Thor Halvorssen
FROM:
Caracas, Venezuela by way of New York, Oslo, Madrid, Paris, and London.
HEROES:
Palden Gyatso and Leyla Zana.
PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:
Liberating several political prisoners through public exposure; Making the film "2081."
SOMETHING YOU MIGHT TEACH AT THE SUMMIT:
Geopolitical influence of Venezuelan oil revenues on human rights in the American hemisphere
SOMETHING YOU HOPE TO LEARN AT THE SUMMIT:
How the participants who believe in economic redistribution can justify their position despite the empirical evidence that disproves the thesis that a command economy can lead to any sustainable and significant prosperity for its participants while respecting human rights.
SOMETHING YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH IN YOUR WORK:
Balancing commitments
SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY:
Coffee ice cream; sleep; making a measurable difference in the lives of others
SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU ANGRY:
Betrayal.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAMILY:
I consider family a fortunate accident of biology. I include in my extended family many people who are unrelated to me biologically but without whom my life is not very fulfilling. I have two siblings, two half-siblings, and three step-siblings. We are spread across the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
AN IDEA TO MAKE THE 30SUMMIT EVEN BETTER:
A considerable amount of break-time (no less than 40 minutes at a time); no Q and A periods after each presentation; working with each speaker to ensure their presentations will be entertaining, inspiring, and use (where possible) visual aids.
BIOGRAPHY:
Thor Halvorssen is a human rights advocate and film producer with contributions in the field of public policy, public interest advocacy, individual rights and civil liberties, and pro-democracy advocacy in Latin America. The New York Times described Halvorssen in an August 2007 profile as a maverick "who champions the underdog and the powerless." Halvorssen is president of the Human Rights Foundation, an organization devoted to protecting liberty in the Americas. He is a First Amendment Scholar at the Commonwealth Foundation of Pennsylvania. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Armando Valladares Foundation and the Advisory Board of the Charter School Advocacy Program. He is also founder of the Moving Picture Institute. He is a contributing author, responsible for the sections on the history of freedom of speech, of Bringing Justice to the People (2004). Halvorssen attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, with concurrent undergraduate and graduate degrees in Political Science and History. He lives in New York.
