Thor Halvorssen became involved with TSB after being inspired by his friend Ambassador Armando Valladares. Thor is an advocate of the free enterprise system as the solution to the world's poverty problems. He brings to the effort an unequivocal condemnation of mercantilism masquerading as entrepreneurship and seeks to ensure that the project appeals to individuals and communities across the political and ideological spectrum.
Currently, Thor is president of a new organization called the Human Rights Foundation (HRF). HRF is committed to the realization of freedom in the Americas. A lifelong civil liberties and civil rights advocate, Thor is First Amendment Scholar at The Commonwealth Foundation a free-market think tank. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Valladares Foundation, the Advisory Council of the Atlantic Legal Foundation, and the Society of Fellows of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, and the Board of Directors of the Moving Pictures Institute. Thor was the first Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a free speech group he headed from its founding in 1999 until he stepped down in 2004 in order to devote himself to the defense of human rights in the Americas.
Thor has lectured at universities across the country on matters of liberty and his opinions and views have appeared in numerous venues including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, TIME, National Journal, as well as television outlets such as Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity & Colmes", MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews", HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel", CNN, and many others. Thor graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Political Science and History. He lives in New York.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is devoted to defending human rights and promoting liberal democracy in the Americas. HRF recognizes the inalienable rights that protect the individual from arbitrary state and legal actions. HRF believes that all American nations must acknowledge and protect the freedom of their citizens; HRF stands for the possibility of fully democratic American states, limited by the rule of law, that honor and uphold the principles of liberty.
HRF's programs are designed to further global understanding of the recurring threats to freedom in the Americas. HRF's programs seek to provide education about what constitutes a free society, why freedom matters, and how freedom might best be nurtured, developed, and sustained. More specifically, HRF's programs aim to inform leaders, experts, intellectuals, and concerned private citizens about how best to promote democracy and tolerance in troubled regions of the Americas.
