Matt Halvorson is a writer, musician, activist and father. He is the founder and primary author of Rise Up For Students, a blog project focused on educational equity and racial awareness in Washington State. He also created and continues to manage the Rise Up Music Project, a music platform that shares the ongoing creative processes of artists and activists as a daily podcast.
Matt’s brief career as a worker included several seasons in professional baseball offices, four years working with high school students in rural Oregon as a program coordinator with the “I Have a Dream” Foundation, and 20 grueling months as the communications research analyst for the Northwest Credit Union Association. He once ran out into the street and saved a little wiener dog that was being torn apart by a pit bull. Another time, he represented a 19-year-old undocumented immigrant being detained by ICE in Tacoma and helped to earn his release. In 2016-17, Matt spent five weeks at Standing Rock in his home state of North Dakota in peaceful opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
These days, Matt lives in Seattle with his partner, Lindsay, and their four kids. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Augustana University, and he likes to drink coffee, write songs, coach baseball, and sit around campfires, among other things.