Waltraud Heller leads the EU Fundamental Rights Agency's (FRA) work on civic space and human rights defenders. She joined the Agency’s precursor organisation, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), in 2005 as a communication officer, and later became the Agency’s spokesperson. From 2014 until 2022, she coordinated FRA’s civil society network. Starting in 2016 Waltraud developed FRA’s work on civic space, and since 2022 she focuses on civic space, human rights defenders and rule of law issues. Prior to joining FRA, Waltraud Heller worked as a communicator, among others for a development cooperation NGO, as speechwriter for a European Commissioner, and for the Wall Street Journal Europe. Waltraud Heller holds a masters degree in social and economic sciences, and a postgraduate degree in European studies from the College of Europe, Bruges.