Howard Richards was born in Pasadena, California, in 1938. He holds a doctorate in education with mention in moral education from the University of Toronto, a doctorate in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a law degree from Stanford and an advanced certificate in education (with honours) from Oxford. As an undergraduate at Yale, he won the New York Yale Club prize for outstanding scholarship. Gavin Andersson grew up in Botswana. While studying in Johannesburg he became active in restarting the black trade union movement and was banned by the Apartheid government in 1976. After five years working as a carpenter, he returned to Botswana and cofounded CORDE, which strengthened cooperatives and grassroots business enterprises.