Born in socialist Hungary and spending childhood years in La-Paz, Bolivia, Nilda developed a passion for freedom and social change at an early age. She attended meetings of the opposition in the living room of their home in Budapest, and travelled to help Roma communities in far corners of Hungary before she was 18. At the change of the political system she was involved in human rights organizations and the nascent women’s movement; she co-edited the first feminist journal in Hungary. Her path led her to get a legal education and work with civil society organizations, recognizing the vital importance of both the rule of law and a free civil society to democracy.

Currently, Nilda is Vice President at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), working to protect the rights of civil society in over 100 countries. Prior to joining ICNL in Washington, DC, she was Executive Director of the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law and worked directly on legal reform in over 20 countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Nilda is an internationally recognized leader, having served as Chair of the Civil Society Advisory Committee to the UNDP Administrator and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, among others. She is currently serving on the Board of CIVICUS where she was elected in 2016. Today, Nilda still believes in the strength of citizens to bring about much needed positive social change.