Scott Nemeth

Scott Nemeth serves as the assistant director of Leadership Programs at the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. In this role, Nemeth leads the global leadership team and focuses on helping prepare today’s leaders to meet tomorrow’s challenges through the Institute’s flagship program: McCain Global Leaders. He also leads efforts to expand the Institute’s leadership programs and manages both the MGL Global Advisory Council and the McCain Leadership Alumni Network.

Prior to the McCain Institute, Nemeth served as the Legislative Strengthening Specialist at the International Republican Institute (IRI). He founded and managed the legislative strengthening portfolio which included two global programs: the U.S. House Democracy Partnership and the Institute for Representative Government. He also advised the Institute on its work with parliaments, conducted country-specific technical assistance, and supported business development strategies and government relations. In this role, Nemeth operated in 25 countries and advised over 30 parliaments on issues related to transparency, national budgeting, citizen engagement, multilateral cooperation, security sector oversight, anti-corruption and parliamentary research.

Prior to joining IRI, Nemeth served as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman David Valadao. In this role, he advised on foreign policy and defense in addition to overseeing Mr. Valadao’s work on the House Appropriations Committee. During this time, he concurrently served as Majority Staff Director for the U.S. House of Representatives Central America Caucus where he built support throughout Congress for aid to the Northern Triangle. Nemeth began his time on Capitol Hill as a Military Legislative Correspondent for U.S. Senator Dan Coats. He previously served as a Field Director for the Republican National Committee and has campaign experience at the local, state and federal level. His career in public service began during a term with AmeriCorps, where he developed and facilitated a program for at-risk youth in his home state of Indiana.

Nemeth received his BA in Political Science, with a concentration in International Peace and Conflict Mitigation, from Butler University and resides in Washington, D.C.

For more information on our programs, visit our pages for Leadership Programs, Democracy Programs, and Human Rights and Freedom.