Award for Individual Achievement: Dr. Rick Halperin
Dr. Halperin’s commitment to human rights as an educator, scholar, and activist covers many decades and a wide range of human rights issues including genocide and the death penalty.
Halperin has held many leadership positions in human rights and social justice organizations. During his more than 50-year affiliation with Amnesty International USA, he has served as chair of its board of directors three times. He has also served on the boards of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the Center for Survivors of Torture, the International Rescue Committee, and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. He participated in a UN human rights delegation that inspected Irish prison conditions, as well as in delegations monitoring human rights in El Salvador and Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza.
At the same time his work is solidly grounded in his home community, establishing an undergraduate program in human rights at SMU; holding seminars for Texas high school students and teachers; and founding the Human Rights Dallas Digital Mapping Project, a student project that represents the human rights events and stories of Dallas (See https://humanrightsdallasmaps.com/). Most recently he co-founded Human Rights Dallas, with the goal of ensuring the protection of the human rights of all persons in Dallas. Halperin also leads groups of students, faculty, and community members on human rights educational journeys to places such as Argentina, Cambodia, Rwanda, South Africa, El Salvador, Bosnia, and numerous Holocaust sites across Europe.
Award for Organizational Achievement: The Academy for Human Rights
Founded in 2008, by several teachers from the Buffalo area, the Academy for Human Rights was created for high school students interested in social justice and human rights with an aim to inspire students to take meaningful action towards changing their world. The mission of the organization is to provide human rights education for teachers, students and community members – empowering all to lead informed and contributory lives ensuring a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.
Since its founding the Academy’s Summer Symposium has provided over 500 students the opportunity to hear internationally-known human rights experts, take part in hands-on activities and field trips, and learn the skills they need to make an impact on the community, nation, and world. Taking the template from the summer program, the Academy began providing teacher training in 2017. Participants focus on examining the important contemporary issues from a human rights perspective and acquiring the knowledge, tools, and inspiration to renew their commitment the world’s most consequential profession.
HRE USA 