Ben Peterson

Ben Peterson, "29, is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), Canada's largest international media development organization. JHR is an NGO that harnesses the power of the media to combat human rights abuses in Africa and Canada. Within Africa, JHR trains local journalists in fourteen countries to reach 20 million people a week with human rights information. In Canada, JHR has established 24 Chapters (or clubs) at post-secondary institutions across the country, actively engaging over 20% of Canada's journalism students in human rights reporting.

"Previous to JHR, Ben worked in Ghana's Ministry of Justice, leading Ghana's efforts to write reports to the United Nations on various international human rights treaties. Ben has also worked for the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy, and in the offices of David Bonior, the former Democratic Whip in the United States House of Representatives.

"Ben has been the recipient of an Action Canada Fellowship ('03-'04), Canada's Top 40 Under 40™ award (2006, The Globe and Mail) and the Queen's University Alumni Humanitarian Award (2007). Ben also sits on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO's youth advisory committee.

"Ben has a BA in Economics and a BAH in Political Studies from Queen's University, and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics (LSE)."