Alberto Alemanno is the Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law & Policy at HEC Paris.
[ SCHOLARSHIP ]
Alberto’s research has been centred on how the law may be used to improve people’s lives, in particular through the adoption of power-shifting reforms countering social, health, economic, and political disparities of access within society.
He’s the author of more than sixty scientific articles and a dozen books. His first trade book – ‘Lobbying for Change: Find Your Voice to Create a Better Society’ – provides a timely analysis and guide to levelling the democratic playing field by empowering ordinary citizens to speak up and inform policy decisions at the local, national and international levels. It was translated into Italian and Spanish.
Alberto is also a permanent visiting professor at the College of Europe (Bruges and Natolin), at the University of Tokyo School of Public Policy, as well as a scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He has held multiple fellowships at Harvard University where he served as Democracy Fellow (2024-2025) at the Ash Center for Democratic Innovation and Governance and Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies Minda de Gunzburg (2024) as well as Europe’s Future Fellow at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna (2022-2023).
Originally from Italy, Alberto is a graduate of Harvard Law School, the College of Europe and holds a PhD in International Law & Economics from Bocconi University.
[ CIVIC ADVOCATE ]
Due to his commitment to bridge the gap between academic research and policy action, Alberto has made repeated forays out of the ivory tower and into the halls of government and realm of civil society. He qualified as attorney-at-law in New York State (2004), served as law clerk at the Court of Justice of the European Union (2003, 2005-2009) and regularly acts as legal and advocacy strategist and advisor to some leading EU institutions, including the EU Parliament, the EU Commission, international organisations, such as the OECD and the WHO, as well as nonprofit organisations and philanthropies.
He has pioneered innovative forms of academic and policy engagement both through the EU Public Interest Clinic he established with NYU School of Law (2014-2018) and his civic start up The Good Lobby. The Good Lobby’s mission is to equalise access to power by strengthening the advocacy capacity of civil society and making corporate political influence more accountable and sustainable.
Alberto has been involved in dozens of campaigns, ranging from the first European Citizen Initiative putting an end to international roaming to the adoption of plain packaging of tobacco products across EU countries, to a decade-old campaign for EU transnational lists and – following the publication of The Guardian’s Op-Ed ‘There are 17 million mobile EU citizens. We deserve a political voice’ – launched ‘Voters without Borders’ asking for full political rights for EU citizens regardless of where they live across the continent.
He designed several major reforms that were subsequently taken up by EU decision-makers, such as the drafting of the EU whistleblower directive, the first independent EU ethics body and, more recently, the establishment of a dedicated EU Commissioner for Future Generations and intergenerational equity.
In the aftermath of the Russian invasion, Alberto designed the Ukraine Corporate Index to nudge companies reassessing their market presence on the Russian market. As recognised by the Financial Times and Forbes, this index played a major role in increasing pressure on businesses to position themselves in relation to the invasion.
He sits on the board of several civil society organisations, such as Friends of Europe, European Alternatives, re:constitution, VoxEurop, Access Info Europe, as well as the citizens’ campaigning movement We Move, which operates transnationally.
[ MEDIA COMMENTATOR ]
Alberto is a regular contributor to Le Monde, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Politico Europe, Le Grand Continent and a frequent TV commentator on Euronews, BBC World, France 24, Al-Jazeera, and TV5Monde. His scholarly analysis and public interest work are often featured in the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Economist and in by-lines across other international media outlets.
[ HONORS AND AWARDS ]
The World Economic Forum nominated him Young Global Leader in 2015 and was elected Ashoka fellow in 2019, European Young Leader in 2014, as well as Social Innovator of the Year by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation in 2022.
He was recognised one of the top 40 influencers in Europe by Politico.
