Tena Šimonović Einwalter was born on 2 December 1980 in Zagreb. In 2003 she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Law and in 2005 was awarded with a diploma from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In 2007 she received her Master’s degree in European and Comparative Law from the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford and in 2013 a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb. She passed her bar examination in 2009.
She was appointed the Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia on 19 March 2021.
Ms. Šimonović Einwalter currently chairs the Executive Board of the European Network of Equality Bodies (EQUINET) in her second two-year term, after being reappointed to that position in 2019. Previously, she served as its member over two consecutive mandates (2011-2013 and 2013-2015).
As an expert in the area of combating discrimination she was appointed as the representative of the Republic of Croatia before the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and serves as ECRI’s co-representative to the Council of Europe’s Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI).
In the course of her career Ms. Šimonović Einwalter has served in various law-drafting working groups, coordinated the implementation of EU projects, participated in numerous seminars, conferences and public forums both at the national as well as the international levels and delivered a number of lectures and speeches. She has authored and co-authored various expert and academic publications on the topics of human rights, the rights of national minorities and combating discrimination, with a focus on the normative framework, case-law and human rights mechanisms, both at national as well as the Council of Europe and the European Union levels.
Prior to her appointment, from 2013 to 2021 she served as Deputy Ombudswoman, having previously performed the duties of the Ombudswoman’s legal advisor and anti-discrimination coordinator. Her prior posts include the positions in the Ministry of the Foreign and European Affairs and the Ministry for European Integration.