Program committee

Head of Center for International Justice at The Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Oslo. Chair of the Board of the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers’ and Translators’ Association (NFFO). Member of the board of Truth Hounds (Ukraine). Freelance journalist and columnist. Writer of fiction and non-fiction. Received the Norwegian PENs Ossietzky Prize for defending freedom of expression (2004), and The Norwegian Critics’ Prize for Non-Fiction for En norsk tragedie/A Norwegian Tragedy; Anders Behring Breivik and the Massacre on Utøya (Gyldendal 2012; English edition, Polity 2013).

Carlos Egaña (1995) is a New York–based Venezuelan writer. He recently earned his MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish at New York University. He has also taught courses on Gender Studies and Modern North American Fiction at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. He has three books in Spanish in print: a novel titled Reggaeton (Ediciones Puntocero, 2022) and two poetry collections, hacer daño (Oscar Todtmann Editores, 2020) and Los Palos Grandes (dcir ediciones, 2017). And he has written about fine arts, Latin-American politics and pop culture for various Venezuelan and American publications. In his last year of college, Egaña was one of Venezuela’s main student leaders amidst the 2019 presidential crisis.

Danish lawyer, human rights advocate, and social commentator. He is the founder and director of Justitia, a Copenhagen-based think tank focusing on human rights, freedom of speech, and the rule of law.

Human rights lawyer and Executive Director of the Justice Call organization. His work has centered on building strong and sustainable democracies, promoting peace and stability, and protecting the rights and welfare of civilians.
Khaled has a BA in Law and a master’s in international law from Cairo University and an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from Harvard University. As the organizing partner of the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), Khaled has played a key role in fostering youth engagement in the development of inclusive and sustainable societies. Khaled has also served as a former Co-Chair of The United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (UN IANYD).

Senior adviser in Diversity, Inclusion & Talent development with over 15 years of experience in creating a space for dialogue and experience exchange within the storytelling industries.

Adele Matheson Mestad is a Norwegian lawyer. She is the director of the Norwegian National Human Rights Institution, a position that the Storting appointed her to March 26, 2019. Previously, Matheson Mestad worked for ten years as a lawyer for the Government Attorney. She was a member of the Freedom of speech commission, and is a substitute member to The European Commission for Democracy through Law ( the Venice Commission).

Ewura Adams Karim is the co-founder and Executive Director of Maltiti Foundation, a non-profit that has made huge impact in the lives of women and girls living in deprived communities in Ghana by providing them with dignifying economic opportunities in the areas of agriculture, vocational skill development, education, health and nutrition. He’s also the Co-founder of Accra Food Bank, a development consultant, a board member of the Ghana Youth Awards, a 2023 Obama Africa Leader and a 2024 Mandela Washington Fellow.

Project leader at the Fritt Ord Foundation with background as teacher, lecturer and journalist. Involved in support and grants for students and in educational projects, such as initiatives reaching out to students and others with the aim of highlighting and debating topics on free speech and democracy. 

Kristenn is Managing Director at World Expression Forum AS, as well as a consultant, chair of the Freedom to Publish Committee in the International Publishers Association and chair of Norges Televisjon.

Sarah graduated magna cum laude from Drexel University in 2014 with a B.S. in political science and a minor in history. In 2012, Sarah began working with FIRE as a Program Assistant through Drexel’s cooperative education program and remained on FIRE’s staff for through the rest of her undergraduate career. After graduation, Sarah defended students and faculty facing censorship in FIRE’s Individual Rights Defense Program, where she worked for five years. She also served as director of FIRE’s Targeted Advocacy program, where she focused on U.S. universities’ relationship with international threats to free speech and art censorship. Her writing about free speech issues, including protest and blasphemy laws, has been featured in publications including Foreign Policy, Artsy, The Huffington Post, and New York Daily News.