Nienke Venema

Nienke Venema is the Chair of the European Press Prize Board. Nienke Venema is the director of Stichting Democratie en Media, an Amsterdam-based foundation committed to independent journalism and a strong and vigorous democracy through media ownership and proactive grant programs. As the foundation’s first director, she has been responsible for setting it up as a professional grant-making organisation. SDM provides both project and long-term core grants to civil society actors and organisations focusing on concerns of fundamental rights and freedoms and/or media innovation. It also acts as an idealistic shareholder in media companies, with a strong focus on safeguarding editorially independent journalism.

In addition to concerns about fundamental rights and freedoms, Nienke focuses on the role foundations and venture philanthropy can play in safeguarding the future of independent journalism. Previously, she was the director of Humanity in Action in The Netherlands, an international educational organisation that runs programmes on social justice. Nienke holds a BA (Hons) in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam.