Originally broadcast at 10:45 a.m. ET Wednesday, July 13, 2022.

Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of HumanProgress.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on global improvements in well‐being by providing commentary and free empirical data on long‐term developments. At the Cato Institute, Follett also serves as a policy analyst for the Center for Global Liberty & Prosperity, where she conducts research on human rights and the historic drivers of progress. It is through these lenses that Follett will frame her presentation as part of the Chautauqua Lecture Series week on “The Future of Human Rights.” HumanProgress.org has been cited by The Washington Post, National Geographic, Human Rights Watch, the World Economic Forum, and the World Bank, and is used in many top universities' classrooms. Currently, Follett is at work on a book titled Centers of Progress, about how certain places, at certain times in history, have contributed disproportionately toward making the world a better place. Her writing has been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsweek, Forbes, The Hill, Business Insider, the Washington Examiner, and Global Policy Journal. Her work has been cited in numerous books including Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. Follett is also the host of the “Human Progress Podcast.” Follett was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for 2018 in the category of Law & Policy. She earned a BA, magna cum laude, in government and English from the College of William & Mary, as well as an MA in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia, where she focused on international relations and political theory.

About Chautauqua Institution: Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. CHQ Assembly is the online expression of Chautauqua Institution's mission.