Board & Jury Members
- Ms. Ørstavik, Gunhild (chair)
- Mr. Nome, Petter (deputy chair)
- Ms. Bank, Helene
- Ms. Berge, Unni
- Mr. Dahle, Øystein
- Ms. Dannevig, Siri
- Mr. Dannevig Gaarder, Nikolas
- Ms. Enge, Elin
- Mr. Eriksen, Hylland, Thomas
- Mr. Gaarder, Jostein
- Mr. Hessen, Dag O.
- Ms. Lindberg, Ylva
- Ms. Mørck, Sidsel
- Mr. Willums, Jan-Olaf
Short biography
Ms. Gunhild Ørstavik (b.1959) Chair of the Sophie Foundation, works as an advisor to the Norwegian Forum for Development and Environment, a network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). She was project manager for The Reality of Aid project and policy advisor to the International dep. of Norwegian People’s Aid. She was for more than 10 years actively engaged in the shelter movement working against gender based violence, trafficking and racism. She holds a masters degree in education and development
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 back in Norwegian Broadcasting. 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 og Attac Norway, and formerVice 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. Currently she works in the Norwegian Parliament as foreign policy advisor to the Centre Party.
Ms. Unni Berge (b. 1979) Unni Berge is studying geography at the University of Oslo. She is a member of the board of Nature and Youth, the youth organisation of Friends of the Earth Norway. In 1999 she was the President of Operation Day’s Work, a student solidarity-campaign.
Mr. Øystein Dahle (b. 1938) Board Chairman of the Worldwatch Institute in Washington and board chairman of the Institutes Nordic affiliate. He also serves as the board chairman of the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association, and on the board of several other environmentally oriented institutions.Up until 1995 he was for a period of 10 years executive vice president for Esso Norway, a major energy company in Norway. Prior to his executive assignment he spent several years with the international company in the US and Latin America. He is educated from the Norwegian Technical University with a degree in chemical engineering.
Mrs. 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. 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.
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.
Ms Ylva Lindberg (b 1974) Founder and partner of SIGLA, a consultancy advising companies on global challenges and corporate responsibility. 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. 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. Ylva is a board member of the eco tourism company Basecamp Explorer.
Ms. Sidsel Mørck (b. 1937) Sidsel Mørck is an author, debut in 1967. She has published 35 books - poems, novels and songs for children - and about 150 articles about environmental issues and social conditions. She has got three environmental awards and was a scholarship holder of the state from 1993 - 2004.
Mr. Jan-Olaf Willums (b. 1946) President of Inspire, an investment fund focused on environmental and social venture capital. Former Director of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Chairman of the Foundation for Business and Society and board member of the Center of Corporate Citizenship of Norwegian School of Management where his is an Adjunct Professor.
Nikolas Mr. Nikolas Dannevig Gaarder (b. 1976) Nikolas D. Gaarder has been studying journalism, and is now studying history at the University of Oslo. In 2001 he was a conscientious objector at Norwegian People`s Aid. He has also been working as a volunteer in Nature and Youth.Ms. Elin Enge (b. 1952) Elin Enge, has for 20 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 and ForUM for Environment and Development (a nation-wide follow-up campaign of the Brundtland Commission), advisor at the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and Director of the Norwegian Development Fund. 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 and Chair of the Drylands Co-ordination Group. Elin Enge is presently Director of the Norwegian Forum for Environment and Develpoment.