Noma Dumezweni, who plays Hermione in the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, was shortlisted in 2016 for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress. Speaking about the importance of the Index Awards she said: “Freedom of expression is essential to help challenge our perception of the world”.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher is a public law specialist at Doughty Street Chambers who represented the bereaved families in the 7/7 London bombings, and the Hillsborough football stadium tragedy. In October 2016 she was named Human Rights and Public Law Junior of the Year at the Chambers UK Bar Awards.

Tina Brown is an award-winning journalist and former editor-in-­chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. She is founder of Women in the World Summits.

Anab Jain is a TED fellow and co-founder of Superflux.

Stephen Budd is chairman of the Music Managers Forum and co-founder of Damon Albarn’s ‘Africa Express’ musical collaborations project.

Jodie Ginsberg joined Index on Censorship from the think-tank, Demos. A former London Bureau Chief for Reuters, Jodie worked for more than a decade as a foreign correspondent and business journalist. She was previously Head of Communications for Camfed, a non-profit organisation working in girls’ education.