Elisabeth Ungar Bleier is Colombian born of Austrian immigrant parents. Her academic and non-profit activities have related to strengthening democracies and democratic institutions; transparency and anti-corruption in the public and private sectors; and citizen participation and social movements.
A political scientist educated at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, she has a Master´s
Degree in Legal Institutions and Sociology of Law from the University of Wisconsin in
Madison. She is the founder of Congreso Visible (Visible Congress), a watchdog organisation, and was a professor and researcher in the Department of Political Science at Universidad de los Andes from 1975 until 2009, serving as Director of the Department (1995-1996) and a board member of the university (2005-present).
For nine years, she was the Executive Director of Transparencia por Colombia, the
Colombian chapter of Transparency International (TI), later joining its global board of directors. She has also been a member of other boards, such as the World Movement for
Democracy and the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy. She has been
a member of the National Anti Corruption Citizen Commission, the Regional Alliance
for Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, several watch dog NGOs
and “La Paz Querida”.
She was selected by an independent commission to be part of the Misión Electoral
Especial (Special Electoral Commission), created in compliance with the Peace
Agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP.
She is the author of numerous books and articles about transparency, anti-corruption,
political reform, political parties, and congress. She is a permanent columnist of El Espectador, the second largest Colombian daily newspaper. Fluent in Spanish, English and German, and proficient in French, she is the proud mother of two wonderful young women.
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Hakan Altinay is a Professor of the Practice at Tisch College, and the founding Director of the European School of Politics in Istanbul. He has previously served as a senior fellow at Brookings Institution, a world fellow at Yale University, and taught at Bogazici, Koc and Sabanci universities in Istanbul.
His book, “Global Civics: Responsibilities and Rights In An Interdependent World”, was published by Brookings Institution Press, and subsequently translated and published in Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. His 2023 book, “Medeni (Civic)”, was published by Iletisim Press. His writings have appeared at The Economist, Financial Times, Global Policy, The New York Times, openDemocracy, and ProjectSyndicate.
His current interests revolve around what can be achieved through good conversations and generous listening, as well as the opportunity cost of neglecting our civic muscles around these perennial practices. Altinay is a member of IFIT’s International Advisory Council.
