New York Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, where she evaluated and advised on electric vehicle policy. She has co-authored papers and studies on climate policy, sustainability, and management and policy analysis.

Miller received her M.P.A. (2011) in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and her B.A. (2005) in Economics and International Relations from the University of Delaware.