Emma Niewald

Emma Niewald is pursuing a Master’s in Global Policy Studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, at the University of Texas at Austin with a focus on Balkan & Eastern European studies, security issues, and rule of law.

Niewald graduated with honors from Austin College in International Relations and French in 2012. After getting her start in the nonprofit sector in Washington, D.C., including internships with the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and the Center for National Policy, Niewald transitioned to electoral politics. She has more than ten years of political experience ranging from school board races to U.S. Presidential campaigns, including Elizabeth Warren for President, Steve Bullock for U.S. Senate, and Beto O’Rourke for Texas Governor. Niewald began her own consulting firm, The Campaign Catalyst, in 2019 and was a member of the 2021 cohort at the LBJ Women’s Campaign School.

Emma was selected as a Texas Global Embedded Scholar, where she interned with the National Democratic Institute in Skopje, North Macedonia during Summer 2025. She is currently conducting individual research on anticorruption and political financing in the Western Balkans.