Lucia Nader is a political scientist, with expertise in the field of democracy, social change and human rights. She has been researching and working with activists, NGOs and donors for 25 years. Her PhD research focuses on the enablers of a regenerative activism – one that can renew, restore and revitalize itself at individual, organizational and movement levels.

Lucia was the Executive Director of Conectas Human Rights, in Brazil (2011-2014). Before leading the organization, she helped to conceive its Foreign Policy and Human Rights Program, with a focus on south-south relations. She is currently a board member of the Fund for Global Human Rights (USA) and Article 19 (England). She is also a member of the advisory board of SUR – International Journal on Human Rights.

In 2017-2018, Lucia was a visiting scholar at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice– CHGRJ (New York University) and at the Institute for Latin American Studies – ILAS (Columbia University). Between 2015-2016, she was a fellow with the Open Society Foundations Fellowship Program investigating “Solid Organizations in a Liquid World”.

She holds a postgraduate degree from Sciences-Po (Paris, France) and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). She was named a social entrepreneur by Ashoka (2009) and is the author of several published articles. Lucia is fluent in Portuguese, French, English and Spanish.

Lúcia Nader is undertaking a PhD at the Institute of Development Studies. Her research title is: ‘Regenerative Activism.’

Alex Shankland and Tessa Lewin are the PhD supervisors.