Stefania Kapronczay has been a human rights defender for 20 years in Hungary, serving as one of the directors of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union between 2013-2025. Adapting to the closing democratic space, she has transformed the organization from predominantly deploying legal tools into a social change organization that supports citizens, grassroots and civil society organizations, with the aim of inspiring hope in democracy.In a context of low civic participation and limited trust in institutions, Stefania recognized the need to expand her organization’s nationwide outreach and to broaden its focus to include everyday problems, in order to demonstrate the power of rights. During her leadership, the organization diversified the organization’s funding sources, significantly expanding its revenue from Hungarian individuals. She was co-chair of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations between 2014-2024, providing her a unique perspective on how various civil rights groups respond to autocratic challenges. She is a lawyer by training, graduating cum laude from the Faculty of Law at ELTE  and from Stanford University as Master of the Science of Law. Stefania also studied sociology for 5 years. She was an Obama Foundation Scholar at Columbia University in the academic year 2024-2025.