2025 Human Rights Awards Month: Keynote Address with Dr. Steven Levitsky
10:30AM - 12:00PM EDT Wednesday, 29 October 2025 -
Capping off Human Rights Awards Month, WOLA President Carolina Jiménez Sandoval will join Dr. Steven Levitsky, co-author of the best-selling book How Democracies Die, to honor our awardees and for an in-depth conversation about the mounting threats to democratic institutions and the urgent need to defend them. Together, they will first recognize the courageous work of our 2025 Human Rights Award honorees—Senator Tim Kaine and the Movimiento de Víctimas del Régimen (MOVIR)—before examining how authoritarianism is taking root around the world, including in the Americas, and what lessons can be drawn for building stronger, more resilient democracies.
The discussion will directly connect to the honorees’ work: Senator Kaine’s leadership in defending democratic accountability and MOVIR’s resistance against authoritarian abuses in El Salvador serve as powerful examples of the principles and practices needed to counter democratic backsliding. By linking the experiences of WOLA’s honorees to the broader global struggle against authoritarianism, the conversation will underscore both the challenges we face and the practical strategies that can help safeguard democracy in an era of rising autocracy.
