Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice

Youth led mass protests are significantly challenging state legitimacy in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Venezuela and Kenya. Driven by deep economic distress, hopelessness and impunity, these nations lurch between constitutionalism, authoritarianism and anarchy with consequences for billions of people. What new human rights narratives and forms of organizing are emerging from these Gen Z social movements, human rights organisations and governments? Join Amnesty International Kenya’s Executive Director Irũngũ Houghton in exploring how current events are reshaping the right to expression, assembly and association globally.

Irũngũ Houghton has advised and held national governments, international and continental multi-lateral processes publicly accountable for the last thirty years. He currently serves as Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director. As Amnesty’s spokesperson and chief strategist in Kenya, he leads a team of committed investigative researchers and campaigners working to end human rights abuses and realise the Constitution of Kenya.

His work with Amnesty International Kenya led him to be cited among Kenya’s top 100 leaders in 2024. Amnesty International Kenya was also nominated in 2024 for the Best Governance and Human Rights NGO Category by the Public Benefits Regulatory Authority, Government of Kenya. In 2021, Amnesty Kenya was among the top ten most successful fundraising offices/sections in the Amnesty movement.

Irũngũ has previously worked with most of biggest NGOs in the world including Actionaid, Oxfam, Care, GreenPeace, London School of Economics and WWF among others. He was also the founding Chairperson of the Kilimani Project Foundation, a community foundation committed to creating livability and workability in the local community in which he lives (2012-2020). His public interest campaigns with others have received awards and citations from the African Union, New Partnership for Africa’s Development, Nation Media Group, New African, Architectural Association of Kenya and Sabre Africa Awards over the last decade.

Widely known as an inspirational speaker, change facilitator and skillful moderator, Irũngũ has published a weekly newspaper column for the last seven years and is an analyst of choice on Kenya for the national and international media. He is also the author of the recently published “Dialogue and Dissent: A Constitution in Search of a Country” available on either Amazon. He is married, father to seven adult children and grandfather to four alphas. Irũngũ holds two degrees from the University of Dar es Salaam (MA) and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London (BA). More X @irunguhoughton

Visit the gala website for more information, to become a sponsor, or to purchase an individual ticket: https://law.utexas.edu/rapoport-gala/

The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice and the Sissy Farenthold Fund for Peace and Social Justice will hold an anniversary gala in Austin on Thursday, April 24, 2025, marking 20 years since the Center’s founding and 10 years since the Center launched the digital exhibition of the life and work of Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold. Please join us to celebrate 20 years of work at the intersection of academics and advocacy that has both engaged and fostered the next generation of social justice leaders.

The Rapoport Center was inaugurated in 2005, made possible through the generosity of Bernard and Audre Rapoport, who were lifelong supporters of immigration justice, labor rights, reproductive rights, and educational attainment. Over the past two decades, the Center’s work has reflected these commitments, with faculty and students collaborating with community and NGO partners in the global North and South to produce innovative and enduring change in areas ranging from inequality and the future of work to the rise of xenophobia globally.

The Sissy Farenthold Fund was established in 2021 by the family and friends of trailblazing Texas politician and long-time leading feminist and social justice activist Sissy Farenthold, who was also an important friend and advisor to the Center. The Fund has allowed the Center to expand its research, advocacy, and programming on issues to which Sissy was committed, including peace, reproductive justice, and environmental justice.