Daniela Vancic is European Program Manager at Democracy International and is managing their campaigns for strengthening direct democracy and citizen participation at all political levels.
Emerging 20 years ago from a network of democracy activists that lobbied for the establishment of the European Citizens' Initiative, Democracy International was founded in 2011 as a non-profit association in Cologne, Germany. Democracy International wants citizens to have more political power in decision-making and advocates for stronger co-decision instruments within the EU. In her role, Daniela contributes to the achievement of these goals by organising campaigns, building a European-wide alliance of like-minded NGOs, raising awareness through events and promotional activities, shaping Democracy International’s policy positions through monitoring and research.
Democracy International has helped make the European Citizens’ Initiative a more citizen-friendly tool, in particular in its campaign to strengthen the role of the European Parliament in its response to successful initiatives, for which Democracy International received a “NGO of the Year” award by the Good Lobby Awards in 2018. On a global level, Democracy International organises the world's largest conference on direct democracy, the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy.
