Bergen was born in the deep woods of Napa Valley, California to a Norwegian chef and an entrepreneurial American pilot. Their creative parenting style shaped his particular sense of humor -- his classmates would later vote him class president, class clown, and the luckiest guy in school.

His fascination with other cultures started early. In high school, he studied both the Russian of our Cold War enemy and the Spanish of the wine country's emerging Mexican immigrant population. After working and studying abroad in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sydney, Bergen continued to pursue his desire to better understand other cultures, graduating with honors from Georgetown University's School of Languages and Linguistics .

From the tender age of eleven, Bergen was racing in long-distance motorcycle enduros; at twenty, he was captain of his university rugby team; he now tears every muscle in his body in occasional adventure races, and enjoys long walks in the Himalayas.

Currently music director for an avant-garde television show in San Francisco, Bergen's music career includes five albums on upright bass, guitar, and harmonica, and over one hundred live performances. He also won an American Art Show People's Choice award for his directing, acting, and editing work in the 2004 film Tunnel Lover. To pay the bills, he and his older brother, visual artist Justin Moore, build custom multimedia websites.

Since 2002, Bergen has developed multimedia and technology solutions for an international human rights organization. Through his work, he has developed relationships with people and organizations pursuing solutions to today's social and environmental issues. Bergen headed to India in 2009, and embarked on a journey - on motorbike - to finally meet this amazing network of people.

Update Feb 1, 2010: The last year has been amazing. Not "working" is A) great, and B) exactly what I needed to allow my mind to process all the input of the past ten years. I feel a much cleaner and deeper spiritual connection to the world and my work. I feel a drive towards quality in my work, towards clearly defining goals and processes before building. I feel I have a deeper understanding of the importance of listening and comprehending the culture of the people I am working with. The importance of replacing arrogance with humility when doing social work. I have now been on both sides of this.

I am now acting on a strong urge to work towards reconciliation between myself and those I disagree with politically; One new project, "Friends, Americans, Countrymen" is a series of debates I am engaging in where winning means developing a greater understanding of an issue through empathy for those who see it differently. Both sides agree to work to improve their understanding, not to beat the other at debate. I hope to use it to explore the wound between friends and family who share values, but don't understand where the other is coming from politically, without the lobbing of insults and generalizations.