Sonja Licht

Sonja Licht is the President of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence. She holds an MA in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. She was part of the Yugoslav dissident movement from the late sixties. Between 1991-1995 was the co-chair of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly.

From 1991-2003 she was the CEO of the Fund for an Open Society (Soros Foundation) in Yugoslavia (later Serbia). From its inception in July 1999 she was the head of the Task Force of the Bratislava Process (established to support the democratic opposition of Serbia), and member of the Group of Eminent Persons of the Council of Europe in 2010 that authored the report: ‘Living Together: Combining Freedom and Diversity in Europe of 21st Century’.

She is a laureate of numerous awards including the Pro Merit Medal of the Council of Europe, the Star of Italian Solidarity and the French Legion of Honour. She is a Richard von Weizsacker Fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation for 2015.