Marilyn Neven is Head of EU Liaison at International IDEA. Her main role is to reinforce International IDEA’s relations with the European Union as a key partner of International IDEA. Through her work on advocacy for democracy and fundraising, she contributes to increasing the EU’s focus on democratic governance, advancing sustainable democracy and improving and consolidating electoral processes world-wide. Her programmatic work includes initiatives on the EU's democracy agenda, the use of ICTs in democracy and elections, and political empowerment of women. 

She authored the policy brief “Codes of conduct on the rise: Fair and ethical campaigning online," and co-authored the report on "Winning Elections the Right Way - Online Political Advertising Rules in Europe and Selected Countries Globally."

Neven contributes to the management of various EU-funded global programmes. She was acting Head of Programme of the EU-funded INTER PARES Parliaments in Partnership programme in 2019, until the project team was hired. She was special adviser to the Secretary-General of the Institute in 2015. Neven has a background in EU advisory roles for Belgian Ministers and previously worked at the European Parliament and Commission. She holds an LL.M. in European Legal Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Law degree from KU Leuven. She has accumulated expertise on European affairs throughout her career and has lectured extensively on European affairs and democracy. She was KU Leuven VRG Alumni in de Kijker in 2016.