Ava Kalinauskas

Ava Kalinauskas is a Senior Research Associate at the United States Studies Centre, where she focuses on US domestic politics and elections. She is also an Emerging Associate at the National Security College at the Australian National University.

Ava’s analysis has been published across media outlets including The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Conversation, The Diplomat, SBS, and the ABC. She is representing Australia as a delegate to the 2025 Youth G20 Summit held in South Africa. Ava also co-leads the USSC’s Women in the Alliance initiative.

Ava previously sat on the Youth Advisory Council to US Consul General Christine Elder from 2022-24 and was a Program Assistant at Women in International Security Global. She was a 2024 delegate to the 'Rising Quad Think Tank Opinion Leaders' exchange held in Bali and the University of Western Australia’s US-Australia Alliance Emerging Leaders’ Workshop, both sponsored by the US State Department.

Ava holds a Bachelor of Arts Dual Degree from Sciences Po Paris and the University of Sydney. She graduated from Sciences Po with Cum Laude Honours and, at the University of Sydney, she was a Dalyell Scholar and a recipient of the IPAA NSW GC Remington award.