The Council of Elders is the non-elected executive body of the United Earth Federation. It does not interfere with the daily or even yearly business of government, nor with the workings of the judiciary. Instead, the Council sets long-term directives for the Federation, serving as a strategic steering committee on the scale of decades or even centuries.

The members of the Council are philosophers, artists, scholars, scientists, politicans, spies, businessman, and more. Sophisticated treatments have kept many of these individuals alive well beyond the average Terran lifespan, originally leading to the nickname 'Elder'.

The Elders are responsible for the original formation of the Ubuntu party, as well as the genesis of its advanced simulation programs, used to forecast the outcomes of economic, political and cultural decisions. Access to these programs has guaranteed Ubuntu Party success for the past several decades.

Privately, many of the Elders endorse a form of philosophical near-mysticism not dissimilar to some Vasudan beliefs. Some claim to be in contact with advanced alien beings by means of an unknown method of communication.