About Catherine (Cat) Bleish Bonandin

Hi, I’m Catherine (Cat) Bleish Bonandin. Many people call me Cat.

I am a mother. A writer. A speaker.

I am a systems builder focused on sovereignty, resilience, and intentional living. I like to think of myself as a grid builder.

I currently produce Anarchapulco, Liberpulco, and the NonConformist Series, curating events and experiences centered on freedom, decentralization, and human flourishing.

Through Sovereign Living, I share my lived experience of breaking free from coercive systems, both personal and societal, and rebuilding a life rooted in autonomy, accountability, and aligned community.

The past 20 years have been full of wild adventure as I travel the globe seeking freedom in ever-evolving ways. Here is a summary of some of the projects and events I’ve been a part of.

Approved pencil sketch of Cat with her three children.

Activism

Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign

  • National Grassroots Organizer
  • National Delegate to the Republican National Convention
  • State Delegate to the Missouri Republican Convention

Continental Congress 2009

  • National Delegate from Missouri

10th Amendment Resolution 2010

  • Lobbied Missouri Congressmen (it passed)

REAL ID Legislation 2010

  • lobbied Missouri Congressmen (so grateful to have a non-REAL ID driver’s license to this day!)

Street Action

  • Arrested 2009, Missouri, all charges dropped, settlement won
  • Arrested in 2010, New Hampshire; acquitted in court
  • Constitutional Police Confrontations (Saint Louis, New Orleans), protected by U.S. Constitution
  • Toe to toe with Alex Jones when he sabotaged our rally against the Austin Police Department in 2010

Fusion Center Activism

  • Visited many fusion centers across the U.S. (2009 to 2010) as a part of Operation Defuse
  • FOIA requests
  • Attended National DHS Fusion Center Conference (2010)
  • Attended Texas Emergency Management Conference (2010)
  • Testified in four state congressional hearings in Missouri
  • Lobbied Missouri Congress
  • Testified before Austin City Council

Fluoride

  • Testified before Austin City Council
  • Helped get signatures to end fluoride in San Marcos (passed)

Bitcoin

  • Traveled the U.S. on bitcoin only (2014, 2015, 2016), visiting bitcoin meetups and early adopter businesses, we gave away bitcoin, ether, and dash
  • Wrote for Bitcoin Magazine
  • Wrote for Cointelegraph
  • Lived in the Bitcoin Bus for 7.5 years

Events organized or co-organized

  1. End the Fed, Kansas City (2010)
  2. Revolution March, Washington DC (2009)
  3. Brave New Books events, Austin (2010 to 2015)
  4. Peaceful Streets Project (2012)
  5. Your Epic Rebirth, Austin (2019)
  6. Anarchapulco, Acapulco & Puerto Vallarta (2019 to now)
  7. Liberpulco, Serbia (2024 to now)
  8. NonConformist Series (2023 to now)
  9. Greenbriar Events (2020 to now)

Media appearances

I have been featured in CNN, TruTV with Jesse Ventura, Yahoo Travel, Fox News, The Austin Chronicle, Kansas City Pitch, and local news across Missouri, New Hampshire, and Texas. I have also been featured in documentaries and media productions exploring liberty, cryptocurrency, and alternative culture, with work such as Camp FEMA cataloged on IMDb.

View interviews, coverage, and stage recordings

Selected speeches and presentations

  1. End the Fed Kansas City (2009)
  2. Porcupine Freedom Festival (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2026)
  3. Tea Party Kansas City (2009)
  4. Tea Party Buffalo Missouri (2009)
  5. 10th Amendment Rally, Washington Missouri (2009)
  6. Jekyll Island Project (2009)
  7. Continental Congress (2009)
  8. Liberty Forum (2010)
  9. Freedom 21 Conference (2010)
  10. Texas Libertarian Party Conference (2010)
  11. Freedom Law School (2011)
  12. End the Fed Houston (2011)
  13. Nullify Now NH (2011)
  14. Peaceful Streets Project (2012)
  15. Voice and Exit (2013)
  16. Liberty Fest NYC (2014)
  17. Anarchapulco (2018 to now)
  18. Libertopia (2019)
  19. Mariposa Freedom Festival (2023 to 2024)
  20. Monerotopia (2024)
  21. Liberpulco (2024 to now)
  22. Liberland 10th Anniversary (2025)

Today, my work is focused on building rather than fighting, creating parallel systems in education, community, and culture that reflect the values of sovereignty and self-determination. I serve as a board member and educator at Greenbriar Community School, where I teach Good Citizenship and Game of Village, programs designed to cultivate critical thinking, civic awareness, and real-world understanding in young people.

I am a mother of three and part of an intentional community in Central Texas. My writing blends personal narrative with practical frameworks, inviting others to step out of passive existence and into active authorship of their own lives.

Invite me to speak