Our Advisory Board

Hon. Chris Alexander is a distinguished fellow with the Canadian International Council and the Macdonald Laurier Institute. He was Canada’s minister of citizenship and immigration (2013-15), Canadian MP (2011-15), deputy special representative of the UN Secretary General for Afghanistan (2005-09) and Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-05). Throughout his career, he has worked on issues related to democracy and countering disinformation.

Dr. Benedetta Berti is Head of Policy Planning in the Office of the Secretary General at NATO. She is also Associate Researcher at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Visiting Professor at the College of Europe and a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Throughout her career, she has specialised in foreign policy and security.

Sophie In ‘t Veld has thirty years of experience in European politics. As Member of European Parliament (2004-2024) she chaired the European Parliament Democracy, Rule of Law, and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group that had been set up at her initiative and is the architect of EU’s annual Rule of Law Report. Other policy work includes privacy and data protection, LGBTI rights, gender equality, and sanctions against Russia. Throughout her career, she has been a leading voice on democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights.

Ambassador (ret.) Kees Klompenhouwer is former Ambassador of the Netherlands in Czechia, Ukraine and Serbia and former EU Civilian Operations Commander. Currently member of the Netherlands’ Helsinki Committee and member of the Advisory Board of Open Door Ukraine. Throughout his career he was involved in programs supporting free media, free elections and democracy under the rule of law, and in policies to counter threats to peace in Europe.

Molly McKew is a writer and lecturer on Russian influence and information warfare. Her insights are informed by years spent working in Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the Baltic states. Throughout her career, she has specialised in Russian doctrine, hybrid warfare and defence.

Paul Nemitz was Principal Adviser on the Digital Transition at the European Commission and is a Visiting Professor of Law at College of Europe. He is co-author of ‘The Human Imperative: Power, Freedom and Democracy in the age of Artificial intelligence’ and ‘Critical Reflections on Constitutional Democracy in the European Union’. Throughout his career, he has supported non profits, with a focus on democracy, technology, AI law and ethics, media and remembrance.

Liubov Tsybulska is a leading Ukrainian expert on hybrid warfare, an advisor to the government of Ukraine, and founder of the The Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Throughout her career, she has worked on issues relating to hybrid threats, security and geopolitics.

Our Goodwill Ambassador

Sander Schimmelpenninck is a Dutch journalist, writer, documentary maker and entrepreneur. He has made a documentary for Netherlands’ public television about the threat social media poses to our democracies (Sander vs de Socials) and is vocal about the topic in Dutch media. As ambassador for Defend Democracy, Sander wants to help us communicate and advocate our ideas on digitalisation and democracy.