Board & Jury Members

• Ms. Røhnebæk Bjergene, Liv (executive chair)
• Mr. Nome, Petter (deputy chair)
• Ms. Bank, Helene
• Ms. Dannevig, Siri
• Mr. Dannevig Gaarder, Kristoffer
• Ms. Enge, Elin
• Mr. Eriksen, Hylland, Thomas
• Mr. Gaarder, Jostein
• Ms. Hartmann, Elizabeth 
• Mr. Hessen, Dag O.
• Mr. Lahn, Bård
• Ms. Lindberg, Ylva 

Short biography

Mrs. Liv Røhnebæk Bjergene (b. 1969) Executive chair, has been working as foreign news journalist since 1996, with a special focus on development issues. She has worked both for Norwegian national newspapers and for a special magazine focusing on development issues, distributed by Norad. Bjergene has also for two years worked as an information officer for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She is now partner and consultant in Faktotum Informasjon. Bjergene is also currently finishing her masters degree in development studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Mr. Petter Nome (b. 1954) Deputy Chair, Freelance journalist for Norwegian newspapers, radio and television for 25 years. From 1984 to 2002, Nome has mainly been working for Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) as news anchors and reporter, documentary producer and talk show host. From 2002 – 2005, He was the director of communication in Norwegian Refugee Council. Nome is now director of the Brewers Association. He has also been member of different boards within sports, charity, environment and culture.

Ms. Helene Bank (b. 1959) Helene Bank is a natural scientist. She is Vice President of Attac Norway, and former Vice president of Friends of the Earth Norway. Since 1997 she worked with the deaconial institution in Norway: Diakonhjemmet - Centre for Partnership in Development, responsible for building public understanding of marginalizing processes forced by economic globalization and the world trading system. She is a trustee and has been working board member of Southern and Eastern Trade and Information Negotiations Institute based in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Geneva. She has been actively involved in international activities on sustainable development and economic globalization. She has also been foreign policy advisor in the Norwegian Parliament. Currently, she works as Senior advisor on Trade, Globalization and the Environment in the labour union based "Campaign for the Welfare State.

Ms. Siri Dannevig (b. 1953) Siri Dannevig has since 1981 been teaching drama and theatre in Norwegian Folk High School (which is a free county college and boarding school). In this school she has directed several plays, classical and modern. In addition she has worked in the administration. She is today running a small private theatre in Oslo called Cafeteatret. She is the Director of the Sophie Prize Ceremony. Together with her husband, Jostein Gaarder, Siri Dannevig is the founder of the Sophie Foundation.

Mr. Kristoffer Gaarder Dannevig (b. 1983), Mr Kristoffer Gaarder Dannevig is a historian, journalist and organizational consultant. He has been teaching History and Politics and Human Rights at Oslo Handelsgymnasium. As a journalist in Dagsavisen and as a freelancer Kristoffer has written several articles and op-eds on different subjects – including global warming, development and cultural understanding. He has been active in volunteer work in many organizations, particularly Utdanningshjelpen. He is now a Senior Executive Officer in the City of Oslo where he is working with immigrant organizations. Despite his young age Kristoffer has two children – the older one played “Leo the Clown” in the price ceremony in 2011.

Ms. Elin Enge (b. 1952), Senior advisor in ForUM, where she previously served as Executive Director, has for 30 years been actively engaged in environment and development issues through national and international NGOs. She has been Head of information in Norwegian Save the Children, Director of The Norwegian Campaign for Environment and Development, advisor at the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and Director of the Norwegian Development Fund, Advisor in Norwegian Peoples Aid. She was a member of the Norwegian Commission on Norwegian North-South and Aid policies. She has held several international positions in the NGO movement; Board Member in WEDO (Women for Environment and Development Organisation), Earth Action, Founder of the European network, ANPED and Chair of Reality of Aid, Chair of the Sophies Foundation and Chair of the Drylands Co-ordination Group.

Mr. Thomas Hylland Eriksen (b. 1962) is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo and the Free University of Amsterdam, where he has a Special Chair in the Anthropology of Human Security. His main research interests are cultural aspects of globalisation, identity politics and human security. He has written many books in English and Norwegian, including textbooks such as Small Places -- Large Issues, Ethnicity and Nationalism and A History of Anthropology; monographs such as Us and Them in Modern Societies and Common Denominators; general non-fiction like Charles Darwin (in Norwegian) and Tyranny of the Moment; essays, pamphlets and a novel.

Mr. Jostein Gaarder (b. 1952) Gaarder has for many years been a teacher in the Norwegian High School and Folk High School (which is a free county college and boarding school). He is today a world famous author. His novel "Sophie's world", a novel about the history of Western philosophy (1991) is translated into 50 different languages and sold in more than 20 million copies around the world. Also his other novels, children's books and textbooks are translated into many languages. Together with his wife, Siri Dannevig, Jostein Gaarder is the founder of the Sophie foundation.

Ms. Elizabeth Hartmann (b.1957) is Managing Director and partner at Siste Skrik, an advertising agency which specializes in creative commercial communication. She has an MBA from BI – Norwegian School of Management and more than 30 years of experience from different positions and companies in public relations and advertising. She has been a chairman in different marketing organisations as The Marketing Association of Oslo, Creative Forum and Norwegian Association of Advertising Agencies.

Mr. Dag Olav Hessen (b. 1956)  Professor in Biology, University of Oslo. Hessen is working with several aspects of ecology and evolutionary biology, and is currently heading a research group working with the regulation of carbon fluxes from the cellular level to ecosystems. He has been aboard member of the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association, The University Studies at Svalbard and The Centre for Development and the Environment, as well as the Norwegian Research Council. He has also interest in the link between philosophy, evolutionary biology and environmental aspects and has written popular books on darwinism, cultural and biological selfishness and chance and biological determinism.

Mr. Bård Lahn (b. 1983) works as an adviser on international climate policy for Friends of the Earth Norway and Rainforest Foundation Norway, and has several years of experience in working with the UN climate change negotiations. He was previously chair of Nature and Youth from 2006 to 2008, after having served as vice chair and board member in the organization since 2002. During this time he participated in the foundation of Young Friends of the Earth Europe, a network of European environmental youth groups. He has also held positions in the Norwegian member group of Via Campesina, and worked on international trade and WTO issues.

Ms Ylva Lindberg (b 1974). Founder and manager of SIGLA, a consultancy advising companies on global challenges and corporate responsibility. Ylva is also board chair of WWF-Norway and a board member of the eco tourism company Basecamp Explorer. She has previously led the corporate responsibility work of KLP Insurance, a large Norwegian pension fund, and worked with business development in Russia, both for Orkla and as a consultant with McKinsey&Company. Ylva has a Bachelor of Arts with honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. Her primary interest is in how global challenges and responsibility affect business and what role the private sector can play in social and economic development.