Matt Halvorson is a lifelong builder of stories, songs, and shared truths that illuminate the ties between community, justice, and joy. A writer, musician, abolitionist, and father, he has spent more than two decades creating spaces where voices too often sidelined in public conversations—especially in education and community life—are centered with clarity and care. Born in St. Paul, raised in Fargo, and rooted now in the forests near Seattle, Matt recognizes the power of narrative not just to reflect the world but to shape it.

In 2016, he founded Rise Up for Students—a blog and movement grounded in racial equity, radical empathy, and unapologetic advocacy for justice in schools and society. Over the years, that project has grown into a community of writers, artists, parents, and activists pushing for dignity and care over complacency. Working largely outside traditional institutions as a journalist, organizer, and independent artist, Matt brings honesty and depth to the conversations that matter most.

Through music released as Cousin Wolf and the Rise Up Music Project, his work explores family, grief, joy, and the human search for meaning—finding the extraordinary in everyday life. Matt’s writing and activism have been featured in regional media and through collaborations that amplify community-led insight.

Since 2018, Matt has partnered with educators and storytellers to support Black History Today, a project honoring living Black history-makers—work that has expanded into the History Lives Here exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum, bringing those stories into shared civic space and inviting all of us to see history in the people around us.

Matt lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest, guided by a belief that history isn’t only remembered—it’s made in the connections we forge, the songs we sing, and the justice we pursue together.