Governance
The Brussels Privacy Hub is governed by a Board of Directors drawn from VUB’s LSTS, which sets strategy, provides oversight and accountability, and safeguards academic independence, with Co-Directors and an Executive Team leading day-to-day operations. An external Advisory Board of non-VUB experts offers independent strategic counsel and networks without any governance or fiduciary role. This model blends internal oversight with external expertise to guide the Hub’s research, events, and education.
Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon
Co-Director
Barbara Lazarotto
Co-Director
Board of Directors
The Board consists of several professors from the Law, Science, Technology and Society Research Group at the Law and Criminology Faculty of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the institutional home of the Brussels Privacy Hub. The Board of Directors ensures the strategy, oversight, and accountability of the Hub.
Prof. Rocco Bellanova
Board of Directors’ Member
Prof. Niels Van Dijk
Board of Directors’ Member
Prof. Paul Quinn
Board of Directors’ Member
Advisory Board
Independent, non-VUB experts, from academia, civil society, public institutions, and industry, who serve in a personal capacity to provide strategic advice, horizon-scanning, and external validation, open networks, and support outreach as well as fundraising and without any governance or fiduciary role.
Prof. Gianclaudio Malgieri
Advisory Board Member
Paul Nemitz
Advisory Board Member
Heidi Waem
Advisory Board Member
Prof. Beatriz Botero Arcila
Advisory Board Member
Funding
The Brussels Privacy Hub is anchored at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and works in close collaboration with its Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS) research group, which provides the Hub with its academic foundation and institutional resources. Most Hub members are affiliated with the VUB and its Faculty of Law and Criminology, ensuring that the Hub remains embedded within a strong academic environment.
To sustain its activities, the Hub secures resources through a combination of European and national research grants, collaborative projects with universities and research centres, private donations, and income from training and education initiatives. These includes research grants, private donations, and income from training and education activities such as the Summer Academy, the Winter Academy and other trainings.
The Hub also benefits from partnerships with public and private organisations, which contribute to specific projects or events. A flagship example is the Brussels Privacy Symposium, co-organised annually with the Future of Privacy Forum since 2016. This event has received sponsorship from a range of companies and institutions, but sponsorships are strictly limited to financial contributions and do not influence the academic, policy, or programme content of the Symposium or any other Hub activity. Other collaborations have included projects with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Norwegian Red Cross, as well as cooperation with civil society and other academic partners.
This blended model of institutional anchoring, competitive project funding, private donations, and carefully managed partnerships ensures the Hub’s independence, sustainability, and international impact, while enabling it to continue delivering cutting-edge research, high-level events, and innovative educational programmes.
Over the years our donnors have included: Google, Meta, Microsoft and Mastercard.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
The Hub runs on occasions bespoke training to the benefit of a variety of actors. For further information and explore training opportunities contact brusselsprivacyhub@vub.be