IAPP scholarship recipients reflect on professional development, advancement

The IAPP is expanding access to the digital governance field through its various scholarship programs that aim to support students entering the field and cultivate the next generation of leaders.

Unlike traditional scholarship programs, the IAPP awards assistance to prospective professionals in the form of continued education and networking opportunities. Scholarship recipients get access to IAPP events and exclusive learning opportunities onsite. The IAPP has event-specific scholarships in addition to the Andy Serwin and Airbnb scholarships, which are exclusive to IAPP U.S.-based events.

Meta Global Privacy and Compliance Specialist and IAPP KnowledgeNet Dublin Chapter co-Chair Ursula McGlinn, AIGP, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, CIPM, CIPT, noted that attending the IAPP's Europe Data Protection Congress on the 25th anniversary scholarship was a meaningful moment in her career.

"I was already committed to building a career in privacy, but the scholarship gave me a strong sense of validation and encouragement, and it made me feel that my efforts, my academic dedication, and my professional ambitions were being recognized by a respected institution within the privacy community," McGlinn said. "That recognition … reinforced my decision to specialize further in data protection, privacy, and AI governance, and it helped me see that this was not simply an area of interest for me but a field in which I could genuinely grow and contribute."

Opportunities aplenty

Conference experiences made possible by the scholarship are yielding tangible professional benefits. 

Bird and Bird Law Graduate and IAPP 25th anniversary scholarship recipient Gianluca Pecora said his attendance at the IAPP ANZ Summit not only helped signal his interest in privacy and AI governance to his employer, but it supported his work. At the time of the conference, he was working with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as a policy and program officer on the Privacy Reform Implementation and Social Media Taskforce, drafting the Issues Paper on the Automated Decision-Making Privacy Policy Obligation.

"This led to me being briefed on a data incident assessment for a video game provider, privacy policy reviews and data licensing advice for a social media company," Pecora said.

Pecora noted ANZ Summit panels on automated decision-making and AI governance "genuinely matured my thinking on which topics the Issues Paper should focus." The networking opportunities associated with the scholarship also played a key role in introducing him to 'leading privacy lawyers who generously shared their knowledge."

Since receiving the scholarship, Pecora has been appointed as the Milan University's Information Society Law Centre Fellow and will begin as a tutor for the University of Technology Sydney x Microsoft AI hackathon in June.

Scholz Nonprofit Law Data Privacy Law Fellow and former IAPP Westin Scholar Caroline Matkom similarly pointed to the benefits of scholarship support. While completing her final year at Tulane Law School, she received the Westin and Andy Serwin scholarships, allowing her to attend the IAPP Global Privacy Summit and complete certification training.

"Many entry-level privacy associate positions require or strongly prefer IAPP certifications," Matkom said. "The scholarships allowed me to pursue these opportunities by covering training materials and exam costs, enabling me to build relevant credentials early in my career."

Attending the Summit 2025 also helped expand Matkom's professional network. She noted despite limited privacy offerings during her law school career, her IAPP conference experience allowed her to make more global connections that "provided the guidance and support I needed to help me move forward in the field."

Receiving opportunities through the IAPP also helped strengthen connections for Meta's McGlinn, who received more exposure to "a professional world that I had been working hard to enter and grow within" while making her "feel closer to the broader network of practitioners, academics, and leaders shaping the future of privacy and AI governance."

"Privacy is not only a technical or legal field, but also a community built on shared learning, support, and exchange, and that feeling encouraged me to become more active, more visible, and more confident in pursuing opportunities for engagement, development, and contribution," McGlinn added.

The next wave

Deloitte Cyber Risk Advisory Associate Muhammad Deckri Algamar, AIGP, said his engagement with the IAPP has already played a crucial role in his early career, despite not yet receiving a scholarship.

Algamar is a contributor to the IAPP Jakarta KnowledgeNet Chapter, previously supporting the chapter's meeting to discuss privacy-enhancing technologies. Alongside his KnowledgeNet contributions, Algamar co-organized collaborations between the IAPP and Universitas Indonesia. He also contributed to government initiatives on implementing Indonesia's Personal Data Protection Law and children's online protection legislation.

"I was exposed to invasive technologies at such an early age that it made me wary of the risks posed to children within online platforms," Algamar said. "Each year the risks intensify, yet we cannot divorce ourselves from technological progress either. This tension made me realize that a career in privacy also demands lived technological experience, to understand both what the rules say and also how technology actually behaves."

For professionals in emerging economies, access to globally recognized credentials remains a challenge, though IAPP scholarships could play a critical role in addressing potential barriers.

"IAPP certifications act as a competence badge that is commonly recognized in professional settings," Algamar said. "Receiving this scholarship would open new doors of possibility and provide me with credibility to sit in rooms where privacy governance is shaped. As someone working in the intersection of policy and practice in Indonesia, being equipped with IAPP competencies will also allow me to bring globally recognized standards back home, where they are needed the most."

Algamar also highlighted the practical value of IAPP resources, particularly international networking opportunities enabling him to "be part of the same conversations as privacy professionals everywhere else in the world."