PLP 2010 Profile: Jason Halbert

Name:  Jason Halbert
Age: 40
Birthplace and/or where you grew up:  Holloman Air Force Base, Alamogordo, NM.  I grew up in many places, but mostly West Chester, PA
Current Digs: Charlottesville, VA
Occupation: Philanthropy
Favorite part about the job: Working with non-profits to solve complex social and environmental problems and seeing results.
Your first job ever?  When I was 8 years old I wanted a fairly expensive bicycle at the time. My parents said I could have it if I saved my money.  All I received was a small weekly allowance for chores.  I quickly calculated that with my pay grade it would take years to buy it.  So my parents suggested getting a job. I signed up for the local paper route and got it.  I got the bike within a few months.
Favorite book? Too many!   Fiction: Watch for Me on the Mountain by Forrest Carter     Non-fiction: Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape, Barry Lopez
Favorite movie?  Harold & Maude
Comfort food?  Chips & Salsa
What's in your car CD player right now (or favorites on your iPod)?  Wilco (the album)
Next journey?  Perhaps to Victoria, BC to see my brother-in-law and sister-in-law as she graduates from grad school.  And then to Uganda in Jan. 2011 to help install a solar system on a community center/school in an area with no electricity.
Favorite Virginia vacation spot?  Canoeing the Rivanna, Shenandoah, or upper James rivers with my family.
First political memory?   At roughly five, my brother and I organized a "protest" against my Mom's smoking. We were ultimately successful (decades later).
Whom do you admire and why?    Nelson Mandela.  His life and achievements are incredible and inspiring.  His ability to lead through persistence and forgiveness is something all people should strive to emulate.
Best advice you ever got?  Work hard and play hard.
If you could have dinner with any one currently living, whom would it be and why?  Robin Williams.  He’s hilarious and speaks his mind.
Describe a perfect day.  Third day on five day canoe float down a nice long free-flowing river, perhaps in the Ozarks or perhaps in Virginia or West Virginia.  Early fall, just after the first frost.  Cool evenings and mornings, perfect for a fire, but warm lingering summer days still affording a refreshing swim in the river after a sweaty hike. Friends, family, instruments, good food, and easy conversations.
One thing most people might be surprised to learn about you?  I have a passion for learning about China and want to learn Mandarin.
Ambition, political or otherwise? Yes.