Thordis Elva

Thordis Elva has held various different job titles throughout her career, such as news reporter, author and educator, but at the core of them all is social change. Her books, articles, films and plays have won various awards and honors. That, combined with her public speaking and equal rights activism, earned her the title Woman of the Year 2015 in her native Iceland. Two years later, Thordis was instrumental in leading the #metoo revolution and accepted the Person of the Year award on behalf of the movement.

In her violence prevention work and advocacy for gender equality, she saw how emerging technology is being utilized to abuse women and girls not only offline, but online too. In 2020, she founded the Nordic Digital Rights and Equality Foundation along with other Nordic experts in the field. She has delivered keynotes about the role of digital media in furthering gender equality at events hosted by the UN, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Nordic Council.

Thordis Elva has also built on her personal experience in her work, sharing her own story of sexual assault in a TED talk that has been viewed over 10 million times. She is the first survivor of assault to publicly collaborate with her perpetrator with the hope that sharing their story will help prevent abuse in other relationships. Their book, South of Forgiveness, has been published across four continents.