With some funding support, LI has an opportunity to bring additional excellent speakers to the conference in Mongolia. As LI operates on a very frugal budget we normally ask speakers to fund their own expenses with support from their institutions or universities. In some cases this is not possible. So we are reaching out to potential sponsors to assist these important people to our event. Their biographical information follows.

Please review the extraordinary activity of these speakers and contact Ken Schoolland <[email protected]> or Jim Elwood <[email protected]> if you are willing to help them come, or donate directly here:

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Dr. Khalil Ahmad—Founder of Alternate Solutions Institute, Pakistan

Khalil Ahmad, Dr. is a political economist and a political philosopher. He cherishes a cosmopolitan spirit and considers himself a moralist and a rationalist. He founded the first free market think tank in Pakistan, Alternate Solutions Institute. He wrote/published hundreds of articles on the various aspects of political economy of Pakistan, and on a variety of issues. He is author of a number of books that focus on the state, economy and politics of Pakistan.

            Dr. Ahmad published six editions of Ken Schoolland’s book, The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey, including 3 editions in Urdu, 2 editions in Sindhi, and an edition in Balochi. For his extraordinary work at the forefront of the liberty movement in a very challenging region of the world, Dr. Ahmad was given the Torch of Freedom Award by Liberty International at the Bali conference.

Park, Jung Oh—North Korean Defector

Mr. Park was born in 1968 in Hyesan, Yanggang Province, North Korea.  After graduating from The Communication College, Park worked at the Radio Wave Surveillance Station from 1993 to 1998 as a supervisor. He continued his education at Yanggang University, where he graduated with a degree in Agriculture in 1998; shortly after, he decided to defect with his five other family members. Park had to hide for two and half years in China until he made his way to South Korea in 2001. 

Mr. Park is a highly respected member of the North Korean defector community in Seoul who does many community outreach programs and ventures to help the defectors that live in his area, including food distribution, and community activities and events such as New Year’s family gatherings and sports events.  

Since his arrival in South Korea, he has helped his brother with the balloon launches into North Korea and has also established an after school education center for North Korean defector children in Seoul, ‘Kuen Saem Education Center’ which provides free English lessons and other tutorial help.  Mr. Park is also the founding members of the ‘Send Rice Aid Directly to the North Korean People’, a project of Kuen Saem which sends rice and USBs and other goods in plastic water bottles into North Korea via the ocean.  

Henry Song—Human Rights Activist & Interpreter for N. Korean defectors

Henry Song is a North Korea human rights activist based in the Washington, D.C. area.  He has been involved with this issue for over 15 years, and works with North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea, Japan, Europe, and North America on various projects and programs, and volunteers for several North Korean human rights organizations.  Henry has been involved with the rescue and resettlement of many of the 218 North Korean defectors who have been admitted to the US as refugees, and continues to have a close relationship with them, as well as with North Korean defectors in South Korea, Japan, Europe, and Canada.  

He is a former Director of Projects & Grants at the Defense Forum Foundation (DFF), the former Secretary for the North Korea Freedom Coalition (NKFC); a founding member and a member of the Board of Directors for PSALT NK (Prayer, Service, Action, Love, Truth for North Korea), and most recently, Henry served as the North America Director for No Chain.  

He also helps out as a freelance interpreter and translator for the North Korean defector community in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and elsewhere, and has helped with interpreting for meetings of defectors with former President George W. Bush, former Secretary of State John Kerry, current and former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and Samantha Power respectively, and various other South Korean, American, and European politicians and public figures.  

In addition, Henry has interpreted and translated for various Congressional Hearings, major international human rights events and conferences, and major media (TV+ radio + print) appearances involving North Korean defectors.  Henry also has consulted for major human rights organizations and NGOs on North Korean human rights projects, such as HRF (Human Rights Foundation), HRW (Human Rights Watch), OSF (Open Society Foundations), the G.W. Bush Institute, and the Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF).   He currently sits on the board of the Belgium-based HRWF (Human Rights Without Frontiers), and was formerly on the international advisory board of Seoul-based NAUH (Now, Action & Unity for Human Rights).  

Pedro Urruchurtu—Venezuela

Pedro Urruchurtu is a Venezuelan political activist and the National Coordinator of Political Training/Education of Vente Venezuela, a liberal party led by MarĂ­a Corina Machado, one of the most important opposition leaders in Venezuela. He is also Vice President of the International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY), a global umbrella with +70 young organizations around the world. In addition, Pedro is a writer, university professor and graduated in Political Science, with Magna Cum Laude honor, specializing in international relations. He has represented Venezuela in various libertarian forums, both in Latin America and around the world.

Baishali Bomjan—Centre for Civil Society, India

Baishali leads the Centre for Civil Society’s development and strategy planning. She has previously led the Centre’s Academy and Communication and PR efforts and has designed and managed international and national conferences, training programs, certificate courses for journalists and edited several publications of the Centre. She also leads Atlas Network’s annual conference of market liberals, the Asia Liberty Forum which brings together over 250 think tank leaders, scholars, activists and students who are advancing liberty in their home country or region.

Having worked in the development sector and the print media in Nepal and India, her work profile includes serving as the Director of Nuns Welfare Foundation of Nepal, and Associate Editor of Nepal’s leading business and women’s magazines. She holds an MSc in Ecology and Ethology from the University of North Bengal, India, Think Tank MBA from Atlas Leadership Academy and is especially interested in project incubation and strategic planning.

Barun Mitra—Founder and President, Liberty Institute, India

The Liberty Institute, a nonprofit, independent public policy research and educational organization, dedicated to providing market-based responses to contemporary public policy issues that enhance freedom of choice for all. Mitra writes on public policy issues with a special interest in development and environment, trade and technology, property and intellectual property rights, and democracy and related issues.

He was the recipient of the Julian Simon Award 2005 from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Washington DC. An opinion article published in The Sunday Times, London, had been selected for Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award 2004 by the Pacific Research Institute, San Francisco. Mitra’s contribution to the cause of economic and political liberty was recognized by the International Society for Individual Liberty with the Freedom Torch medal 2004.

Cris Lingle—Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala

Christopher LINGLE earned a doctorate in economics from the University of Georgia in 1977 and has been employed at universities in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and USA.

He is a passionate supporter of human creativity and voluntary actions that lead to social harmony. To this end, he is available to go anywhere in the world to discuss the merits of institutions and public policy based on their impacts on human liberty and personal dignity.

Currently, he is Visiting Professor of Economics in the Escuela de Negocios at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala (since 1998), Adjunct Scholar at the Centre for Independent Studies (Sydney), Research Scholar at the Centre for Civil Society (New Delhi), International Political Economic Advisor for the Asian Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA – Kathmandu) & Senior Fellow, Advocata (Colombo, Sri Lanka).

Dr. LINGLE’s research interests are in the areas of Political Economy and International Economics with a focus on emerging market economies and public policy reform in East and Central Europe, East Asia, Latin America, and Southern Africa.         

Daniel J. Mitchell – Chairman, Center for Freedom & Prosperity

Dan Mitchell is Chairman of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a pro-market public policy organization he founded in 2000. His major research interests include tax reform, international tax competition, the economic burden of government spending, and other fiscal policy issues. Having also worked at the Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute, he has decades of experience authoring papers, writing editorials, working with the public policy community, and presenting the free-market viewpoint to newspaper, television, and radio media.

Dan has spoken to a wide variety of groups in dozens of cities and more than 50 foreign countries. He also serves on the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review, and holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.

Mirsuljan Namazaliev – Central Asian Free Market Institute, Kyrgyz Republic

Mr. Mirsuljan Namazaliev is the Managing Director of the Central Asian Free Market Institute, which he founded in 2009. He owned and managed K-News LLC (2015-2017), one of the leading online news sources in Kyrgyzstan. He is the founding curator at the Global Shapers Hub in Bishkek, initiative of the World Economic Forum. Previously, Mr. Namazaliev has represented the Zurich-based Neweurasia Citizen Media company in Kyrgyzstan (2006-2014), founded and lead various civic movements and organizations that promoted democratic changes under authoritarian regimes in the country (2004-2008). He stands for the Rule of Law, Economic Freedom and Minimal Government. Mr. Namazaliev holds a BA in political science from the Bishkek Humanities University (2009).

MarĂ­a JosĂ© Bernal Gaviria – EAFIT University in Medellin-Colombia

Maria Jose Bernal Gaviria studies economics with an emphasis in applied economics at EAFIT University in Medellin-Colombia. She did a diplomate on Project Management as part of a scholarship she got at her University, Intern at The AsociaciĂłn Nacional de Empresarios (ANDI). Alumni of institutes like Foundation for Economic Education, Reason Individualism and Freedom Institute, Cato, The Fund for American Studies and Ayn Rand Institute, she is currently committed to developing new projects to promote principles of liberty in her society.   

She is the Students For Liberty national coordinator in her country and fellow of Centro de Estudios Libertad y Paz. She is hosting events with FEE and SFL in Colombia, opening new chapters of students around the country and promoting the ideas of free markets in a complex society like the Colombian.

Maria is actually doing her thesis about regulations in the Colombian labor market and is part of several study groups in her university such innovation and entrepreneurship, economic research, Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Models (DSGEs), and economic conjuncture.


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