Emily Butler (‘15): Navigating Complexity from Human Rights to Global Investigations

Emily Butler did not expect to build a career in investigations. When she arrived at Sciences Po, she was firmly focused on human rights, enrolling in the PSIA Master’s in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action with a specialization in global health and migration. Yet today, as a Director at Nardello & Co., a corporate research and investigations firm, she has found a path that draws directly on the analytical, global, and interdisciplinary training she developed during her time in Paris - just in ways she had not imagined.

“I wanted the subject I was studying to match the place I was studying it,” Butler said, explaining why she pursued an international degree in an international environment. With its global outlook and the longstanding reputation of Sciences Po, Paris was an easy choice. What set the experience apart, however, was the structure of the program. “What really sold me was that the faculty weren’t just academics, they were practitioners.”

Throughout her studies, Butler encountered professionals working in the fields they taught. Professors would travel from across Europe to bring into the classroom firsthand experience from organizations such as the International Organization for Migration. This approach created what she describes as a “different level of realism,” one in which the day-to-day realities of international work bridged theory in a way she had not experienced during her undergraduate studies.

Equally formative was Sciences Po’s emphasis on professional experience. During her third-semester internship, Butler joined the World Health Organization in Geneva at the height of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. It was her first exposure to a formal professional environment. “Before Sciences Po, I hadn’t done an internship,” she noted. “It was intense, but it gave me real-world experience that I could immediately connect back to what I was studying.”

Outside the classroom, Butler found just as much value in the community around her. “People I met on the very first day are still some of my closest friends,” she said. Drawn from across the world, her peers brought diverse perspectives that made both the academic and social experience richer. 

After graduating in 2015, Butler initially stayed on a legal track, completing further studies in Paris and London before returning to the United States in 2017. While remaining interested in human rights, she began looking for a role in which she could apply the research, writing, and analytical skills she had developed, ideally within an international context. She found that fit in investigations.

Today, Butler describes herself as a generalist at Nardello & Co., working on complex cross-border matters including asset tracing. The work is varied, often requiring her to dive deeply into unfamiliar industries or geopolitical contexts. “Every case is a different puzzle,” she said. “You’re constantly learning, constantly analyzing, and constantly figuring out how to present information clearly.”

Her work has included high-profile litigation support, as well as complex compliance exercises and investigative projects involving global political dynamics. In one notable case, the firm is supporting legal efforts connected to a defamation lawsuit involving Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, an example of how investigations intersect with law, politics, and public discourse.

Looking back, Butler sees a clear throughline between her education and her career, even if the destination was unexpected. “At its core, each investigation is about navigating complexity across jurisdictions, cultures, and competing narratives,” she said. “Sciences Po taught me how to read critically, analyze information, and write clearly. Those are skills I use every single day.”

Her career path has reinforced an important lesson she now shares with current students: do not make an inflexible plan. While many of her peers pursued traditional roles in policy or international organizations, Butler found her niche in a field she had not known existed during her studies. “Don’t be too precious about the path,” she advised. “The foundation you’re getting will hold up wherever you land.”