Human Rights Foundation: #FreedomTech Series at PubKey (PubKey Media House)

Each month, the Human Rights Foundation and PubKey dive into specific HRF initiatives with a focus on how #Bitcoin and #FreedomTech advance humanitarian goals. We're thrilled to partner with HRF to shine a light on how Bitcoin is a powerful force for peace and human flourishing. Our next event will be Thursday, April 18th at 6pm with Charlene Fadirepo the Bitcoin Strategist to discuss the rise and the fall of the E-Naira, Nigeria’s troubled CBDC — and learning more about the dangers of China's.

Faisal Al Mutar

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar is an Iraqi-American human-rights activist and social entrepreneur. He experienced the villainy of extremism and authoritarian regimes firsthand, surviving the Iraq War, the murder of his brother, and several kidnapping attempts before becoming a refugee in the United States in 2013.

A practitioner of countering extremism and misinformation, he founded the organization Ideas Beyond Borders, a nonprofit dedicated to developing and implementing international programs to empower individuals with knowledge often suppressed by authoritarian dictatorships. Faisal received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from President Barack Obama, the Beacon Award from the Ellis Island Honors Society, and currently serves on the leadership council at the World Liberty Congress.

Anna will discuss her background as an activist, from Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation to her current role at HRF, where she assists nonprofit organizations in accepting and using bitcoin.

Jorge is the President of the Economic Inclusion Group, a policy group advancing economic and financial inclusion globally. Jorge is known for his work advocating in G7 countries for financial reforms to guarantee a “Right to Banking” for immigrants and human rights defenders. Jorge is also an influential voice in his home country, Venezuela, pushing for greater political and economic freedoms.

Leading the conversation will be Arsh Molu, Financial Freedom Operations Lead at the Human Rights Foundation.

PubKey and Human Rights Foundation have teamed up to shine a light on how Bitcoin is a powerful force for peace and human flourishing.

We present this discussion from Thursday, Feb. 15 about the rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) around the world featuring Nicholas Anthony of Cato and CK from HRF.

Christian Keroles & Clara Kirk-Cohen host the first installment of the Financial Freedom Tech Series by the Human Rights Foundation and Pubkey NYC. #bitcoin #africa #btc #hrf #financialfreedom @actuallyclaraKC @ck_snarks

Troy Cross, a professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Reed College. Troy has been involved in bitcoin for over a decade, with a focus on the study of the present and future environmental impact of bitcoin mining. Troy is a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, co-founder of The Nakamoto Project, and serves as Advisory Board Member to several companies in the bitcoin mining, data center, and the renewable energy industries.

Troy will discuss his research and advocacy in a fireside chat with HRF Research Associate Zac Guignard with audience Q&A to follow.

Gloria is a Bitcoin Core maintainer, primarily focused on the peer-to-peer protocol. Her projects include package relay (BIP 331) and TRUC (BIP 431), aimed at reducing censorship vectors and fee-bumping inefficiencies in transaction relay. She is sponsored by Brink, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting open source Bitcoin development.

Bitcoin Core maintainers are a small (and often misunderstood) group who are responsible for merging contributions from other developers into the codebase.

Gloria will discuss threats to Bitcoin, past, present and future, why she chose to pursue grant-funded development over a corporate position, and how her views on privacy and the need for censorship-resistant payments drive her work.

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar is an Iraqi-American human-rights activist and social entrepreneur. He experienced the villainy of extremism and authoritarian regimes firsthand, surviving the Iraq War, the murder of his brother, and several kidnapping attempts before becoming a refugee in the United States in 2013.

A practitioner of countering extremism and misinformation, he founded the organization Ideas Beyond Borders, a nonprofit dedicated to developing and implementing international programs to empower individuals with knowledge often suppressed by authoritarian dictatorships. Faisal received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from President Barack Obama, the Beacon Award from the Ellis Island Honors Society, and currently serves on the leadership council at the World Liberty Congress.

The Human Rights Foundation and PubKey are teaming up to launch a new monthly series! Each month we'll dive into specific HRF initiatives with a focus on how #Bitcoin and #FreedomTech advance humanitarian goals.

We're thrilled to partner with HRF to shine a light on how Bitcoin is a powerful force for peace and human flourishing.

Our next event will be Thursday, March. 28th at 6pm with a discussion on how bitcoin was used to fund underground schools for girls in Afghanistan, with Arsh Molu of HRFand Roya Mahboob, Afghan entrepreneur and founder of Digital Citizen Fund.

As always, these events are ~free & open to the public~

Alex Gladstein join's Thomas Pacchia for a fireside chat regarding the state of freedom in the world and how bitcoin is a tool for advancing human rights.

Alex Gladstein is the Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation and the author of books Check Your Financial Privilege and Hidden Repression. He has also served as vice president of strategy for the Oslo Freedom Forum since its inception in 2009.

Alex connects dissidents and civil society groups with business leaders, technologists, journalists, philanthropists, policy makers, and artists to promote free and open societies. Alex’s writing and views on human rights, technology, and bitcoin have appeared in media outlets across the world.

As always, these events are free & open to the public.🧡🍻🙏

Anna Chekhovich

Anna Chekhovich is the former financial director of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) from Russia. Targeted by Putin’s regime, the foundation gradually lost access to financial institutions. In 2015, the Russian government began blocking the bank accounts of various foundations, even those very loosely connected to the FBK. Navalny and his family also had their personal accounts frozen as did many people who worked on the FBK team. Anna was de-banked multiple times by Putin’s regime and turned to bitcoin for its anti-censorship aspects to circumvent Russian financial surveillance, control, and confiscation.

Anna Chekhovich joined HRF in 2024 as the nonprofit bitcoin adoption lead. For Anna, bitcoin is the preferred financial system as it safeguards democracy and activism and provides a lifeline when traditional financial systems oppress such movements.

Bradley Rettler is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wyoming. He has published peer-reviewed academic papers on metaphysics, philosophy of religion, epistemology, and bitcoin.

Anna Chekhovich is the former financial director of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) from Russia. Targeted by Putin’s regime, the foundation gradually lost access to financial institutions. In 2015, the Russian government began blocking the bank accounts of various foundations, even those very loosely connected to the FBK. Navalny and his family also had their personal accounts frozen as did many people who worked on the FBK team. Anna was de-banked multiple times by Putin’s regime and turned to bitcoin for its anti-censorship aspects to circumvent Russian financial surveillance, control, and confiscation.

Anna Chekhovich joined HRF in 2024 as the nonprofit bitcoin adoption lead. For Anna, bitcoin is the preferred financial system as it safeguards democracy and activism and provides a lifeline when traditional financial systems oppress such movements.

 Roger Huang, a longtime observer on the subject of Bitcoin in China and regular contributor to Forbes, Bitcoin Magazine, and many other platforms. Elisha Maldonado, HRF’s Director of communications and co-host of the Dissidents & Dictators podcast will conduct the interview.

Roger Huang’s Would Mao Hold Bitcoin? is the authoritative resource exploring Bitcoin’s disruptive intersection with Chinese history. Huang not only pulls back the curtain on the specifics of the history, characters, and story, but on the larger questions that arise from the clash between state-driven Chinese tech and the open source development that is Bitcoin.