Past Events

Samuel Chu — President, Campaign for Hong Kong

April 2026
Examined diaspora advocacy and how transnational repression reshapes organizing strategies beyond the state’s borders.

Tinatin Khidasheli — Former Minister of Defence, Georgia

April 2026
Discussed democratic backsliding and the challenges of building security institutions under external pressure.

Juan Sebastián Chamorro — Nicaraguan Economist and Opposition Leader

Victoria Cárdenas — Democracy Advocate, Nicaragua

March 2026
Reflected on political imprisonment, exile, and the reconstitution of opposition under authoritarian consolidation.

Paola Bautista de Alemán — Political Leader, Venezuela

March 2026
Explored opposition strategy and democratic endurance amid institutional collapse.

Jewher Ilham — Uyghur Human Rights Advocate

February 2026
Addressed forced labor, diaspora advocacy, and the politics of testimony under repression.

Louisa Lim — Associate Professor in Audio Visual Journalism at the University of Melbourne 

Master classes on interviewing and writing about Democracy Defenders 

Yaqiu Wang — Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch; Research Director, Freedom House

September 2025
Analyzed censorship, information control, and how repression becomes internalized in everyday life.

Samuel Chu — President, Campaign for Hong Kong

September 2025
Discussed diaspora organizing and the global reach of the National Security Law.

Film Screening: “Love In The Time of Revolution” (Hong Kong’s 2019 anti-extradition protest) 

Jewher Ilham — Uyghur Human Rights Advocate

October 2025
Reflected on family separation, advocacy, and sustaining voice under conditions of loss.

Film Screening “All Static & Noise” (Repression in the Uyghur region)

Lobsang Sangay — Former Sikyong, Central Tibetan Administration

October 2025
Explored leadership in exile, institutional resilience, and nonviolent political strategy.

Film screening “The sun behind the clouds: Tibet's struggle for freedom”  

Reva Price — Chair, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission

November 2025
Discussed legislative advocacy and the role of incremental policy change in human rights work.

Michael Caster — Program Manager for Asia, Article 19; Co-founder, Safeguard Defenders

November 2025
Examined legal advocacy, documentation, and support structures for civil society under repression.

Democracy Defenders Panel — Yaqiu Wang, Samuel Chu, Jewher Ilham, Tendor Dorjee, Reva Price, Michael Caster

December 2025
Examined shared challenges across movements.