Episode 74: Austin Akers- International Election Observer and Communications Strategist

Austin is the co-Founder of Interscribe Global Communications Agency, which helps leaders navigate the complex intersection of politics and communications. He’s also an international election observer who's spent the last decade working across emerging democracies. His experience has taken him from observing elections in Albania and Georgia to working with global NGOs, think tanks, and advocacy groups on strategic communications challenges.

According to Austin, what drives his work are things he has witnessed repeatedly: democracy's biggest threats today aren't just rigged elections or authoritarian overreach, they're disinformation campaigns and the systematic erosion of trust in institutions. He has seen elections fail not because of ballot stuffing, but because credible voices couldn't effectively communicate their findings while bad actors dominated the narrative space.