Rowan Emslie

About

Rowan is based in Brussels, where he leads our communications work in the European Union. Rowan has 10 years of communications experience across the public and private sectors, specializing in multi-channel digital communications campaigns. Rowan brings a deep knowledge of social media, SEO, online advertising and digital marketing to CATF.

Before joining CATF in 2020, Rowan spend three years building the digital advocacy team at Edelman Brussels. In that position, he was responsible for digital activities across multiple sectors and practice areas, introducing new touchpoints to the traditional public affairs toolkit. His team supported dozens of clients, including the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, UNRWA and Eurochild. Before that, Rowan spent two years with Software-as-a-Service startups in Berlin and Nairobi where he honed a data-led approach to marketing communications.

Rowan began his career in East Africa, working for human rights groups and cutting his teeth as a journalist. He worked with human rights organisations to advocate for various at-risk groups in the region, including underage prisoners and outspoken journalists. In total, he spent three years living and working in Kenya and Uganda. In this time, he also worked as an editorial consultant for both the GIZ and Open Government Partnership, while freelancing for a variety of media outlets such as Vice, EurActiv and CS Monitor.

Originally from the UK, Rowan studied Social Sciences at the University of Bath before obtaining a Master of Public Policy at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.