Emily Horne

Emily Horne is a communications and national security strategist who has served in senior U.S. government, tech, and academic roles in Washington DC for nearly 15 years.

Most recently, Emily served as the first Spokesperson and Senior Director for Press at the National Security Council (NSC) in the Biden-Harris administration, where she led White House and interagency communications strategies and media engagement on all foreign policy and national security issues. Emily was deeply involved in nearly every aspect of the Biden administration’s foreign policy agenda, helping to rebuild U.S. alliances and partnerships and directing media strategies for everything from Presidential overseas travel to the U.S. response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Emily joined the NSC from the Biden-Harris transition team, where she led communications for the successful confirmations for Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Emily was previously Vice President of Communications at the Brookings Institution, where she also oversaw the Brookings Press. Emily joined Brookings from Twitter, where she led global policy communications on Twitter’s public policy engagement, including fighting violent extremist content online, supporting transparency and freedom of expression, and combating abuse and harassment.

Emily spent nearly a decade as a career civil servant at the State Department, where she held a variety of roles including communications director for the Obama Administration’s counter-ISIL efforts and spokesperson for South and Central Asian Affairs. From 2015-2017 Emily served on the NSC as Assistant Press Secretary and Director for Strategic Communications, advising White House and other senior U.S. government officials on messaging, media relations, and crisis communications for counter-terrorism and hostages, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia, international economics and trade, and human rights.

Emily has taught at American University and is a frequent public speaker on media and politics, disinformation, social media and emerging technology, and national security issues. A native of Ann Arbor, MI, Emily holds a BA and MA in History from The George Washington University. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, their two young sons, and their rescue mutt.