Hanna Surmatz

Hanna Surmatz is heading the policy work at Philea and is an expert on philanthropy and foundation law. Her main responsibilities include monitoring and mapping/analysis of relevant developments that affect foundations’/funders operating environment in Europe and beyond and strengthen the overall engagement with policymakers.

Between 2001 and 2004 she was employed by the Association of German Foundations (Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen) in Berlin, where she worked on foundation law issues and international matters. She studied law at the Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Germany and at the University of Poitiers, France and worked as assistant researcher at the University of Münster for several years. She served two terms on the board of the European Center for not for profit Law (ECNL). Since 2017 she’s been a representative of the philanthropic sector in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Private Sector Consultative Forum (PSCF) and since 2019 in the OECD Tax Business Advisory Group. In 2021 she became a member of GECES the European Commission expert group on Social Economy. She also represents Philea in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) CSO Liaison Group and together with ONCE foundation in the Social Economy Europe board.