Category: Speaker

Nikolaus von Peter is an official of the European Union, working currently in the Representation of the European Commission in Berlin where he is following digital policy, fundamental rights, the rule of law and other policies. Mr von Peter studied law and briefly worked as a lawyer and in the German administration before joining the Commission’s treasury department. Before moving to Berlin, he worked in the private office of the European Commissioner for mobility and transport.

Twitter: @emandova

Renate Schroeder is the Director of the European Federation of Journalists, In 1993, she joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and since 2003, she has worked for the EFJ. Advocacy at EU and Council of Europe level; presentation of EFJ at international meetings and fact-finding media freedom missions; member of juries of journalistic prizes, project work, communication and assistance in several EFJ expert groups including on freelancers, media literacy and digital journalism, cover her workload in the small dynamic Brussels office. 

Renate Schroeder studied International Relations and Political Science at Boston University (Bachelor’s Degree in 1988) and in Berlin at the Free University (Masters in 1992). She worked at the United Nations, New York, the research institute FAST in Berlin, and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Brussels before she joined the EFJ. She is of German nationality and speaks English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish (passive).

Twitter: @renatemargot

Ludovica Jona Lasinio is an investigative journalist with a special interest in video and multimedia projects. She is currently a video-maker at La7 national tv channel and regular contributor at Il Fatto Quotidiano online newspaper. She has been team leader in various cross border investigations funded by #IJ4EU, Journalismfund, and European Journalism Centre, covering surveillance, migration, pharmaceutical sector and environmental issues. Her work appeared on The Intercept, Mediapart, FQ Millennium, L’Espresso, and Report Rai3 among others.

Stefano Valentino is an Italian entrepreneurial journalist based in Brussels and Investigations Manager at the European magazine Voxeurop and member of the European Data Journalism Network (EDJNet). He is a specialist of EU affairs and global ecological crises. Over the last years, he has investigated the connections between environment, sustainability, lobbying, security, and conflicts. He has a track record of international investigations funded by grant-making organisations. His work has appeared in leading media outlets in different countries, such as the Guardian, the Christian Science Monitor, EU Observer, Alternatives Economiques, Iil Fatto Quotidiano, El Confidencial, and NRC Handelsblad.

Anastasia Kirilenko is a Russian independent investigative reporter and radio journalist. From 2009 to 2015, Kirilenko was a reporter at the Russian Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Since 2014, she has been based in Paris. Since 2015, she has written for the Insider Russian investigative media. She is a co-producer of the 2018 TV documentary Putin and the Mafia which draws on the links between Putin and organised crime and has been shown in a dozen of EU countries and Switzerland. Kirilenko runs the “Transborder Corruption Archive” public database.

Twitter: @anastasiaki

Rudi Bressa is an environmental and scientific freelance journalist, who collaborates with many Italian and international media outlets, focusing on climate change, energy transition, circular economy, and biodiversity conservation. He is a member of Swim (Science Writers in Italy), on the board of the Clew Journalism Network based in Berlin, and an associate of Oxpeckers investigative environmental journalism based in South Africa. His last investigations were focused on illegal wildlife and timber trade and were supported by the Journalism Fund and IJ4EU.

Twitter: @RudiBressa

Věra Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency 

Věra Jourová is currently Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency and deals with democracy, rule of law, media pluralism and fight against disinformation. From 2014 to 2019, she served as EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. In 2014, before arriving at the European Commission, Ms Jourová held the position of Minister for Regional Development in the Czech Republic. Previous to this, from 2006 to 2013, she worked in her own company as an international consultant on European Union funding and was also involved in consultancy activities in the Western Balkans relating to the European Union Accession. She holds a Degree in Law (Mgr.) and a master’s degree (Mgr.) in the Theory of Culture from the Charles University, Prague. 

Twitter: @VeraJourova