Ava Kalinauskas is a Senior Research Associate at the United States Studies Centre (USSC), where she focuses on US domestic politics and elections. Her 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 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 (WIIS), an organisation dedicated to advancing the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda. She was a 2024 delegate to the 'Rising Quad Think Tank Opinion Leaders' exchange held in Bali and the University of Western Australia’s Defence & Security Institute’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.