emerson

Kimberly Marteau Emerson

Vice Chair; Principal, KME Consulting

Kimberly Marteau Emerson is a lawyer, advocate and non-profit governance leader in human rights, education and transatlantic relations. She speaks regularly at conferences and gatherings  in Europe and the US.

In June 2023, she was appointed by President Biden to serve a five-year term on the US Holocaust Memorial Council. Ms. Emerson also currently serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of Bard College Berlin, and on the Board of Trustees of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. She serves on the Advisory Boards of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, the Thomas Mann House, the German-American Institutes and German social impact consultancy PHINEO. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy.

During the Clinton Administration, she served as spokesperson and director of public liaison for the U.S. Information Agency. From 2013 to 2017, she worked in Berlin alongside her husband, U.S. Ambassador to Germany John B. Emerson (ret.) on projects including the Embassy’s efforts to combat antisemitism and integration efforts during the 2015 refugee crisis. Moreover, she used the Embassy’s convening power to promote bringing women in Germany to the economic and political decision-making table. Ms. Emerson has been an election observer in Nigeria with NDI, and worked on relief projects, among others, in Lesbos, Greece during the 2015/2016 refugee crisis, and in Sri Lanka post-tsunami. She has been deeply active in U.S. Presidential politics and helped many candidates on the local, state and federal level.

She has received multiple awards for her civic engagement, including from the American Jewish Committee, People for the American Way and foster youth-focused United Friends of the Children. She received her B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) from UCLA, J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law, and Master’s in French Private Law (D.E.S.U. with honors) from l’Université de Droit d’Aix-Marseille. She is based in Los Angeles and Berlin, and speaks fluent French and conversational German.

Kimberly joined the HRW Board in 2012, was elected Vice Chair in 2022, and serves on the Audit and Risk (CoChair) and Policy Committees. She also serves on the Europe and Central Asia Advisory Committee, the Los Angeles City Committee (co-chair emerita), and the Germany Executive Committee.