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Balázs Dénes

Executive Director

Human rights, justice and open societies seemed like good things to fight for in law school, and they still do today. If our rights and freedoms were fully protected, I might be a gardener or open a small business. But as that day seems far away, I feel fortunate to have such a meaningful job.

Balázs is a lawyer and human rights activist from Budapest, Hungary. He holds a law degree from ELTE University and was a visiting fellow at Columbia University in New York. Balázs started his career as an intern with the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), a Budapest-based human rights group. He spent the next 15 years at HCLU, eventually rising to become executive director. After leading the organization for eight years, he joined the Open Society Foundations as a division director of the Open Society Initiative for Europe. In 2017, he helped found Liberties and currently serves as the organization’s executive director.

I guide Liberties’ efforts to become a leading voice on human rights issues in Europe. To support this, I am responsible for building a dynamic, energetic team to engage with the public, decision makers and stakeholders to improve human rights protections in all EU member states.
Human rights, justice and open societies seemed like good things to fight for in law school, and they still do today. If our rights and freedoms were fully protected, I might be a gardener or open a small business. But as that day seems far away, I feel fortunate to have such a meaningful job.