Nani Jansen Reventlow receives the Felipe Rodriguez Award 2021

About the Felipe Rodriguez Award

The Felipe Rodriguez Award is named after a Dutch privacy pioneer. From the very beginning, Rodriguez was at the centre of the Dutch internet community. He also played an important role in the founding of Bits of Freedom. Since his passing in 2015, this award is presented to people who, in Felipe’s rebellious nature, stand out for their contribution to our right to privacy. Previous winners are Kashmir Hill, Max Schrems, Kirsten Fiedler, Marleen Stikker and Lilia Kai (on behalf of Open Whisper Systems).

Nani Jansen Reventlow: a rebel in the fight for a just world

Nani Jansen Reventlow specialises in strategic litigation in which she engages intersectionally with human rights and social justice. As a seasoned human rights lawyer, she has won a number of landmark court cases in the area of freedom of expression.

In 2018, she launched Digital Freedom Fund, in order to foster strategic litigation around digital rights in Europe. This year, she is stepping down from the organisation as director to found a new NGO called Systemic Justice, which helps communities strategically litigate for racial, social and economic justice. She is also a lecturer at Colombia Law School and at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

Praise for Jansen Reventlow

Nani Jansen Reventlow is a tremendous inspiration. With her work she shows how legal remedies can be used for a better world. Human rights lawyer Jelle Klaas (PILP-NJCM) about her work:

“Nani is one of my great examples in the field of truly strategic litigation. With DFF, she has been able to bring together the digital human rights movement in Europe and push for more and better cooperation in that field in a more strategic and more inclusive and decolonial way. She is a very deserving winner of this award.”

In addition, together with European Digital Rights (EDRi), Nani initiated a large-scale project to decolonise the digital rights field. An ambitious and especially important project involving numerous digital rights organisations, other human rights organisations and activists. Claire Fernandez, Executive Director of EDRi:

“Nani is both a thinker and a doer and those qualities combined make her such a driving force and leader for change. At DFF she has built a strong and bold organisation and she has supported so many of us, in particular women of color entering the field.”

We are delighted to present Nani with this well-deserved award and are already looking forward to the tremendous impact her work will have in the future.

Subscribe to the Big Brother Awards podcast for an in-depth interview with Nani: https://bigbrotherawards.nl.

The article was first published here.

(Contribution by: Nadia Benaissa, Policy Advisor, EDRi member Bits of Freedom)