Amadea is part of our communications team and Project Manager. “It used to bother me that I always had to explain to others what exactly my job is. Now I know: it just means that you are doing something completely new.”, she says.
What is your background, your professional journey, and what sparked your interest in currently working to support political innovation?
I started getting actively involved in politics when I was about 15. Later I would get elected for several honorary offices like student speaker of Lower Austria or Vice-President of the Women’s Committee of the National Youth Council. When I finished school I started to work full-time in the communications department of an environmental organisation which was founded by the Federal State of Lower Austria. At the same time I started to study Business Communications in Vienna . After a year and a half I was approached by a friend who suggested I apply for a position at the Innovation in Politics Institute. I was immediately hooked by the idea and vision of the company.
What is your first memory of politics?
I think my first memory of politics is my mother talking about upcoming elections in the early 2000s. I remember this, because she dropped the name “Van der Bellen”, which I really liked because Bellen means “to bark” in German.
What’s your favorite part about working remotely? What about in-office?
I like the flexibility of being able to stay at home, but I have to admit, in general, I really like going to the office, having a daily rhythm, and seeing my colleagues in real life.
What show are you currently binge-watching?
Rewatching Stranger Things in preparation for the new season.
“It used to bother me that I always had to explain to others what exactly my job is. Now I know: it just means that you are doing something completely new.”
Amadea Horvath
When and why did you cry about politics?
In 2016, when Donald Trump got elected. I woke up in the middle of the night, the TV was still on and I saw that crucial states were colored red. Still, in a sleep-induced delirium I shed some tears in complete disbelief.
Best advice you’ve ever received?
“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.”
